i think a simulator is important but stories of people trying to "go it alone" and end up crashing are a dime and dozen. if you do plan to go solo from the beginning, please do spend time on a simulator and make sure you do your flying away, far away, from any people.

my friend started with a little electric cub. it went up and came down in a spectacular crash between two people. needless to say, he got an earful from those guys and a scolding from a bunch of other bystanders. plus, it broke into a thousand peices. within a matter of seconds he wrote off a nearly $200 investment. yes... even michael jordan would bend down to pick that up.

my 2 cents.