Some time ago, I had to adopt a general policy of not accepting aerobatic students into my commercial RC flight training, 1st US R/C Flight School, who hadn’t previously attended the school’s primary solo course. The reason is that there is not enough time in a four-day aerobatic course to both correct a pilot’s bad habits and make significant progress in new areas. The intent of this article is to use the history behind this policy to explain why the flying skills of so many pilots plateau irrespective of age or stick time. Doing so will then help you to appreciate some of the essential good habits that enable pilots to keep progressing.
ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK
During the early years of my flight school, I mainly trained primary students through solo. But over time, the focus has shifted to mostly aerobatic instruction to meet the demand of prior enrollees wanting more advanced training. Along the way, I wrote several training manuals to help students prepare for their courses and to consolidate the training they received. When those manuals were made available to the public, people who hadn’t previously attended the school began applying for aerobatic training. Here’s how that worked out: Because very few club pilots follow a detailed syllabus when learning to fly, most estimate their skill level by comparing themselves to other fliers. Just because some pilots fly better than others, however, does
