You really need an instructor, if for no other reason then to answer your questions. Most of us have had a mentor at some point to teach us hands on during the learning curve. It will save you a lot of time and money not to mention frustration. When I set up a plane I figure one ounce of fuel a minute. They don't often use that much but I never run out of fuel. Most flights last about 10 minutes. During training and on a buddy box you are usually only flying at about 1/2 throttle so milage is very good. If you can fly a chopper then your time on a buddy box should be short. As mentioned, if you just want to try your new toy out then buy cheap crap for gear. If you plane on teaching yourself how to fly then the cheap crap is all you really need. As an instructor I have a buddy box system and a lot of older gear that is still good and I will help a student set up his trainer so they don't need to spend a lot of money until they know if they want to make this a hobby or not. Once they decide then I tell them to buy the best gear they can afford. It seems to work because I have only had one student fall out of RC. He was only 12 when he learned. I told him it wouldn't last long, he had yet to discover cars and girls and how much they both cost. I have had a lot of older students that just didn't have the time to learn so they walked away. Only the kid had a lot of money in gear though. I tried to talk him out of buying all high end stuff.