I tend to agree with everyone about that maybe not being the best place to fly a larger model. Especially without having experience flying them.
Tuning a model airplane engine isn't hard if you have a good quality engine. I have an OS .46ax and a Thunder Tiger Pro .46,both of which have been very reliable and easy to tune. You might need some help getting started though if you know nothing at all. I don't know about rc car engines,but with airplanes,you can generally set it and forget it. Once you have them running good,the only reason you should have to tweak is if you change fuel type,or for drastic changes in temperature. There are things that can go wrong though. I once had the fuel pickup line get folded back on itself inside the tank and was slightly pinched off without me knowing it(the stock tubing was too flexible). Had many deadsticks before I figured it out. Landing a trainer with a dead engine isn't hard at all(assuming you have altitude and or airspeed to work with)......it's just that if you overshoot your landing,you can't go around for another try. If it happened on final approach,chances are you could bring it down safely. Landing a heavy balsa plane is quite a bit different than a foamy. Less floaty,so they come down quicker when you chop the throttle. And if you let them hit too hard or at the wrong angle,they will bounce and still have alot of momentum when they come back down. When learning to land,you want to get it lined up a long way off and as it gets close to touchdown,you try to hold it just inches off the runway for as long as possible and let it gently settle down on the main wheels(avoid the nosewheel touching first with trike gear). If it's coming down too quick,you can just give it little blips of throttle and keep some back pressure on the elevator to help slow it down. And of course,if it doesn't look good enough,you can just throttle up and go back around for another try.
One more tip....double check things periodically. Glow power creates alot more vibration and things can come loose over time. Loctite can help. But double-check motor mounts,linkages...anything that could come loose. I haven't had alot of problems with this,but better safe than sorry.