I purchased the Nexstar select. I heard alot of good and bad stuff on this plane. I am also new to flying and flew solo without an instructor. I found the plane to fly very smooth and has some great features. I did turn off the ASF B/C i was afraid it would cause the plane to be unstable. My solo flight, i bounced preaty hard during landing because of the wind. the plane was fine and i just had to replace the prop. The reason I purchased the Nexstar select, is that it looks appealing and after you learn to fly better, you can go beyond the traditional trainer features with this plane.