Brian, I had my first RC flight in 1998. I was 32 at the time. I did it solo with no simulator time. I took off, flew around, did a few loops and a few rolls, then landed, all without incident. The only prior “experience” I had was some RC cars in my 20’s and some control line in my preteens.

You have the added advantage of a sim. While not the norm, it is totally possible that you can fly solo without incident first flight. However, I did my first flight on a trainer, and stayed with the trainer for another 50-100 flights. You’d be amazed at the aerobatics a lowly trainer is capable of performing.

I had access to 20+ acres for my first flights, but after a week or so, I joined the local club. Being stubborn, I didn’t ask for lessons. And since I could land, takeoff, and fly reasonably safely, non were offered either. Occasionally I’d get tips from other pilots, but no official lessons. Looking back, I should have joined the club from day one and asked for lessons. I learned a lot of bad flying habits that took several years to correct and I know lessons would have saved me a few planes. I feel so strongly about this that I started and spearheaded an official training program at our club in recent years.

I didn’t get into trouble until my 2nd plane, which was a GP Ultrasport. Much hotter, more aerobatics. I really don’t want to remember how many planes I destroyed in my 2nd and 3rd year of flying, but lets just say it was way too many. I’m convinced that if I had started by myself on anything other than the trainer, and never joined the local club, I would have become instantly disgusted with the hobby and would have quit the first year, maybe even after the first flight.

As for skill, you may be “Quick Learn Novice”, but are still novice. It is a matter of perspective, but I consider those maneuvers you listed dead easy as there isn’t much skill involved. Try a rolling circle with the trainer in the sim, say two rolls per 360 degrees and a nice round circle, no altitude changes. If you can pull that off, then you are intermediate. I won’t get into all the maneuvers and their skill levels, but I now consider myself a decent pilot after 8 years under my belt, and I can fly pretty good 1 roll and 2 roll rolling loops, probably the hardest maneuver I can routinely pull off. I fly Advanced pattern, and can hold my own. But it took a lot of work, eight years and several thousand flights. Here’s the kicker, I still pale in comparison to what I consider the Expert pilots… food for thought. You’re probably way ahead of the typical novice curve, and may be a natural, but you’re still a novice… you haven’t even flown a real plane yet in real weather.

I mention all this because I think we both started with similar ego and skills. My ego was put into check pretty early and I had to work hard to fly at my current level. My suggestions, for what it is worth…

Join a club and find an instructor. If you really are ahead of the curve, you can start with something other than a trainer, like maybe a moderate 2nd plane, but ONLY if you have instruction. The instruction will allow you to safely learn on a plane a bit hotter than a trainer. If you really want to fly on your own, which isn’t ideal, get a trainer to start.

Cheers and best wishes.