Cindy,
Welcome to RCU and the terrific world of RC flight. You'll find that there are a LOT of extremely nice people involved in this hobby.

I haven't flown a Tipsy OR a GWS Slow Stick, but from the countless threads that I've read, I'd say the Slow Stick is the better choice. (I have flown the GWS Tiger Moth and GWS Piper Cub, and would recommmend the Cub over the Moth.)

The Slow Stick is larger and will carry the weight of larger, less expensive radio gear (slightly), and this gear can be used in the next airplane, assuming it's bigger and faster.

Any of these could be flown in a local park, or the field across the street if it's large enough. (In Indianna, you probably have a few of these.)

If you think that you might enjoy RC and stick with it, I'd recommend that you find a local RC club (which will probably be flying larger "glow" powered aircraft). They will have instructors who can teach you to fly (free of charge), but may not be willing to teach on small electrics. Not sure, but some clubs are funny about it.

Of course, going to the club might spark an interest in larger planes, such as the glow fuel powered ones, so....

Whatever you decide, good luck!

(Link for AMA, the site can help you find local clubs.)

http://modelaircraft.org/templates/ama/

Dennis-