My dad got me a c/l plane somewhere in the mid 1950's. That's all I had! No lines, handle, fuel, battery, nothing else. He thought some of the older guys would help me out with the accessories to get me started. Well, they didn't! The plane had a cigar shaped fuselage and looked something like a F-86. It was all balsa and powered by an .049 Cox. I never did fly the thing.
Later in the 1960's I built a Sterling Super Ringmaster. Worked for several months on the plane. Ambroid glue, pins, tissue, mixed talcum powder with clear dope for filler, brushed on multiple coats of dope and sanded on the thing (it seemed) endlessly. Fox .35 for power. It was pretty. Took it to the field and let one of the "experienced" fliers take it on it's maiden flight. It looked great in the air for about two minutes. The engine quit while the plane inverted and the guy tried to bring it up and over to land it on it's wheels. She went straight up to about forty feet then came straight down like a yard dart. I carried the remains home in a shopping bag.
I decided another Super Ringmaster was way to much work and just might suffer the same demise so I chose a simpler Ringmaster and didn't put much effort into making it pretty. I also decided that if it was going to meet the same fate as the Super, I would be the the one who was responsible. It flew pretty well and I had lots of fun flying it. So, the first model plane I ever flew was a Sterling Ringmaster. I imagine that was the case with many who took up the sport.
Joe