Flying a .40 size glow plane in a park with out any control over who might wander into your way isn't what I'd consider to be a good idea, but I don't know your park or local area, so I can't say.

I will say that if you've never mastered landing, you'd be best off going to your local club. You're rusty, so you can bet your first flight will not be as good as your last one. And your last one wasn't good enough for the airplane to stand a good chance of survival on your own. So while a simulator is expensive, it won't be destroyed on the first flight.

Oh, don't forget the batteries. There's a really good chance that the receiver pack is garbage if it's been sitting for a few years un-maintained. In fact, you should check the wiring and switch. Nicad's sometimes cause something called "black wire corrosion" that works up the negative wire from the battery and basically wrecks everything it reaches, including the receiver if it gets that far. I've never lost a recevier from it, but I had to throw out some switches and recycle some batteries when I got back into the hobby after a few years away.