ORIGINAL: acebird
That is the consensus of this list. We will see. To me it made more sense to use a big heli that is more stable and also runs on gasoline. Glow is a pain in the butt and electric turned out to be very expensive and risky when talking about LiPOs. Half the cost of the heli is tied up in the power source that has a fixed lifespan.
Ace
The Predator Gasser is indeed very stable (I have one) and everything typically happens a bit more slowly than with a small heli. However, you still need to be able to fly it by trained reflex. You can't rely on having time to think about the correct control movement. At the very least, some long hours on a good Heli simulator are needed. There are still psychological barriers to be overcome when you start flying the real thing. Once you are confident you can fly it, you will have no problem. It's sort of like learning to ride a bike.
The advantage of small electrics is that the repair costs are MUCH lower when you crash. When you fly it, you know this, and you take more chances. This allows you to learn and progress much faster. This is the exact reason why the simulator works so well. A crash costs nothing. With a small electric, a crash costs a little more, but you are gradually getting over the psychological barrier. Jumping right from a simulator to a $2000 Heli is a pretty big leap.
The one small electric I'd recommend to any new Heli flyer is the TRex or X400. Parts are very cheap and if carefully built it flys decent out of the box. With some metal upgrade parts and a CCPM swash, it's absolutely amazing. Put a few wheel collar weights on the flybar, and make sure all the linkages have zero drag. If you do this it is just as easy to fly as a much larger Heli - except that a crash costs you $10 instead of $200+
LiPos aren't that expensive for it either. I pay less than $40 for 2200mah packs that will fly it with very good power for over 10 minutes. Haven't damaged one yet.
Greg