ORIGINAL: techrtr
My suggestion would be to buy a sim, get good at hovering in all orientations, and then jump directly to a 450 size heli. Take it easy and you'll be fine.
I agree with this 100%. I have only been flying since march of this year. I started with a sim and learned how to hover in all orientations. However, I then jumped to a cheap RTF Axe CP. While I was able to sucessfully fly the Axe my skills progressed very slowly. On top of that my cheap $200 heli ended up costing me MUCH more after buying a 4 lipo batteries and overpriced replacement parts. After flying to Axe for about 4 months I stepped up to a T-Rex 450Se V2 and could not be happier. Since I built the Rex my Axe CP has pretty much just sat on the shelf collecting dust. The T-Rex is much more stable and precise. Because of this my flying skills have greatly progressed. I am now planning on building a T-Rex 500 in the next month or two. After the bigger heli is built I will probably fly my 450 less and put the Axe up for sale.
After all that my advice is
1) Get a good sim and Practice, Practice, Practice
2) Get the best CP heli you can afford. Preferably one with a good head holding gyro and a belt driven tail.
3) Fly, Crash, Rebuild, Fly, Crash, Rebuild
4) Have fun!!