AXE is my first rotary wing toy. Use the simulator and you will save yourself all kinds of suffering (monetary suffering especially). I use G3.5- it has the AXE CP model on the .5 upgrade. It flys similarly- its a simulator. Close enough to keep you from dodging rotor blades and emptying your pockets every time you charge it, anyway.

The coax birds are fun for about 10 minutes and then you realize that they are quite limited. They will hover hands off from the box- what fun is that?

I researched the forums for months before the purchase, and the Blade and the AXE CP have the best rep for low-end birds. I tried to fly a Blade on a sim and it made me crazy. The AXE on a sim was reasonable. That may be a stupid way to decide which bird to buy, but you gotta have something, and that was good enough for me- a tool to learn with (the sim), and an inexpensive bird for practical application.
Jon