I've been flying airplanes for 3 years, and I've been self taught on everything. I've been flying 3D for 2 years, and I now do demos for HobbyTownUSA. Maybe I'm just a natural at it...I don't know. But just because you crash doesn't mean you have to stop flying! 3D foamies are meant to be crashed, if you fly all of the time you can expect to get about a month out of an airframe...then you have to put together another. It's all part of 3D flying, and any true 3D foamy pilot will tell you that. If you crash a plane hard enough to break a motor, you were flying a jet not a 3D plane. Or you have a really cheap motor.
Expo is a very personal preference. Some guys like 75% expo, some like 20%. I like 0%...that's right, I don't use expo. I don't use dual rates. And yet I fly full 3D with airplanes that have 60 degrees of throw in the control surfaces. All of these things are personal preferences, you just have to find out what fits you. Eventually I'll probably switch to 20% expo just to make my life a little easier, but I've gone for 2 out of 3 years without any expo or dual rates, so it is not needed.

If you want to have success without crashes for the first time around, the Super Cub would be great. But keep in mind if you go down the 3D road you will crash. Some crash little, some crash every other flight. I dork a plane into the ground about every 2 weeks or so and I try to fly at least 3 times a week, and with a little CA or hot glue everything is back up and ready to go...again. When the plane is more glue than foam, simply crash it as hard as you want for fun, gut it, and send the electronics to a new plane. I've never had a motor or servo go bad on me because of a crash, and I've never had a lipo puff up or go pop. Seriously guys, I don't have 900 posts for nothing.