hey Andy,

It really depends on what your looking for. If you know that your going to be hooked on the hobby which it sounds like you might be [8D] then the better radio would be a good idea. Yup your correct: Hobbico Avistar 40 Select 4-Channel RTF 59" or you could get it without the radio and engine. when i purchased it 10yrs ago i got just the ARF(Almost rdy to fly) version, and i bought the radio/servos/receiver in a combo and then i bought the .40LA engine by O.S.

For the radio as a few have mentioned before, id recommend a radio that gives you some extra room to grow. I am not sure what others would recommend for them but ive had good luck with Futaba and Hitec radios. I havea Futaba 7CHP radio anda hitec flash 5 radio. When you start out with your first plane it may seem like overkill for a radio but as you grow youll be happy you bought it. You can save models in it so for example on the hitec flash 5 you can save 5 models i think, and on the 7chp i think its 8 or so. This makes it nice so as you move from your trainer to your next plane you can save both models on the radio. I think the technology with the 7chp is a little better than with the hitec flash 5.

So id recommend the futaba 7chp or 7cap. The 7chp is the one for helis but you can still set the models up for planes. With you mentioning helis this would also allow you to fly helis on it so you could have 1 radio for both


Hope this helps,

David