RE: Good first kit after flying ARFs?
Since your flying skills are way ahead of your building skills, you'll likely be disapointed by any plane that meets your building skill level. A great flyer, that's not super hard to build and flies superbly, is the Goldberg 68" ws Extra 300. Flied great w/ a 91 2-stroke or 120 4-stroke engine.
Maybe you can get someone in the club to "mentor" you on the project, so that you're not stuck w/ a boring trainer type plane.