When i first stared it was witha Flyzone Skypilot RTF 3 channel cessna 172 looking airplane. Flew it for a bit to get good and then bought an arf and a radio. Back then they didnt have as much plug and play model as they do now. I think getting a decent radio, even if its used like the DX6I i got a few months ago for $100 is the best way to go it has more than enough channels for me, its easy to program. If i could do it all over again i would get the DX6I first and a plug n play model, most PNP models nowadays are as cheap as some rtf, and they require almost no assembly, usually just glue the wings on or something. That way u have a great radio to start off with instead of most lower quality ones that come with rft airplanes. You WILL need a better radio one day just buy that first would be my advice.