Hi Schfifty 5 (and your Dad) - Like Hogflyer said, welcome to the great sport of RC Airplanes. I'm sure you'll find plenty of info for what kind of trainer plane to get along with transmitter, etc.

I also agree a great help will be to find a local club in your area, so that's what I thought I'd try to help you with. Try using this [link=http://www.ama-dist-8.org/Clubs/Locator.php]AMA Club Locator[/link] that Bill Lee created. He uses the AMA database for the club contact info and I piggy back my info on his and provide some actual field locations.

Good luck and me sure to let us know how you and your Dad are doing