I did a lot of reading on this when I started out because I *thought* turbines were the way to go for me. That is, until I flew an Edge (talk about a flip flop on that R/C path!)

The others gave great advice above but something they didn't mention or that I did not see...speed. Turbines fly around 200 mph. They are FAST, if you have never seen one you need to go to a jet rally and realize just how fast a 65 inch wingspan model moves at those speeds.

So, one of the planes around plane 5 I'd think needs to be an extreme speed prop plane. Look at the Cermark F-16 or the Patriot XL. Jet body but with a prop on the end of them. Or, find a used ducted fan F-15 if you are wanting to get into scale jets. Apparently the F-15 is a very capable turbine "trainer" on the scale side of things. So, the Regal Eagle comes to mind.

You will need TONS of modeling experience or something with Jet experience to really help you out. Otherwise, you could burn up a $3,000 turbine in the first 5 seconds of operation or worse - hot start with a flame shooting out the back that burns up your jet.

Make some posts in the jet forums. Learn as much as you can before you ever get your feet wet. Also, when these go in - don't expect to be able to save much of anything. There is a nice video of a model jet crash due to flutter in the crash forum I think you need to watch. So, just be prepared to watch your $5-7k model go up in a fireball.

Still interested? Seriously start asking questions in the jet forums.