Well, I just started out myself last week, I went out and bought an aerobird challenger. Way way too fast for me to start out on, and it's not all that fast to begin with. And one of the downsides to it is that its a matched set, meaning if I bust up the plane real bad, then I have a radio that does me no good (as I understand it). The plus side of this type of plane was that there really was no building involved, just rubberband the wing on, and add the wheels and away you go.

So, I ended up spending $150 on a JR 5 channel radio, another $35.00 for a Slow Stick (which I really like by the way, nice and slow but has a little oomph, but nothing really fast, and very easy to start out on or so I've now found out after maiden flight today), another $58+ for a charger (of course you could spend much more for a charger), $5.50 for 3 additional props, and a bunch of other little things like packing tape to use on the slowstick instead of the decal tape, some 5 minute epoxy to use instead of the GWS glue, etc. etc. etc. I think the total was about $258.00

Now the good side about this is that the plane is really inexpensive, if you bust it up really really bad, and have to replace the whole plane, you can get another one for $35.00 And when your ready to advance, you still have a decent to nice radio, couple servos, speed controller, and receiver that you can pull out of the slow stick and put into another plane, then just add whatever else you might need for the next plane.

So I guess my main point is that I would avoid the prebuilt kits that come with a radio if they can only be used with that particular setup, AND that I find the GWS slow stick a really good plane to start learning on, and it apparently can take quite a beating. I let someone else at the park fly it first to make sure it could fly, and this guy was flying some other GWS plane like 300 feet up in the air and never had a problem so I let him have a go on it, and he took off got up to speed, went to turn left to avoid the stadium lighting post and WHAM! Right into it, the plane swung around the post and dropped to the ground. No damage what so ever. By the way it wasnt his fault, the rudder horn came loose (now it's been epoxied in place for another try tommorrow), and the plane couldnt turn left.

Anyway, I tried it after that, crashed 2x's, and on 3rd time, had a blast and found it really really easy to fly. Crashed again though because the darn rudder horn came loose again, but still no damage to the plane.

As far as an instructor goes, I think it depends on the person and the plane they are trying to fly. With a slow stick I dont think people really need an instructor to hold there hand, but having someone knowledgble next to you certainly doesnt hurt, and most younger people that I have met so far at the local parks seem to be more than willing to help out a noob learn the ropes of flying.

So thats my long winded suggestion.

Good luck,