I used a good old used clothes iron from 77-86 on all my planes. Because of it's size, I learned the very valuable stratagy of covering sub parts before assembly, and the result was cleaner covering jobs than most at the field. In 86 I went to basic training, and one of the items I got there was a very small travel iron for less than $5 at the BX. After basic, that's all I ever used. The handle was right next to the work and very steady, not only that, it unlocked and folded into the iron...a very slick feature for getting into tight spaces. Finally on my feet and making ends meet in the early 90's I could put more money into my hobby and I got the "real thing"...a Monocote covering iron. I hated it, awkward, long handled, heavy, and fat. After a couple airplanes I gave it away in favor of the small travel iron...light, flat, and steady. I've seen them at Wal-Mart.

I don't know where your interests lie, but you may be interested in checking out the SPAD topic here at RCU (or the link in my sig). Those guys (me included) are building airplanes out of sign board and gutterpipe for very cheap and having a blast. The funfly guys have really picked up on this. These planes are finding their nitche in the hobby for turning fresh thumbs into second nature thumbs for very little time, money, and emotional debt involved. Then you can move on to a sweet airplane you have a lot of time and TLC into, and have the reactions and confidance to fly it!