No, not if you have the buddy cord and an instructor willing to help you get started with the plane. People learned how to fly aerobatic second planes for decades without duel rates or EXPO. I'ts just easier with it. But Look up my thread here in the beginners forum titled; "looking for a second plane?" http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5447767/tm.htm You may benifit from it you may not.