I prefer electric brushless stick the battery in and go any where and afterward clean with a brush and store no having to mess with tunning to suit conditions the noise which the neighbours wont like and having to buy the fuel over and over ive had the same batteries for nearly 2yrs now,and get the lipos at 8 yrs old kids aint stupid and they take on responsibillity well because its of there own accord and not someone else but a good charger is a must.
Also that way he wont be longing to go faster or bigger rooster tails because youll already have it just maybe turn down the throttle trim to begin with or a very big open area.