Taxiing yes, short hops No way. Short hops lead to tip stalls and busted planes if you arent careful. Taxiing is almost exactly like driving an RC car. Its not going to teach you a thing about flying, but it will get you familiar with the plane, running the engine and will give you "the feel" of using the transmitter.

That being said, if you hav never started and run a glow engine, its not 100% necessary, but it would be advantageous to get some help just to steepen the learning curve.

Remember, turn the Transmitter on 1st on off last.

Another little useless beginnre tip, get a neckstrap. Its a whole lot more comfortable to fly with the Transmitter secured and resting against you belly and your hands free to do nothing but move the sticks. SOme guys dont use a strap, but 95% of pilots eventually go to one and 100% of those stay with it. Some even move up to a tray but thats just a few.