those are two entirely different classes of planes... the aerobird is something he can take to a park and fly successfully without lessons or instruction. the other two are nitro fuel powered planes which MUST be flown at a club, private land, or somewhere it is explicitly allowed. they can't be flown in a city park safely.

as far as instruction, it should be free no matter which you get. if not keep looking, there are lots of rc'ers more then happy to help someone get airborne. you probably will have to be an AMA member and also maybe a club member though, which are costs you will have to add on to the fuel models.

also, the aerobird and parkzone are not upgradeable for future use. once it is destroyed or he wants to move on he has to start over. the avistar and nextstar all have common engines/transmitters/electronics that can be moved to a different plane.


my personal advice... get the aerobird (they fly great!) and that will give him a very good introduction into the hobby and an idea if he wants to continue with it.