Thanks Hellion179! I'm mainly interested in honing my flying skills - getting better at handling more challenging helicopters so that eventually (and I do mean eventually) I can perform aerobatics and various advanced flying moves. That's in the far future. For now, I want to get practice with a more realistic heli. I plan to do the sim thing, but I'm looking for a heli that will allow me to put my skills to the test. I've already got the orientation problem mostly licked so I think I'm good there. But, then the Axe EZ is a very forgiving heli in that respect and overall.

On some other posts, I've noticed people mentioning the Falcon 40 as a good non-coax heli for beginners. Anyone have any comments on that?

BTW, I thought about posting this question on the Beginners Heli site, but I really want to hear the perspective of the more advanced R/C pilots thinking back to earlier in their careers.