dkme - i totally think it's fine for a first timer. it's a bit heavier than the j-3 that i started with, so can handle winds a bit better, and since you said you wanted to start with something that had ailerons ... there's not much else out there that fits the bill. i'm not sure about this, but i think it's pretty easy to upgrade to a brushless on that one too once you get your chops. at the end of the day it's an equation: perfect beginner plane = price/ (something you won't get bored with too quickly) * (easy to replace parts when you crash) - scalability. or something like that ;-)

at the end of the day, what's the worst that could happen? you could buy a diablo. ha.