My first airplane was a McCoy .35 powered Comet Rookie that my dad and I built when I was 5. I thought he was taking far to long to finish it up, so one day I got out the dope and painted the entire model, right down to the wheels and tires. Good thing the engine and tank were not yet mounted. Well, 5 is a bit young, but after a number of laps of flying with dad's hand over mine in the handle he got the idea that I was on top of the airplane enough to fly it by myself. This worked fine for two or three laps, but I got into pilot induced oscillation and managed to drive it into the ground before he could recover the plane. Didn't matter to me, because those laps alone were etched into my mind forever.