My advice (and remember I'm a newbie also!) is to just get him a nice RTF thing and basic field gear. Then he won't have to wait till spring to fly. And if he does like it, it will keep him busy till spring anyways. He'll buy another plane, he'll get to be buds with all the old farts down at the field, on and on. Have you been to his local field? He'll want the same type radios as his instructors to use a buddy box is just one of the reasons to know them. Put a bow on one of the old geezer instructors down there and have him show up Xmas morning with the plane... - Joe