First Jet
I wanted to chime in on this one. The Yellow Aircraft Starfire is pretty hard to beat as a first jet. It is true that it takes a bit more piloting than the TGA planes, but only in the sense that it lands at a slightly faster clip. In the air, the airplane will slow down to a crawl with flaps, and it can approach 200 at full throttle with an O.S. .91.
I've been flying this plane for a few years now, and most people are impressed with its performance (although most people aren't impressed with the way I've been landing lately--but my coach, Buck, has almost got me back where I used to be).
The price of the kit isn't much more than that of the TGA birds, and definitely low compared to most 'jet trainers', but the quality of the kit is superb. The construction time and effort is less, too. Yellow Aircraft has two versions of the Starfire, one with the traditional polyester glass fuse, and this one is roughly $80 less than the newer, pre-primed, carbon-reinforced epoxy-glass kit. Turbine accessories like exhaust systems, fuel tanks and turbine inlets are available, too.
Like all Yellow Aircraft kits, you immediately feel like you got MORE than you paid for when you open the Starfire box. The quality of the kit and the fit of the parts is very, very good. The kits, and all of the necessary components to build one, are available (at discounted prices) from me.
The Starfire certainly isn't the only jet trainer, and there are others that are also very good. The BVM Bandit is a superb sport jet, though considerably more expensive. The TGA line of entry-level jets fly good enough that a person with moderate experience in high-performance prop planes would be able to handle them without problems, too. Take a look at the Jet Hangar line if you want something small and less expensive (they do require more patience and skill as a builder, though). All in all, there's plenty of good jets out there to start off with. Whatever you get, you won't have to look farther than here for lots of good help. If you're interested in any of the Yellow Aircraft line, email me. I offer the best prices and PROMPT delivery. Good luck!