Thank you all for your insights. Again and truly it is appreciated.

When I posed the question I had a fairly good idea of what the response would be. :-). The purpose, though, was to explore the answers with these thoughts in mind:

1. As a soldier in the US Army and and EOD Tech (the Army's Bomb Squad) I am rarely in the same place for more than a few weeks at a time.
2. I don't have the space at the moment for a workshop and to store planes with all of the requisite equipment.
3. I have a strong desire to become proficient at flying RC airplanes.

With that eye towards proficiency I have been working with the sim to gain what I figure are the 5 fundamentals. (ie taxi, take off, maneuver, land, and deal with things that go wrong). These I practice in all wind conditions that I can manage generating and working hard to maintain precision while executing everything. (As RC Ken said, maintaining the same altitude while turning, performing correct approaches for and maneuvers to landing....)

I suppose in a few months or so I'll be able to come back to this thread and tell everyone how it all works out once I've gotten a plane as well as linked up with an instructor. Until then I'd like to thank you all again and assure you all that I do not take your comments lightly.

-Rob