There's nothing better than flying the first flight yourself- the trick is to practice takeoffs untils you are SMOOOOTH with NO jerky movements and let the plane lift off itself. This way the plane will fly when it is ready to and you can concentrate on keeping the wings level. It's the best, just practice some first.

This hobby is actually one of the cheaper ones. I get tired of non RC'ers who think it is expensive because they view them as toys. It is all relative. I compare the enjoyment (thousands of hours over the years) I've had compared to my friend with the sea-doo - and I haven't yet spent the $10,000 he's put into his "hobby"!!!!!!!!

Even crashing isn't that expensive. When you build it yourself you can usually fix it yourself. I haven't crashed one yet I couldn't fix.