Hey 80, it's pretty tough to see all of the cool new choices available to R/C pilots and not be tempted to bite of more than we can chew. Trust me, even experienced pilots face this dilemma.
You need to decide if you want to learn this hobby the smart way, or the exciting and expensive way.
The exciting and expensive way involves you buying some Ready-to-Fly (RTF) models and smashing them into things until you figure out how to fly. Trust me, this method is more difficult than you can imagine. If you simply want to try your hand at the hobby without investing a lot of time or having to hook up with an AMA chartered flying club, you certainly can.
I'd recommend you try the Hobbyzone Super Cub RTF electric airplane to start out on your own:
http://www.hobbyzonesports.com/Produ...ProdID=HBZ7100
If this is too boring for your tastes, or you simply want to try your hand on something higher performance, check out the Phase 3 Swoop RTF package:
http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/107116.asp
These are reasonably priced electric planes with good performance. You'll destroy your first Swoop pretty quickly if you choose to start out with it as your first plane, but at $99 each you could probably just buy two to start with.
The smart thing to do is to find an AMA chartered flying club in your area and work with a flight instructor. There are 30 AMA chartered clubs in Maryland. You can search through the list here:
http://www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx
A typical .40-sized glow trainer like the kind flown at most clubs will do 50 or 60 mph and is capable of a whole range of airobatics in the hands of a capable pilot. If you buy your own glow trainer package, it could give you years and years of reliable enjoyment if properly maintained. Even after you finish training and move on to other sport planes, your trainer can be enjoyed for more relaxed flying, or be used as a float plane for flying off water later on.
I tried to teach myself to fly on an electric RTF package, and I spent a lot of time digging it out of soccer fields. Once I ran into an AMA chartered club and learned how to fly a 4-channel glow trainer, I discovered I could actually fly my electric plane a lot better, too.