DJMic, welcome to the world of R/C! I hope this is going to be fun. If there isn't a club you can go to I would suggest that you start with an R/C simulator on your computer. It will let you get passed your first dozen or so crashes without spending any more money. The answer in the other post was warranted. VERY FEW people can teach themselves to fly R/C without spending a fortune in replacement airplanes!! I've been teaching for six years now and I've only had one student, a full scale 727 captain be able to fly solo in one day. The major problem is that because the word "CONTROL" is part of R/C everyone feels they must be controlling something most of the time, when in reality virtually all good R/C trainers will fly them selves and the student only messes up what is a nice flight to begin with. IF YOU MUST have an ARF and MUST try to do it yourself, again go with a computer simulator first then get the "Hobbico Superstar Select". for around $290.00 street price. It has a good dual conversion radio and an engine that will fly it around with some confidence.

HTH email if you need more help
Tom