Don't sweat it or feel badly, thebarge. There's a lot to learn with a first plane or heli, and it often involves replacing parts. You learn, no big.

One thing, though- you mentioned you forgot to turn off the tx. Please don't do that while the heli battery is still plugged in- the heli can spin up out of control if you do. The right order is unplug the battery from the heli, then turn off the tx, and reverse order turning things on. Basically, never have the battery plugged in on the heli if the tx isn't on.