RE: Hey crew, new to gliders - need some help.
air-madness-
Many ESC's have a propeller "brake" feature that will stop the prop from windmilling when the motor is off. This is good as the drag from a rotating propeller will really hurt your gliding performance. A rotating propeller causes a lot of drag and the benefit of having an ESC with the brake feature completely offsets any disadvantage you might be concerned with. Just pose the question to guys who fly motor gliders at the field and they will agree that a prop brake is the way to go.
If you decide to build up a glider from a kit you will end up buying things that are not included when you purchase an ARF. Extra things like 3 different types of CA adhesive, 2 rolls of Monokote, pushrods, clevisis etc... and the list goes on. It's actually cheaper to purchase a glider like the Vista ARF than to build, say a House of Balsa 2x6 from a kit. If you're really hankering to build a wooden glider, check out the Chrysalis 2-meter motor glider. There's an thread on the Chrysalis right now on RCGROUPS.com under Electric Sailplanes and you can see for yourself how they go together. It $85 for the basic airframe kit.
Note: Someone mentioned the EasyStar. While it makes a great training ship, it's not really a glider. A much better choice would be the EasyGlider as it has a 72 inch wingspan and comes equipped with ailerons and a nose-mounted folding prop. While the Easystar can be used to catch thermals, you would be light years ahead to go with the EasyGlider in terms of gliding performance. Not trying to push you toward foam, just thought you should know. Jim