FYI - the tower 40 size trainer ARF is only around $60 (with coupon) + S&H. That's about the cheapest trainer ARF on the market (including ebay), and it flies quite well.

I can't speak for all hobby shop owners, but most would happily take a look at your crashed engine and tell you what it would take to make it airworthy again free of charge. It sounds to me as if the bracket for the remote needle broke off. Honestly, you don't even have to fix that part for it to work, but the replacement part is very cheap.

You'll also need to test your receiver after having been crashed. If it does have any troubles, most often it's the replaceable crystal that is bad ($12). You also need to check the servos for possibly stripped gears after a crash. You definitely need to replace the receiver battery AND get a battery tester. It's extremely wise to check the batteries in your transmitter and receiver before each flight.

Do you have a flying club nearby? There is usually plenty of help to be had at your local flying field. They could help you setup a new model and trim for flight and even give flight instruction. Flight instruction is the best insurance against crashing your first time out. A good flight instructor would have shown you the tools (a battery tester) and would have tested the flight battery on your first Alpha before each flight. That plane might very well still be flying. It's VERY expensive to crash a lot of airplanes. I strongly suggest getting help until you are a proficient pilot. This is true of glow or electric.

The little Sukhoi will not be a good trainer. My advice would be to hold off on that purchase for a while and concentrate your limited funds on developing your piloting proficiency. Once proficient, you can go nuts and buy anything you wish. Don't be in such a hurry to throw away money crashing planes that are beyond your abilities. I always give this advice to all my students. You're in the most expensive phase of the hobby... the "accumulation phase". It's a phase where you WANT everything you see, and it's difficult to restrain yourself. (I've been there and done that!).

As far as glow versus electric goes, I'm a proponent of glow. I'm biased that way. But, since you already have all the stuff, glow is much better for training. Obviously, you can build any size plane and make it electric if you want, but considering the planes you've mentioned here, the glow plane handles wind and payload and rough landings FAR better (as would the same airframe with the appropriate electric setup). But the biggest advantage is frequency. For the same money, you can fly a glow plane MANY more times in a day than the electric. And at this stage, that's an important factor.

My 5 cents,
Tom