You can fly on your own with a lot of patience.

I got a Graupner Tispy for Christmas, and learned to fly it. I would liken it to, say.... Wilbur and Orville. Flight times increase exponentially. The first ones on the order of a few seconds. Took me a month and a half to find out how long the plane would fly on one battery charge. About 30-45 minutes.

Crashes are devistating to confidence, unless you have a inner drive to not let the plane win. But fortunately my whole plane is made out of foam so it glued right back together with epoxy, and never broke in the same place twice.

Don't waste your money on RealFlight, download FMS for free, or look around for a copy of Ikarus' Easyfly for like 20 dollars and comes with a cord, to hook up to your TX.

Read, read, read. I know that 4 out of 5 posts here are like....
"Are you friggin nuts? Why would you throw hundreds of dollars down the tubes. Even if you had to drive 6 hours, get someone to teach you. " Which, were I starting up in glow planes would say yes. But, keep reading, here and there the choice knowledge is interwoven. Word of caution, some people here are FOS, for example: When trimming your plane's CG, you put it into a shallow dive and let go of the sticks, The proper set up will gradually level out out or climb slightly. A tail heavy setup will make the nose drop. Nose heavy will make it swoop back up. That one was debated for two pages here. Aeropace engineer won.

Before Flying
- Wait for a calm day.
- Keep waiting for a calm day.
- Tighten everything. You would be amazed at the stuff that loosened the last time you flew it. Even if you put Loctite on it.
- Range check your plane, there is enough to worry about without radio interference.
-Pull up your antenna. Don't ask, sore subject.
-Check the controls, LOOKING FROM BEHIND, the elevator goes up when you pull back on the stick, the rudder follows the stick, and the ailerons move up on each side with the stick(i.e. the right aileron is up when the stick is to the right.

Taking off
-Get someone else to throw it. A gentle toss straight into the wind, level or slightly down.
-You probably don't need full throttle. Maybe half, or a little more. I've flown fifteen different planes in the last three months, and all of them like to climb like crazy at full throttle. This quickly leads to an inverted V. Plane swoops up, stalls and then comes crashing down.
- Trimming it, do you have to, no. I flew for a months before I was proficient enough to trim it. All the trimming does is make the plane fly straight and level when the sticks are centered. Does it make the plane easier to fly? Ten fold. If the plane is out of trim, you constantly have to ride the sticks to get it to fly straight. Be careful trimming, get someone to help you. Tell them to move the trim tabs a couple of clicks, following the way your having to hold the stick. If your by yourself, slide your left thumb over to trim. Never take your eyes off the plane. You must realize the primary objective is to fly, not trim. It is easy to trim the plane right into the ground.
- The more proficent you get, you may have interest in a lower wing, faster, more acrobatic airplane. Low, straight wing planes, with thin airfoils, need speed to fly. You'll want to give it a harder toss. Other wise you'll be fighting with it until you get up to flying speed.

I know I ramble on, but I thought someone else might appreciate the help. I know I did.