RE: First plane
A little foam park flyer is a good addition to your hangar. It doesn't teach you everything you need to know about flying 4 channel balsa planes, but it does keep you sharp on orientation and is just plain fun. If you're flying in a small space, the Hobby Zone Champ is a good one. It can't handle much wind at all, but it can take some pretty rough landings and is slow. The GWS Slow Stick is a little bit bigger option that can be a real blast with the controls turned up. Just be careful about flying near trees. Once you're more than about 35 feet away your depth perception gets weak, so you'll just about always be farther away than you think you are. Many good planes have been lost due to pilots just wanting to get out a fly a few circuits and choosing a location that is convenient but really too small. Give yourself plenty of space and keep the plane in close.