I still use the same camera I started with 10 years ago and have had no problems. It's a Minolta X-300s SLR 35mm body which you can get very cheap if you look at second hand camera shops. As for lenses, I use a 35-135mm zoom and a 100-300mm zoom. This is quite OK for all sorts of ramp shots, taxing shots etc but it does get tricky when it comes to approach shots because it is a manual focus. For film, I prefer slides (Fuji Sensia 100).
I'm sure you can pick all these up for less than 400-500 bucks. A tripod, motor drive, flash and all those other bits and pieces can come later on. Just get the basics to start shooting.