After many years of RC cars I recently decided I wanted to fly. I also wanted to teach myself. I got the Parkzone J3 cub. Its in your price range. For $200 you can get the rtf plane, extra battery, a spare prop, and you'll still have enough left for a six pack of your favorite beverage. I flew it fine on the first attempt with no assistance. It hand launchs with ease. Heck it almost flys itself. Just be nice and easy on the stick and cruise around at like half throttle. Its even easy to land, but it don't like grass at all. The wheels are small, so it'll land better on pavement. Windy conditions aren't very fun, but I guess thats to be expected. By my 4th flight I learned that with a little bit of a dive I can do a loop. At half throttle I bet that I get close to 10 minutes of flight time. I've never timed it. I just judge when to land by how much "pull" the plane still has. So after around 20 flights now I'm real comfortable flying it. So for what my opinion is worth, I'd suggest the Cub.