edmundp, dont let anyone tell you "you cant do it". Sure the first few attempts you make might be "dogs", but you'll learn, and thats how. I suggest you stop into the 1/2 A forum and look at different designs, or request a few there. This way when you start off small, everything builds quicker, the parts are usually cheaper (ie. simple .049 surestart engine runs $7.00 from cox......4 channel reciever and servos will be around $60.00) and when you mess up you didn't spend a zillion dollars on materials and you take the guts and start over again. Also, once you find a desing you like and it finally flies well, you can easily scale it up then into something much larger, with the build dynamics changing only slightly due to the new size (ie different materials for spars/longerons....etc. If you look through past posts there you may see designs that you like, and it will help you refine/figure out what direction you actually want to go with you design. Its just a suggestion, perhaps you may want to start out larger, but I wish I had gone this route first in my learning/building process. It would've been easier. Anyway, good luck in whatever you decide and if you have any specific questions, throw em out there!
ZZ.