Whirley:
The use of radio has to be secondary to the control of the aircraft.
There fore one must dovetail radio learning into the lessons based on the capacity of any given student to perform the two tasks at once...it will vary wildly from student to student and even lesson to lesson.
The helicopter not only introduces a pilot to a demension that we as humans were not designed to do ( flight ) the G.d Damned things will fly standing still which adds another demension to the getting used to it.....
Remember the trouble you had the first few times you tried to hover? The concentration is so intense that if someone hit you over the head with a hammer you wouldn't notice..........then all of a sudden bingo, you got the picture and the feel and you can hover...
The problem you were having was overconcentration and muscle tensing caused by anxiety and the inability to understand why the thing was wandering all over the countryside despite the effort you were putting into keeping it stable and fixed in one spot over the ground.
So after all this rambling I would suggest you tailor the radio work into the lessons based on the stress level of each individual student so as to ensure they are not overloaded.
How much is the fine for driving your car and using the mobile these days?
And I refuse to believe that any woman can not talk and do something else at the same time....
Chuck E.