Hi Darlek, that broken aeroplane is just the sort of model one needs when learning.... but in one piece of course! Apart from a healthy and reliable motor ( very important if you wish to keep away from the planets surface) it was apparently easy to work out what the controls were doing whilst flying away from you but when flying head on, you have to think which way to move the sticks.
When I started flying I was offered help by a very accomplished flyer who gave me two extremely helpful bits of advice and after a couple of half hour lessons I was flying solo.
1:- engine at full bore and get some good altitude straight away ( height will allow for some errors) then chop the throttle back and reduce speed a bit to remove twitchiness of the aircraft.
2:- When the model is turned towards you, at some point it will wander in one direction or other or drop a wing so, push your rudder (or aileron if 4ch) stick towards the dropped wing or direction of turn as if you were using it as an imaginary prop to support it.
These two bits of info alone were the key to survival of my model and I went flying all summer with that aeroplane and it always came home in one piece . Once you have mastered it and flown for a while, you don't actually have to think which way to push the sticks as it just becomes second nature and like riding a bike, you don't forget either.