eagle4,

Go with a known flying design, build a cheap kit, I guess you also don't know how to fly, that makes the effort of scracth building meaningless. It will be scratch faster than you think.

Even with an ARF when you are putting together you can make mistakes, as beginner you have a great chance to do so, for the last 3 months I am reading the beginner forum, wrong placement of diheadreal brace, allignment problems with the stab, glue/CA/epoxy in the aileron rods. clunk problems with fuel tank, hinges lots of things.

With an ARF as an trainer you will learn how things like servos, engine, fuel tank works, plus you have a very great chance to crash it in first flight if you learn to fly on your own, get help, if for your location restricts your access to ARF's than build the kit.

You will learn so much about building, working with balsa, covering, hinges, allignment, when you are building the kit. But for the trainer I don't think it is worth either.

Scratch building your first plane and learning to fly with it will not work. Not that easy.

I used to built rubber powered balsa planes, glow powered RC ones are a lot different, in strength fuel proofing and realibility. Your idea will work in theory but not in the real RC enviroment it might work for a while but if you have a slightest encounter with ground that gear system will not work and will not be fixable. since the gear alignment is changed.

RC planes do carsh, mostly due to pilot error but also due to failure of components, keep it simple and basic, don't add another reason for a crash.

First work on the pilot part of the crash with a Trainer.

Good luck, this hobby is great and if you have good start it is not a hobby, it becomes a habbit.