I bought a simple 4 ch radio and used it on a trainer. It worked great and supplied me with my own buddy box for later use. Iended up doing what opjose did. I bought several radios and then finally settled on a radio I love. I do not regret it though as I am the guy at the field that knows all radios. I can program spectrum, futaba, airtronics and many others. Iunderstand how all the radios work and how they feel. I would never have gotten there if I did not pull the sticks on every radio from the Tower 4 ch to the Futaba 18. I ended up with airtronics due to my own choices and needs. Ihave a DX6I and I love it for flying all the small airplanes I have. and a helis also. I took the ratchet out for the helis and while on my SD10G I like having the ratchet I do not like the ratchet on the helis. Ifilled the 10 models up with 3 helis and 7 park flyers. My SD10G is for my bigger airplanes and pattern aircraft. It has been modded with super heavy springs on the gimbals. Having stated all this I would suggest the DX6I for your needs or maybe the Tactic 6** whatever it is. They have enough features to give you a good learning and also are backed by good companies. ALso though the Airtronics RDS-8000 is a good radio too I have one and like it.