Maxx10,
I dont know your area or even where it is you live (Im in Australia) but if theres any hills near you, I strongly suggest you get an EPP foam glider like a Zagi or Wing Warrior etc and learn to slope soar. Ask at your LHS or local club if anyone flies slope nearby, they should know. Or ask in the gliders section of this sites forums or another great gliding site, RC Groups.
They're cheaper to buy, cheaper to run and almost indestructible. If the wind is blowing up the slope and you have batteries your flying time is almost unlimited, youll get a LOT of stick time very quickly and learn how to fly without fear of destroying anything. I started in RC aeroplanes 18months ago, 2 weeks ago I flew my first glo-powered model (a borrowed trainer) and today I flew a brand new CAP232 scale aerobatic plane without a problem. Stick time is what you need to learn. I seriously wonder how many guys flying glo only, can say they started a days flying with a fully charged transmitter (1100mah battery = about 4.5 hours flight time) and had it go flat before 3pm in the afternoon and have done that more times than they remember. Id estimate I got well over a hundred hours in my first year of flying.
Seriously consider learning on a slope with a glider, it'll teach you a lot, a lot faster than flying anything else. Once you got that flying experience, moving on to glo power will be easy, plus when the glo motor quits on you, you wont panic like so many guys Ive seen do, you'll know how to fly a glider. My first dea stick (no motor) in a glo powered plane had guys clearing the runway and yelling advice on what not to do, as my plane landed on the strip in a nice landing a few commented on how calm I was, I simply said I felt at ease without the motor as none of my previous models ever had one.