Well, I am either in this hobby now officially, or, I just threw a load of money out lol. I appreciate all the advice you guys have given. I also have read tons of stuff on this forum, and out on the web. Here is what I ended up doing. First, I joined the AMA. Just waiting on my card. Second, I attended my local clubs meeting and subsequently joined. After speaking with some of those members, I ended up purchasing an Apprentice S 15E with S.A.F.E. I really wanted the Sensei, but most everybody in this club runs Spektrum radio equipment. I thought I should stick with what everyone had for buddy boxing and stuff.
I also am ordering the Sig LT-40 next week. I really do want to build my own. This way I can be flying the Apprentice while building the Sig kit. Also, the Apprentice will be much less expensive to fix during my learning curve (crashing curve). I also will be purchasing a Spektrum GX6 transmitter. That way I can fly both with one radio system.
The guys I've met so far in the club are awesome, and really helpful. I took my Apprentice up there Wednesday after getting it built. My instructor went over the plane checking everything I had done, and approved of my first "build". He proceeded to take it up for it's maiden flight. It went great, and after a few minutes, he landed it and gave me the controls. I was pretty nervous but here we go! I took off from the runway and it was beautiful. She was up about thirty feet, banked hard left, and slammed STRAIGHT INTO THE GROUND!!!
Talk about emotional roller coasters. Apparently something messed up in the RX or TX. We are not sure. My instructor and two other people saw my hands working properly, but the plane would not respond. What a bummer. There are no "club trainers" here as AA5BY mentioned, but there are really nice guys. Another pilot had his own Apprentice there and let me fly it. I had a few take offs and landings all without incident on my own.
I called Horizon on advice of my instructor. He felt there was something wrong in the plane. They had me mail them the plane yesterday. They are going to look it over and see if they can replace it under warranty. So, I guess for the next month or so I will be working on the Sig lol. I wanted to just go buy another plane right now, but my sensible side (my wife), said "heck no."
So hopefully Horizon does find the issue and takes care of this. In the meantime, I will work on the Sig when it gets here, and go watch everyone fly their stuff when they go. If the wind stays down we are going tonight. I know this was windy. I figure if there is another new guy looking on here I would tell my story so they can giggle at me. Kind of pricey to start this hobby, but what a rush it is flying your own machine. Even if it was only about twenty seconds the first time.