Welcome aboard, Jester!

The other posts are good advice. I like Cobra's suggestion to practice on some scrap balsa. Maybe one of the punchout sheets. I would like to offer this suggestion : Chase the iron with a damp washcloth, to cool the adhesive as soon as the iron passes. Makes it stick where you iron it, helps avoid wrinkles.

I would also like to suggest the use of a flight simulator, this winter. It will help when you train in the spring, and you will find it useful when you are ready to learn things on your second or third plane, like knife-edge flight, inverted flight, four-point rolls, etc.

Good luck!
Dave Olson