wow 160 bucks for the radio alone lol. I might be able to swing it, but it might delay my starting point. I think I understand what you're saying about needing one though. As for ARF kits.....I don't see myself getting into that for quite some time lol. I've never been one to take up modeling, and the assembly of those seem quite intimidating (having to get everything perfectly balanced, correctly placed and lined up, etc.), that's why I've decided to go with the RTF kits. Actually, to be honest, I haven't even considered looking into RC flying until I saw some Airhog planes at Walmart rofl. I nearly bought one, but figured they were more of a toy than anything else. After reading some reviews about them, I'm glad I didn't. But it got me thinking...."If they can make a somewhat flyable plane for so cheap, then I bet there are more, and better planes on the market that actually work". You see, years ago, I looked into it slightly, and discovered the extreme cost involved in this, and was turned off. But with the release of electric RTF kits, it seems the costs have been lowered drastically, which had me looking deeper and deeper, until I caught the bug haha.

Iturnright, I have a question for you.....couldn't you just buy some replacement parts for your Aerobird to fix it up? I mean, the way I understood it, is even though the electric RTF planes are fairly cheap, you're still gonna crash them, and they're still going to need repair. If this isn't the case, then I missed something, and frankly it scares me to death lol. No way I can afford to buy a new plane each time I have some bad luck or crash a landing haha.

Also, could someone please explain to me what a Buddy Box is? I think I got the basic of it down, but not totally sure. What I think I know about it is it's when an instructor hooks their radio to yours, and if you make a mistake when flying, they can take over and try to keep you from crashing?