I agree on the fact that maybe I will wait for a real gasser. With the new house and all my finances are pretty tied up
I don't particularly want a "ghetto gasser" going down the run way
I will probably still go with CMP Edge 540 for the price factor but maybe go with 4stroke 1.80 instead. I actually wanted the gasser for the fuel economy because when I do fly it's usually for a few hours of tank-after-tank and with nitro that's a little more pricey.
As far as the radio goes, it's true, as long as there is no mixing required it works pretty good for a straight forward four channel setup, but it lacks some nice stuff like throttle mixing and such. All the major programming is there like Expo, EPA and D/R.
Flying skills: I've been flying heli's for over a year now (that's what I started with) and am now transitioning to planes. Not looking for a trainer, honestly it's a waste of my time. I'm not awesome but even though this would be my first nitro plane I am beyond beginner. My first flight ever was last month, took off on my own ( with the club president over my shoulder but no buddy box) with the foamie in 10Mph winds did some circuits, some loops and some rolls and landed in one piece. Going from helis to planes as far as "Basic" flight goes is easier than planes to helis. Mind you you won't see me doing Harrier rolls anytime soon
I have been doing a lot of time on the SIM also so that is helping.
So being stubborn and planing on sticking with the Edge 540 at least through spring what would be a good Nitro engine for it (I am thinking of a 4c 1.80, maybe a Saito). I would rather be over powered and have unlimited climbout since I plan on doing a lot more up close flying and hovering maneuvers. The plane recommends 1.40 size engine. I can hover the foamie and do torque rolls and would like to expand that into the larger plane.
Thanks for all the advice and comments so far guys. It's greatly appreciated.
Marc
I attached a pic of one of my helis.