Hey Spence, i'm new to R/C airplanes this year. I took it upon myself to learn it and figured it out on my own. Someone gave me a old Buzzard plane that i spent the winter fixing and rebuilding. I spent a bit of time with a freeware simulator which was ok and flew a plane once on a buddy stick before i took mine up. mine is a really slow flying old timer and it was really easy to control and even easy to land. i can get 30min flights out of it... i listened to all the people on the forum about their trials and failures but i don't have anyone around here that's into the sport. i wanted to get flying so instead of dreaming about it i just took my time and learned on my own.
anyway, good luck and i commend you on your efforts!