A lot of great advice here. I can only tell you my experiences which was I started with a large foamy high wing trainer, which had a few crashes along the way however was easy to repair being foam. Once I had the bug for flying I started experimenting with balsa and built a balsa plane.Since then I mainly fly planes I have built my self with the exception of a few 3d planes from Extreme flight. I think whichever route you choose, stick with a plane that is popular and plenty of people have experience with to help with any questions you have.