Hi!
Tipsy...
Well it's not what I should choose if I wanted to really "learn to fly"!
What I mean by that is that I want a plane big enough to take off and land from a grass field. A plane big enough to be stable in most wind conditions. Not a plane that you must toss away and that is very sensitive to winds and that hasn't got power and duration.
As you see I think all R/C flying should be done in a Clubs where there is adequate runways, facilities and flying buddies ...not just go out alone in any vacant field and toss a plane...that isn't model-flying to me...

If I still would choose the Tipsy , which isn't a bad Toy airplane , I would choose a brushless motor and Lipo battery A brushless motor with Lipo cells will give much, much better performance and duration than the old fashioned 280 brushed motor.

Regards!
Jan K
Sweden