hey ken the first thing is find a club close by, clubs are a great source of help for the beginner ,for both flying and information help. consider joining the AMA they provide insurance in case of a accident and most clubs require that you have a AMA card. as for what plane to chose I restarted a couple of years ago I am also 43 after 20 yrs off with the NEXTAR trainer its got a reliable engine you can use for other planes and also comes with a simulator although its a basic version you can practice without consequence and it was a "ready to fly" plane RTF , there are allot of differing opinions on plane choice some prefer the LT-40 trainer I liked the idea of a package . the club trainer ( the guy who trains beginners to fly) will have a prefered plane most likely to teach you to fly although if you have one of your own choosing it would probably be fine. lastly you have started in the right place RCU is a great source of info and a great place to start.BTW RCken one of the moderators is from lawton,OK .