My 2 cents. ARF or kit? If you will have more than 1 plane (Is there anyone out there who has only 1 RC plane?) Why not get an ARF and learn to fly with that And while you are learning to fly and land and takeoff etc, sneak a kit into the cellar to build in the off season. Tail dragger or nose gear? Someone made the point that all trainers are nose gear for a reason. That's a good point but since landings are a very important part of flying and you are more than likely flying off grass ask yourself this question. Will you be making some rather sloppy landings? A sloppy landing with a tail wheel may involve replacing the prop or bending the main gear or replacing the nylon bolts. A sloppy landing with a nose gear involves those also, but sometimes, since the nose gear is attached to the firewall, It breaks also and sometimes the force from a rough landing is transfered back to your rudder servo. Radio? I'm not qualified to talk about any brand but Futaba. Other than some interference problems on a 1/4 scale Fokker eindecker, I have not had any problems with futaba. My first radio was a 4 channel. My next was a 6 channel. Adding recievers and servos and battery packs to a computerized 6 channel radio is not much less than buying a four channel radio.