np B_Dub. i'd say try staying as close to the ground as possible at first. getting it 3 feet high will get you into smoother air, but the heli will still react the same to cyclic and you'll have 3 feet to drop out of an emergency situation, which means you need way more room. the heli will slide to the left naturally due to the tail rotor force. i'd be repeating what has already be written very well if i continue to comment. check out RADDs for a well written intro to piloting helis:

[link=http://www.dream-models.com/eco/pre-Flight.html]RADD's R/C Heli Flight Training[/link]

i taught myself how to fly with RADDs in a relatively short period of time. it really works if you are religious about punishing yourself. remember, it's all about keeping the heli under your control 100% of the time. literally, you have to constantly asses what the heli is doing or about to do. if you take your concentration away for a millisecond, you're going to have to recover or crash. when you get good, flying helis is almost a zen feeling. you can feel the heli hearing obstacles without having to take your eyes off the heli to see.