I was in the same situation. After spending much time on this forum, I decided on an Aerobird Challenger. I have only had it for two days, but it has been a blast to fly. It seems to be a tough plane. I did hit the ground really hard once, but the damage was able to be repaired with packing tape and I was back flying again. My advice is to keep it in the sport mode, and stay away from the pitch control until you have flown it awhile. I have zero flying experience and do not find this plane hard to fly. Whatever plane you end up with, find a very LARGE area to practice in, that way you can concentrate on learning how to fly it, and not crashing into trees or houses. Good Luck