Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately, the local RC club has stopped taking new members, and is not providing any instruction, so we may be on our own.

I have downloaded the FMS Sim program, so we have some sense of how the controls affect a plane. Next summer, we will be spending 3 weeks at my parents farmhouse in Eastern Canada. There is lots of open space there, and we may try to teach ourselves. There is enough room that we could try takeoffs and landings in a straight line, letting the plane gain only a couple of feet of altitude. Do you know if anyone has had success doing it this way, without wrecking a lot of planes in the process.

Any info/suggestions greatly appreciated.

David Lyon