Hi Rino,

Welcome to R/C flying!

Gt5500 gave you a good overview, but let me add a couple of comments. A lot depends on your personal preferences and the area that you have for flying. For the most part, whether you decide on a heli or on a plane, you should download the free FMS simulator program and parctice with it. It won't completely equip you flying, but it will teach you the basics.

Basically, the more variables that need to be controlled at the same time, the harder it is to fly. 2-channel planes only require two variables to be controleed and are therefore the easiest to fly. However, they are also the most limited in what you can do with them and people tend to get bored with them very quickly. 3-channel planes have three variables and are usually, therefore, easier to fly than 4-channel planes. Any heli that is above toy-grade requires 4-channels to fly and is therefore usually more difficult to fly than a basic plane. Helis and planes are different in their controls, therefore someone who gets good at flying a heli cann't just jump into flying a plane well, and vice-versa.

The best beginner heli is the E-Flite Blade CX2, which you can get for around $190. However, it can only be flown indoors or outdoors if there is ABSOLUTELY NO WIND.

If you're not sure about getting into this hobby and you just want to get an idea of what flying is all about, go to Toys-R-Us, Target, etc. and but an Airhogs AeroAce (no substitutions) for $30. Its a small, very basic plane that is easy to fly, is lots of fun and is practically indestructable. Many experienced flyers keep one of these around for fun flying while thier batteries are charging.

Every plane needs some adjustment and trouble shooting to fly properly. The more building that the plane requires, the more adjustment will be needed. For this reason, I strongly advise beginner flyers to start with a ready to fly (RTF) plane, which requires the least amount of building. Although the radio gear in these planes is not top quality, if you buy from a manufacturer with a good reputation, you should have no problems. Then, if you continue with the hobby, you can invest in a quality radio system.

Probably the two best beginner planes are the Multiplex EasyStar and the HobbyZone SuperCub (my preference). The EasyStar has no landing gear, so it must be hand launched and must belly flop its landings, therefore its suited for flying in a field where there is no landing area. The SuperCub, on the other hand, has good landing gear so if your flying area has a paved section, has hard dirt or very short grass, the SuperCub will be able to do ground take-offs and landings.

If you don't like either of these, other good beginner planes are the Aerobird Challenger, T-hawk, SkyFly, Wingo, Beaver, Slo-V and SloStick. Let us know what you decide, or if you have questions, feel free to ask. Also, check out the various threads and forums for beginner flyers. RCGroups and Wattflyer are two additional forums with great beginner threads.