Just to address your questions about the Slow Stick....

The Slow Stick is a completely different animal from a nitro trainer (obviously). It is very easy to fly, and can provide you with a very relaxing flying experience. It can give you a leg up on training with a nitro trainer, by simply giving you more stick time to work on orientation, etc.. I have one, and I flew it a LOT before I soloed my Alpha 40, but I haven't really flown it since.

Looking at the financial picture, the Slow Stick is about a $35 airframe/motor. To get it into the air, you need an ESC, a receiver, a transmitter, two servos, a battery, and a charger. Unless you have parts you can scavenge from another park flyer (as I did), you will be looking at around $100-$150 to get the Slow Stick flying. When you look at it that way, it seems like a lot of money for the experience of flying the SS.

Don't get me wrong, I loved flying my SS, and I put together a second one for playing with low budget aerial photography. If your goal is to get into nitro flying, your money might be better invested in a used nitro trainer, or just go with an LT-40 as has been suggested if that fits your budget.

Good luck.