heh. never was into planes. was into electric and gas cars and I did end up with a friend's helicopter. It is (and has been for the past 7 or 8 years) in need of some repair. My friend crashed it, got frustrated and showed up on my doorstep and said, "Here, take it. I don't ever want to see it again." So I ended up with helicopter in need of repair, tons of spare parts, radio, electronics, etc for relatively cheap. I ended up buying that night at the bar...prolly would have been cheaper to just offer him some money, but hey.
Still got it all around, been thinking of ebaying it all (cars and helicopter stuff)...
But what I'd do in your situation is look up the local RC airport and go out there and find out if they have a "mentor program" and ask around out there. You'll find that the air-based RC people are quite friendly and eager to help others out. (at least they are in this area, I'm told)
Kevin