Like you, I wanted to learn to fly by myself. Here's my story:

About 4 years ago, I discovered the Hobbico Firebird II park flyer. Its a foam wing, plastic fuselage, 2 channel, ready to fly for about $75. Looked simple enough from the supplied video, so out to the local school yard on a fall weekend, no one around. Just like the video said, I pushed the throttle to full, gave the bird a gentle push into the wind, and it was off and flying! Well, not quite. About 30 yards down the road, when I realized I couldn't get it to turn, it finally nosed over onto a sidewalk. Picked it up, made some adjustments to the V-tail, and tried again. This time it made it almost 75 feet before crashing. Of course it was much higher this time, and the resultant crash resulted in the motor ripping out of its mounting, and a broken wing. Luckily it came with an extra wing.

Back home, I disassembled it, remounted the motor, used a heat gun to get the creases out of the fuselage, and back to the schoolyard. This time, I managed to get it in the air and keep it there. With only 2 channels, however, there was no elevator control. Does anybody else know what happens when you hold the rudder on a V-tail with no elevator control? I do. The plane eventually tries to do a roll over, goes nose down, and if its high enough, will eventually pull out. I wasn't high enough. Nose into the dirt. This time, I had to buy a new fuselage for $35. (total $110 so far).

Now I was getting more experienced, and I could keep it in the air, and get it back down safely. After about a year of flying this on occasion at the local park, I was getting bored. One day, another flyer showed up at the park. He was flying a U-Can-Do .60. He was a great pilot, and made the hovering, knife edges, flat spins, and snap rolls look easy. I decided it was time to move up.

Being a cheap skate, I did some more research and discovered SPADs. Build it yourself, durable, and easy to fly. I built a Debonair to plans on Spadtothebone.com. After a few weekends, my new plane was ready to fly. I had broken in the engine per the manual, and was absolutely sure I was ready to go.

Out to the park, nobody around. Started the engine. Pushed the throttle forward. Grass was too long, and the plane didn't have enough oomph to get it going. I had read about hand launching. I didn't need any help, just go for it. So I carefully picked up the plane, pushed the throttle to full, and launched it. Of course the plane was out of trim, and my experienced (not) fingers immediately tried to overcorrect. I fought the trim for almost 30 seconds before the plane nosed into the ground at full throttle. Cracked the fuselage, bent the landing gear, but everything else survived.

At this point I realized what an idiot I was being, and found a local club. I repaired my Debonair, and did some glide testing in the back yard to work out the trim issues. Finally, the day arrived when I went to the club field, met my instructor, and he looked over the plane. He'd never seen a SPAD before, and was skeptical of its flying characteristics, but found no reason not to try it out.

His expert hands taxied out, and took off beautifully. He adjusted the trims, brought it back down and we hooked up the buddy box. It was my turn. He took off, got the plane 3 mistakes high, and let me have it. My goodness, what an adrenaline rush I had. He was impressed with how easy it was to fly, and I was shaking in my shoes. For that first flight, he had to take control back on nearly every turn. I was over controlling the h**l out of it. Trying this myself would have been dangerous and expen$ive.

After about 4 more Saturdays, getting as many flights as I could on each, I finally soloed. I am now the Club President, Training Coordinator, and an Instructor.

So for your first question: Plane Recommendation: SPAD Debonair - build it yourself, durable, easy to fly. After learning how to fly, it can be modified for improved performance and some basic stunts. Note however that this is not a park flyer. No, its not electric. There are some electric SPADS, but they are not trainers. Your criteria appear to be that it has to look good. I'd suggest you not worry about appearances for your first plane, but find one that flys well. That's what trainers are for. Eventually you'll move on to the cool looking planes, and they'll actually survive their maiden flights.

What ever plane you decide to fly, PLEASE FIND AN INSTRUCTOR!!!! I tried it without, and would have eventually succeeded, but at what cost? Had I caused damage, or worse, hurt someone, it could have lead to more that just my financial ruin. Particularly flying on public land, it could lead to local laws that prevent or severely restrict other flyers. In the long run, its safer, cheaper, easier, and more fun with an instructor and a club. You'll meet some very interesting people, see many more planes, and get a much better idea of what you want for your second plane. Half the fun of this hobby is the social interaction, whether its comrades to comiserate your loss, or the pats on the back when you grease your cross-wind landings.

Good luck, and have fun!

Brad