Most of the advice thats been given here is good, don't rely on hobby shops for the best advice, I once had a student show up at the

field with a new trainer outfit and a gallon of 30% heli fuel the shop sold him.

Go to a club FIRST, talk with the people at "the table of knowledge", thats the table where all the old farts are sitting. Hook up with a

instructor, this is a MUST if you want the plane to last longer than 5 seconds.

There may be a bulletin board at the field with planes for sale listed, many pilots sell their trainers after they solo and you can get

the whole 9 yards (thats airplane talk) cheap, plane and radio ready to fly. This is a TOOL to teach you to fly, dosn't have to be fancy

but airworthy, no smaller than a 40 size plane but a 60 size would be better because the bigger the plane is the easier it is to fly

(trainers anyway) but either size will do just fine. Have your instructor inspect it and your ready to go.

Also, club monthly meetings are a great source of info so try to make it to one of those right away, they have "show & tell" planes

and projects and sometimes items for sale and lots of flyers to answer your questions.

Good luck.

Chuck