Hi all,

First off, i've been haunting this site religiously ever since I discovered it a few weeks ago, it's such a joy to find a place with both experienced and new pilots exchanging valuable information.

I have decided to get back into this hobby after almost 20 yrs of absence and have already ordered my first trainer.

Since i'm getting married next year, and expect my disposable income to dwindle (drastically) as "the day" approaches and certainly for many years after I feel that its now or never to do this.

Since I expect the misses to balk at some of the costs involved in this hobby I am planning to purchase things with longevity and reusability in mind.

I plan on getting a 7 or 8 channel computerized radio instead of a 3 or 4 channel one, looking to the future and more functions.

I will be ordering a trainer kit in a few days, I used to enjoy building my own planes and am looking forward to constructing this over the winter months.

I also plan on using the same engine and electronics on my 2nd model, and possibly the third.

The question I have is should I start off with gas as opposed to glow to reduce the monthly costs, I live just a few minutes away from a field and honestly see myself out there several days a week for many hours at a time.

If I go with a gas engine fuel costs will certainly be substantially cheaper.

Am I missing something ??, such as maintanance costs and parts ??

Is this a realistic approach to the hobby or should I just go with a glow engine and pay the $12-15 dollars a gallon ?

Also, are there any .60 or so size gas engines available?, haven't seen any advertised anywhere yet.

Thanks everyone for your input, and hopefully I wont have to change my username to lawndart in a few months.