carrellh,
Thanks for the kind words. I am doing that thread to hopefully show people that building a plane isn't near as hard as they might have thought it would be. In today's ARF age many people just assume that it's difficult to build a plane because so few people are doing it these days. But that's not anywhere near the truth. IMHO 98%-99% of those out there that think it's too difficult find out once they try that's not nearly as hard as they thought it would be. In fact, since I started that thread I've had 7 people (yes, I am keeping score!!! ) saying that they are building a kit now because of my thread gave them the confidence to do it. That was my goal right from the start and I'm glad I could help people out there.

Sidargo,
Welcome to the addiction!!! This is a great hobby. I've been in it for 10 years and I consider myself as just getting started. I have a list about as long as my arm of kits and planes that I want to build!!!! Heck, my list for the next few months has 4 builds planned. Not to mention what's already hanging in my garage!!!!!

I usually try to steer people away from buying used planes, unless you know the person you are getting it from. Even for an experienced pilot it's really hard to tell the condition of a used plane, and for a new person it could be almost impossible. I'm not saying that it's not possible to get a good deal on a used plane, I'm just saying that you have to be really careful. The first step would be to find an instructor and then let them help you get a plane. I'm sure that all clubs are pretty much the same everywhere around the world, you can hook up with an instructor and he can point you towards a plane for sale. Heck, if you lived here where I do I could get you hooked up with a trainer outfit that's for sale in about 20 minutes!! Either building a kit as mentioned above, or getting into just about any of the good ARF/RTF's that are on the market today is a great way to get going in the hobby.

Hope this helps

Ken