ORIGINAL: Dr1Driver
You should start with a slow, gentle plane like the Eagle, Kadet, Tower Hobbies Trainer, or any of the Hobbico trainers. There are others. ANY P-51, even one that's on teh market now, labeled as a "trainer", is NOT a good plane to start with. No matter how you modify a P-51, it's still a P-51, and will act like one.
If you like warbirds, your natural progression of planes will be:
High wing trainer
Low wing sport plane
Warbird
I know you want to jump right into the warbirds, but save yoursaelf some grief, time, and money and take it slow. You gotta walk before you can run.
Dr.1
Dr-1 is exactly right, and so is Big Tim... there's a good chance you'll have problems with it if you hadn't had much " Stick Time." And if you really want not to crash your first plane, get something that can hook into a " Buddy Box." That way you can find someone with experience to help you.
Also it's good to have a R/C Flight Simulator for your PC. I have one and it got me ready big time before my flight lessons at my Club. Two flights at the field and I was already flying Solo on my 16 year old Goldberg OS 40 Glow Eagle. Warbirds are less forgiving and has much more Prop Torque than a trainer, not to mention they can be very touchy on the controls. Some have a great tendancy to Tip Stall, and some are very fast and or do both. Another thing is Tail Dragers can be a little tricky if you're not used to them. One step at a time, rushing it will only cost you a lot of $$ in the end. We are trying to help you so you don't make some of the mistakes we've made, or others that we've seen make. JMO
Peter Dowling aka Luftwaffe Oberst
AMA District II # 865404
Aero Modelers Club
Pulaski, NY