I agree with gunradd's recommendation. The Habu is the best entry level RTF all around fun and friendly EDF. At $400 bucks it's actually a good deal but more expensive than the smaller offerings. With size also comes expense. The Habu fits a 70mm fan and flies about 85 mph top speed stock. Since it is rather draggy (by design) it will not benefit from extra power and hits a ceiling much over 115 mph. It does utilize EPO foam (like the multiplex twister and other Parkzone planes) so repairs are pretty easy and don't result in too many pieces in crashes.

If expense is an issue, I recommend the Phase 3 EF 16. It comes with a 64mm fan and will fly almost as fast as the Habu in stock form (~75mph). The EF 16 is a little friendlier all around in stock form and at $110 it's hard to resist and arguably the most populer EDF ever. It comes with motor installed in the fan and supplied ESC. It has taileron control only so you only need 2 servos, RX and battery (2200 3S cheap and plentiful these days at less than $20 from HC). Habu Batteries are 3200 4S and cost twice that much.

Also, if you want to go faster, the EF 16 will fit 70mm fans and achieve speeds of 140 mph. I think the record is over 170 mph. Also as you've guessed, the bigger planes are easier to see. The small jets "seem" faster but can be a challenge to see when highly powered.

The EF 16 is very easy to assemble but requires more time than the Habu of course. I found the most challenging part is the application of the supplied decals which must be cut out and positioned in large sections. Many guys paint and glass these planes and create real masterpieces which look very scale. If more power is desired, there are a few mods needed for the taileron support, but they are easy to do.

Both planes are enjoying a lot of popularity on RC Groups. The EF 16 has been around for a few years and there are several build/mod threads for it. The longest is over 600 pages and still going.