Raphael Warshaw wrote:
Greg:

I agree that doing the flying is usually better (and certainly more fun),
but there's a lot to be learned from watching. I occasionally fly with an
instructor who's more comfortable close to the rocks than I am and learn
quite a bit from watching him figure the winds, speeds and escape routes,
more than I would with my very sweaty hand on the stick. I learned
braking points and cornering lines for auto racing in much the same way, by
sitting next to a competitive driver (in a sports prototype with a second
seat but no belts or roll-bar; we get smarter if we live long enough).

Ray Warshaw
1LK

It probably depends a lot on the person. I have always had trouble
learning anything without actually doing it myself.