I,ve seen the older flyers at our field arrive with two or three planes and two or three Standard radios and then sit and figure out which radio goes with which plane. I have been flying for 18 months and I have the Futaba 9C, I arrive with 3 planes 1 radio. When I decided to move up to a more aerobatic plane (extra 300 40 size) I dialed in expo to soften things out. Then as I became more used to the plane I reduced the expo alittle each time. If I didn't have expo or dual rates that plane would have never survived its maiden flight. To many time I've seen the veteran flyers say "I don't need expo I've been flying for 20 yrs", then proceed to plow there new, very touchy plane into the ground. A 6 channel computer radio with multi plane memory is a good way to start.