ORIGINAL: BtnFlyGuy If I were going to start my grandkids out on something, I'd try a .09 or larger plane with a easily built up wing. They are fun to build, easy to fly and forgiving in a crash. Testors and Guillows both had great designs, though the Testors Sophomore was my favorite; three sizes....09 to .29. The .29 had a solid sheeted wing. Here's the thread... [link]http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1250942[/link] Teach 'em well!
There is the Goldberg 30" Trainee for .23 to .49 CI ignition engines, but a modern or even cross flow scavenged .09 would work. I bought an E-Bay plan from Hollans two years ago of it.
Here's two others, I have the Cessna kit I'm building now, they are 29 to 30" span planes:
[link]http://www.outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=2338[/link]
or [link]http://www.outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=2351[/link]
Using balsa instead of ply, they'd be even better flyers. One must understand that 40 years ago, balsa was in short supply in Japan and very expensive, leading to creating planes out of hardwood. This sort of reminds me of the US during WW2. Balsa was used in real planes as well (portions of tail in some planes).