A slow stick is the way to start off. A guy at my club has one and this little plane is soo slow and light he takes it up about 15 feet and thermals it around over the blacktop believe it or not. I think the key to learning and making the most of those first few minutes (sometimes seconds) of stick time is choosing plane you will not plow into the ground 5 seconds after launching. Please by all means, get assistance. the knowledge you will gain will pay you back tenfold and you will actually be able to account for training time with your first plane.

Here is what happens when you do things the WRONG WAY.

I remember my first plane. I plopped down 180 bucks for an ARF piper cub trainer with radio that was supposed to be the easiest thing to fly. It was foam, light and very forgiving according to the guy that sold it to me. I even had told him I only had experience with surface R/C like my boats and cars. He said this was an easy plane to train on and I shouldnt have any trouble. I decided to go it alone, I mean how hard could it be? you want to go left? you push left, you want up, you push up.

I headed out a large open soccer field and was excited that I was going to fly my first plane. After going over and over the set up instructions and following all the preflight procedures in my head, I was standing there, knees shaking, prop screaming and ready for first throw out into the calm air. It was literally over in about 5 seconds after leaving my hands. I dont know what happend but it veered up and to the right and then straight down and no matter how much I pulled up......Wham!! I broke the fuse, the wings, the tail and the batterylid. I was thinking to myself, ok, I guess thats my last attempt at planes.....back to the cars and boats again. I only wish I had found someone to train me back then. Only through wrecking 3 more planes and becoming completely frustrated with the hobby, did I finally get help from an experienced flyer.

Now that I know how to fly and have stable of many expensive gliders and electrics, It would have been nice to still have that little cub around for those non thermal days. Even now when I build a cheap 2 meter glider for the thermalling, I consult with instructors just to make sure everything is right, CG is on target and the model has a nice smooth glide path without any suprises.

Please do yourself the favor and put that plane on the shelf for a while and learn with something that you will feel good about as your walk away with in one piece.