What you shouldn’t do, is what my boys and I did 30 years ago or so. Initially we learned how to crash control line planes. Then we progressed to learning how to crash radio-controlled planes. Our approach was to go to an empty field somewhere with a plane or two, fly until nothing would fly anymore, then go home and fix them to again fly, and repeat. At no point did we have anyone who knew what they were doing with us to teach us. While we eventually learned, it wasn’t the best way to do it.
Fortunately, after having a twenty-year break, when I got back into it, I joined a club that not only provided instruction, but insisted that any new member develop a certain level of competency before being allowed to fly on their own. That didn’t cost anything extra, and it went pretty quick for me, but it was well worthwhile. In my case it helped develop some necessary discipline. No longer was the approach to zing up in the air squirrel around without any particular plan, or even necessarily knowing where the plane was going, and then just try to recover and bring it down safely.
So, find yourself a radio-controlled flying club near you, make an enquiry, and get out to the field to meet some of the club members and see what’s going on. At our club we even offer a new person the opportunity to fly one of our planes with an instructor, to get a feel for it before they join.
Also, have a look at the training program that we have developed: Flight Training
RC Jim 