As a noob that built a Spadet for his first ever plane. I loved it and it flew great even though it was 7.5lbs with a mag 46 on it. It handled the wind great, and landed like a dream. It took forever to get off the ground, but once airborne was a blast. The only thing I would add for someone that wanted to start out like I did with a SPAD is that all the little things add up when you have nothing to start with. Contol rod, fuel tubing, landing gear, fuel tank, and the like can add up to a what a cheap ARF costs. IF you SPAD most of that by building it yourself out of stuff you have around or is easy and cheap to get then you can save a significant amount of money. You can pretty much SPAD the whole airframe including the wheels for the landing gear if you want.

I do like that I'm not as afraid to crash them over a hundred and something dollar ARF.

Good Luck,