4005,
First of all, welcome to the addiction.... uh, I mean the hobby!!!!

First things first.... You will not, I repeat NOT, be laughed at when you show up at the field. We have all been beginners and we remember what it's like. So put those thoughts out of your head and concentrate on learning the greatest hobby in the world.

The biggest thing is finding an instructor. If you can tell us what part of PA you're in we can go a lot further in hooking up with an instructor. Another great resource to use is the [link=http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx]AMA Charted club locator[/link] . It will help you find clubs in your area, and you can search by zip code as well as by city name. Before you even find a club you'll want to set aside the money to join the AMA, as any club you learn at is more than likely going to require that you have it. It gives you liability insurance in case you damage any property or injure someone with your plane. And besides, you get a pretty good magazine every month too. I don't know what part of PA you are in you might PM RCU member [link=http://bubbagates.rcuniverse.com]Bubbagates[/link] and see if he can help you out, he lives in PA too.

Your instructor will be able to tell you what you are going to need as far as the buddy box and cord, but more than likely they will have what you need. Most instructors/clubs are set up with those items.

Don't laugh at the chicken stick. Those are lot more durable than fingers!!!! I've been flying for almost 10 years and I prefer to start my plane with the chicken stick!!!!! As far as breaking in your motor, follow the instructions that are in the engines manual and you can't go wrong. As you're getting started in the hobby you're going to have a lot of costs that you'll need to get started, so you'll want to hold off buying some things right now. A CG balancing machine and a prop balancer are things that you can hold off on until later. You can balance your place with the help of a buddy and two fingers. As far as the prop balancer, most props are pretty close to balanced anyway so you'll be fine for now. And besides, a prop gets out of balance when it hits the runway and a beginner is going to hit the runway with a prop quite a bit. The little bit of out of balance you have won't hurt anything. I'm not saying you won't need these things if you stay in the hobby, but you can get by for now. As I said above, everybody was a beginner at some point and we remember what it was like. Don't worry, you'll find lots of people at the clubs that are more than willing to help you out in these areas.

RCU is here to help, so please feel free to ask any questions you might have.

Once again, welcome to the addiction.

Ken