I may be a stick in the mud on this one, but I'm going to step up and say that you SHOULDN'T skip that second plane. I'm an instructor and I see students try this quite often. Here's my take on what happens. Moving to the "second plane" is a natural progression, you move up to planes as your skills improve. When you "skip" a plane in the process you will find yourself flying a plane that your skills aren't' ready for. What I have seen in this case is the pilot spends all of the flying time being afraid of the plane, or always trying to keep up with the plane. This is a recipe for making this hobby no fun at all. By moving to that second plane you skills can develop with the plane and then when you move on your skills will be at a level where you can enjoy flying.

I've seen a lot of pilots make comments about advanced plane like "It's so easy to fly you could train on it" or "Turn down the throws and you'll be ok". You have to realize that a lot of what they are saying is from their prospective. Sure it's easy for them because they've been flying it for awhile and their skills are at a level that can handle it, but for a student just moving up from a trainer it will be very very difficult to fly. I fly a Dave Patrick Ultimate that I consider to be a great flyer and easy to fly, but I wouldn't recommend it for new students.

As a final comment on this I'll throw my personal experience in. I've been flying for 9 years and have flown quite a number of planes, ranging from trainers to full 3D capable machines. Earlier this year I got a Balsa USA Thunderbug, which could easily be on the list for a "second plane". It's got a low wing a boxy body, and is a very stable flier, and has walking crawl slow landings. But I am having more fun flying this plane than I have had on any plane in a while. It will do just about anything I ask it to do, and I'm not worried to put a $1,000+ plane in the ground. Don't write off a plane just because it's supposed to be a "2nd plane". Ask around here on RCU and I'll bet you will find a lot of experience pilots that love to fly their 4*'s, Tiger 60's, Superstar's, etc....... That's because they have discovered just what those planes are capable of.

Hope this helps

Ken