It's all very well to sneer at people using 'artificial concepts,' but as anyone who's ever taught flying will know, sometimes they are the only way to communicate what you are trying to get across.
Agreed and not just flying. A little tangential but just to reinforce the point. Vic Elford wrote in "High Performance Driving", that one technique that helped him keep rediculously poweful racing cars like the Porsche 917 on the track was:
Imagine a piece of string tied to the bottom of the steering wheel with the other end tied to the throttle. As you turn the wheel the throttle comes up and you press the throttle the steering wheel straightens. The basic principle is that the car can only do 100% and everything is a proportion of it. I thought it was a supurb way of explaining it and it has stuck ever since. But like all the models it isn't rote, but really helps form an understanding of what generally works.
Just in case anybody is interested:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...267851-7967013