RE: To the old salts...
Ibid on the 2 blade prop on the PTS
As came up recently in the Beginner's area...
Since you WILL be buddy boxing with him, consider something like a Big Stik.
Tone down the throws and you have a very nice docile plane.
Later you can dial things back up and let him have a blast doing aerobatics.
The plane is trivially easy to repair as well.