Good posts! It's interesting to hear about your experiences. Pettit, you guessed it--I am considering giving it a go on my own later this month when I visit family up in Idaho. I enjoy building planes (I'm in the process of completing a four*40 from a kit) and don't mind dealing with repairs. I'm planning to take my Avistar .40 Trainer up after I get it set up and spend some time taxiing around and getting used to things.

I fly full-scale (it seems to me however that it's actually more difficult to fly RC than most full-scale planes) and I've got RC car experience. I understand the physics of flight and plan to take it easy for quite a while. My family has an small grass strip airport by the house (we live in a remote area) and I plan to use that. My dad (who builds, restores, and flys numerous full-scale planes) will help me pick up the pieces if necessary.

I'll report back on the experience. Maybe I'll be glad I did it this way and maybe I'll become part of the "always begin with an instructor" crowd. I certainly don't intend to crash, but I know it can happen. I'm here for the journey so I don't mind having to make repairs and learning along the way.