Greetings, I would like to say first off, I did lots of reading and searching and found this site enormously helpful. I am looking to clear up some things that I couldnt find searching. I am a total rookie to rc flight and want to purchase a full RTF. I have built RC cars and models, but just dont really want to with the plane. I would rather just buy and go... So no Slow Stick, even though that seems to be the overwhelming fav on this site!

1) Looking at a HZ Firebird Scout.... Its cheap, its slow, it looks pretty crash worthy, its cheap, it comes with everything (did I mention cheap??) People seem to like it if they can get past the tail boom problems. I was trying to look up the ziptie fix but the link was broken.

2) Looked at the other HZ offerings as well. I do tend to get bored and the 2 channel Scout was a little worrisome there, but again, its cheap for me to learn on and crash which I know I will. The Challenger with the anti crash deal looked interesting but was twice as much and still 2 channel. The salesguy said a full 3 channel like the Aerobird Xtreme might be too much to start. I really dont want to slam $150-$200 into the ground the first day.

3) The saleguy also showed me the Slow-V and I almost walked out with it. I wanted to do more research first. It seems that people like it, but its fragile. Its also almost 3 times as much as a Scout! I liked that it could be hopped up later on.

OK - here is the research part of this. I have two areas to fly in around my home. One is a large soccer field that is almost 2 playing fields wide and about a field and half long. One side is homes, other side is a large pond about the length of the field, other two sides are trees. Is this area large enough to learn? The other I have to drive too, but its a huge baseball field complex with about 7 fields all interjoined. I would have to think I could fly there as long as I avoid the foul ball fences behind home plate! I would think the Slow V would fly at the soccer field, but I am worried about the crash worthiness of it and my wife is worried about the higher initial cost! I just dont want to take the Scout out and find out it will be out of range over the pond in 2 secs and I have to get a neighbor kid to go fetch it!

Oh, I should mention that we have almost no wind in the areas I want to fly. It bums me out because I have a nice sport kite collection that is now gathering dust (I just moved here and want something to do since I cant fly my kites). Lastly, I know I should look for a club to learn at, and I do plan to but I feel that one of these small RTF's shouldnt be too bad to learn on. Once I get the bug and keep going bigger/faster/$$$ I can join.

Thanks for any info!