Something else to think about is what kind of flying you want to do. If you realy want to fly and advance in your skills then I sugest staying away from the small park flyers. And this is IMO.

The smaller the plane the less it is able to handle the wind. That's not to say that a large plane feels no effects, but 8-10mph to a small park flyer is a gail-force. A larger plane can fly and you can learn how to adjust for it. Ive flown Aerobirds and a scout and faced the frustration. But a did a few minutes on a LT-40 that a friend had in some decent wind and it was actually fun.

Again, IMO sometimes the parkflyers make better second planes than first ones.

I know the Aerobird/Scout setup is quite different from the standard elevator and rudder setup but the weight and wing load concept is the same.

Also, I disagree with the runtime statements abot electrics. Many electric planes large and small can get up to 15-20 minute realistic flying. (Hotdogging aside.)