A lot of good advice in this forum. Take the Cox and post it on e-Bay and take those proceeds and buy a good all-wood .40 size box trainer with a flat airfoil. The Tower Trainer or Hobbico combo is good. Also some trainer RTFs in RCUniverse. Get the simulator if you cannot find an instructor. Take your time and practice.

I had that Cox / MRC Cessna. Looks good but is hard to balance, cannot fly it in a breeze more than .02mph, and the thing will not take a landing any harder than feather. It also cannot be repaired very well.