I got a Nexstar about a month ago. Nice solid plane (new my newb opinion) and messed around on the simulator every now and then for about two weeks while the weather cleared up then I got her in the sky. Maiden flight was a beauty. It has a lot of trainer fucnions like the active flight stabalizer, some interesting flaps on the wings that decrease stall speeds, increase its want to climb without elevator, and decrease maximum speed and another set of interesting flaps on the leading edge of the wing which I have still yet to take off. But the plane is very forgiving and can run nice and slow. It will glide for miles which makes landings a lot easier.

I found the simulator to be pretty useless compared to real flight but it is nice to get a feel for what its like on the sim. Its a whole new game in the sky.

I didn't have a "buddy box" to go up with either and my first flight was solo. No crashes and the plane is just as nice in the air, very forgiving. So my opinion, yes, you can go up as a first timer solo style but make sure your comfortable with the controls of a plane. It doesn't hurt to have an awesome plane at the other end of your channel to! If you want to go straight into gas engines like I did, I highly suggest the Nexstar. Good luck and happy hunting!