Hi Wheelnut,

Bigedmustafa is absolutely correct. The best low wing plane to learn 4-channnel control is the T-28 Trojan. It's so steady in flight that its actually a better trainer than the high wing planes like the Minimag and E-starter. It takes of and lands incredibly well and is a pure joy to fly. Its made of the same foam as the SuperCub, so it stands up to plenty of abuse and can be easily repaired.

The low cost planes sold on e-bay and on Raidentech, HobbyCity, Bananahobby, etc. are a mixed bag. A very few fly fine just as they are. Others fly fine after extensive modificationis, such as replacement of all electronics. Still others won't fly well no matter what you do and how much you invest. Their quality control simply doesn't exist, so if you were to buy two exact same planes, one might fly decently and the other one won't get off the ground. Over the years I bought a number of planes from them, so I'll give you three examples.
1) When I was first learning to fly with the Firebird Commander, I bought an knock-off of the Firebird called the Dragon200Z. The plane just wouldn't fly. The motor was attached to the plane with tape! I replaced the prop, motor, battery, wing, tail and made numerous adjustments and changes, but the plane would not climb more than a few feet before settling back down.
2) I bought the Zero, which is a knock-off of the GWS Zero. Although the plane was supposed to be RTF, it was missing the control rod for the elevator and didn't have any of the hardware to connect the control rods to the ailerons and elevator. I already had three GWS warbirds set up with brushless outrunners, so I decided to use my own parts and put the plane together with a brushless/LiPo system. I first assembled the plane exactly as instructed, with all of the original parts so that I could find the CG that the manufacturer determined to be correct. I then modified the plane with the Brushless/LiPo set up, making sure that the CG was EXACTLY as per the original set-up. The plane got off the ground with no problem, but was incredibly unsteady and uncontrolable. I was able to land it with minimal damage. I tried adjusting the CG and making other corrections, but I could not get the plane to fly well no matter what I did.
3) I recently bought the T-34 Mentor (PNP) while placing an order for batteries with HobbyCity. The instructions indicated the CG location, so I built the plane with an outrunner and LiPo right from the start, making sure that the CG was EXACTLY as specified in the manual. On the maiden flight, I immediately realized that the plane was extremely tail heavy, so I brought it down right away. I had to abandon the battery tray and make a recess in the fuselage to hold the battery, approximately 4" forward of the original position. This moved the CG several inches forward from what the manufacturer indicated in his manual, but now the plane is a joy to fly.

If you want to get the best deal for your money and enjoy flying right away, get the T-28 Trojan.