It was mentioned in an earlier reply that "You are NOT likely to be successful on your own." .....I would like you to know that I did it 100% by myself and I started out with a trainer having a wingspan of a mear 42 inches. Too many people make it sound like it is impossible to learn on your own. I would have to admit that it may take someone that is mechanically inclined and can think in a technical way, but IT IS POSSIBLE. Someone had to do it all by themself otherwise we would not be here doing it ourselves.

Now, I do think that you should start with a flat bottom high wing plane, something that has a fair amount of dihedral in the wing. Almost anything labelled as a trainer would work. The bigger the better, and cost wise you will be in the same ball park with a 40 size or a 60 size, so get the 60. If you are serious about staying in this fine hobby, get a decent 6 channel radio with high/low rates. Standard servos and hardware will be fine, if you can maybe even get an ultimate combo from TOWER.

The trainer that I have now is the GREAT PLANES PT60. It has been a "GREAT PLANE." I did the kit version because I like to build. When I was getting started, the guy I bought the kit from told me NOT to do the best job building it because I WILL crash and sooner or later it will become ugly anyway.......NOT.....I took my time and did a very good job on it and I think that has a lot to do with the success.

I truely hope this helps.
Jeff Cottrell