Well, I'll be the voice that is different. I have been flying for 10 years now and I have NEVER needed more than 6 channels. And trust me, I've had plenty of different planes. Different types of flying don't need the higher number of channels. For this very reason I don't recommend a beginning pilot buying a high dollar radio that they may never use down the road. For learning to fly I recommend that the pilots use simple 4 or 6 channel radios that come with many of the RTF's these days. I also recommend moving that radio to their second plane too. By that time they will start to have a good idea of what kind of flying they want to do down the road, this is when a higher end radio could be purchased.

That's my 2¢ worth

Ken