I am fairly new to the heli's myself. I still have the training gear on in fact. Message boards like this one are great places to start. Most would recomend finding someone to help you get started. I was not lucky enough too have anyone around so I had to go it alone. I found building the heli pretty easy but setting it up a little difficult. The things that helped me most where Rays helicopter book (sorry the exact name escapes me at the moment, a video that showed how to build and set up my helicopter (a raptor) and a simulator, in my case a CSM. With these I was able to hover on my own and feel fairly confident in taking the training gear off. I also have read about a co-pilot device from FMA. I ordered one and should have it this week. Its supposed to help steady a helicopter should you get in trouble, sounds like just the thing for learning nose-in. Hope this has given you some stuff to think about. Also check out heliproz.com, they have a section on starting out.

good luck
matt