Try this, i'm self taught on this plane three years ago. Maybe 10 bux in the air frame. PM me if you need more details. I can give measurements and such if you need it. The "fuse" is a 3 foot piece of 1/2 inch square poplar from Home Depot or Lowes. The "wing saddle" is mahogany or sheery from the hobby store, and the up rights are 1/2 inch hard balsa. You can make the whole thing out of balsa, but then it's kinda frail. Wing, horizontal stab, and vertical stab, are 1/4 inch blue foam core. Three channels, throttle, rudder and elevator. Flys with a 350 brushed GWS motor on a 5.3 or 6.6:1 ratio gearbox. And slow enough to walk next to. I dorked mine into the ground several times. Lotsa fun though, I still have mine at my parents house. Not enough room here at my apartment.

Oh yeah, get a simulator. I has saved me thousands. No joke.

PS: the wing is baked in the oven for 20 minutes in a form I made from plans at foamfly.com