As far as I know Futaba and Hitec are compatable. Shouldn't be a problem.

I just bought an Avistar for my son this Christmas, I got for that very same reason. I kept having people come and say that they were interested but I didn't have anything that they could try out. So since my son is only 5 yrs old I don't think he will mind too much if I use it to initiate some of my buddys. At this stage it is still a toss up whether he will want to fly when we go to the field or play with bugs he finds under the benches at the field.