I have to 2nd the sim.. I can't begin to tell you how useful it is. If you can do it on the sim you can almost walk right to the field and do it there.

I might consider a light EPP foamy since they will take a crash a lot better than depron. I can't think of one off the top of my head but my buddy just got an EPP foam bipe that he says flies great. I haven't seen it yet though.