The vast majority of trainers are .40 size. The different engines are plentiful. Plus, the number of .40 size second planes is mind boggeling. A lot of people say that bigger planes fly better, and in the majority of cases they are right. But, as a beginning flyer, a standard .40 trainer is more than enough to learn on. You'll be more concerned on how to fly the plane (whatever the size) than anything else. Be it .40 size or .60 size, both sizes fly fine. Some people say that the .60 gets off the ground faster, but I've still seen .60s that take a lot of runway - a lot depends on what prop is used and the weight of the plane. IMO, the lighter the plane, the better the performance - but on trainers I personally think that they fly better with a little extra weight (be it from crash damged that been fixed or whatever). As for the bigger size being able to be seen from further away, that's both true and false. If the plane is kept close enough to be landed dead stick, then your not to far from the runway. A smaller plane kept a a respectable distance will look the same size as a larger plane at a further distance away. I'd stay with a 40 size plane. A good choice might be an MidwestAerostar - when you start to graduate to mild aerobatics, just get a new wing that's being used on the Midwest Aerobat (same fuse - different wing). Basically you'd have two planes for the price of one.