I started 3 months ago, and was able to go solo after 5 weeks.
Thinking about it now, there was no way on earth I could have done it without an instructor to start with.
This thing is much more difficult than any beginner would imagine!

I spent lots of time on the simulator as well, and that helped a lot.
Fortunately I didn't crash my airplane yet, and I am still flying my first model. Just had to replace the nose wheel due to my first hard landings