i also started out with electrics and I personally wish i would have just jumped to glow. I actually think glows are cheaper. i was always messing up electronics, batterys would need to be replaced, but that isnt even the reason i like glow more, i like glow more because if you try you can keep an airplanes up for 20+ minutes. then when its time to land, just let everything cool off, maybe check the reciever battery, fill it up and your good to go. I am also the kind of guy that likes tinkering with stuff so electrics didnt keep me busy at night, and as for repairs and maintnence, their really is not as much as i thought, a little after run oil, and maybe change a glow plug and your set. I have had a few electrics, larger ones for 600 size motors and none of them fly as slow as my ModelTech Magic Funfly. some people may disagree with me but i would actually recommend that for a first plane, my first glow plane was a hobbico avistar, i thought it was much easier to fly then the electrics, much more stable, but lands a little faster then a normal trainer because it has a semi-semetrical airfoil to make it more aerobatic. The reason i didnt get into glow first was because i thought fuel was going to cost a lot of money that i didnt have, but i was wrong, its amazing how long a gallon of fuel lasts, it takes about 2 weekends of a lot of flying to use up 1 gallon. all depends on what you want to do.