Tadd,
You definately need to practice on a simulator first. There is a freeware one called Pre-Flight that is fairly realistic. I practiced everyday for a week on this simulator, and was hovering my Hummingbird fairly well the week after. Pre-Flight lets you adjust the simulation speed, so you can start out slower than real speed, and gradually increase the simulation speed as you progress. I found that after practicing with the simulator set to twice normal speed, hovering the real thing was fairly easy. Pre-Flight will work with a PC joystick (I used a logitec rumblepad), or you can get an interface for your transmitter off Ebay, but make sure you get one that emulates a joystick. Some of the interfaces on Ebay only work with FMS, which is not a very good simulator for learning helis. If you want a commercial simulator, the PicoFly is fairly cheap, and I have seen good reports about it. Any time you spend with a simulator will save you a lot in spare parts.

Jeff

you can download Pre-Flight here
http://users.bigpond.net.au/atv/PFMOREI.HTM