skelrad,


I learnt to fly without an instructor as well due to certain circumstances. My learning curve has been slow as a result. but its certainly do-able.

instead of looking for a very sturdy, hard, well built plane, i'd suggest look for slow flyer electric that is very light and can glide to a landing if you take your hands off the stick. I started flying on something like this: (this is not the plane i learnt on, but its similar)

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/wingdragon.htm

Review
http://www.hobby-lobby.com/notes-wingdragon.htm

it taught me the basic controls and orientation. and when i'd do something stupid i'd just let go of the stick and it would glide itself back to the ground or crash but still be air worthy. (or when it lost battery power in the air). you need two things for this though...light or no wind, and a nice grassy open area to take care of the rougher landings. You can hand launch it because of the grass (the video tells u how to). Another advantage is that it comes with everything included at a relatively low price. you will not have to deal with the array of accesories that come with glow power. Even spares for this are available. Plus, it has only three channels so its not TOO complicated to fly and understand.
(Is this beginning to sound like one of those infomercials )

Once you get this plane under control you could start looking for something bigger but still slow to fly and with ailerons.

Just a suggestion...good luck with the flying...and post pics of what you buy and where you fly [8D]