NOObious,

The unfortunate side of flying is that there is no plane that is completely ready to fly right out of the box. Every plane takes some adjustment to get it to fly properly. An experienced flyer can keep the plane in the air while making adjustments, or can land it if it requires more substantial adjustment. A beginner doesn't have the experience and knowledge to do so, so the plane usually ends up crashing.

Don't let your son get discouraged about flying. For the moment, set the Freedom aside and go to Toys-R-Us, Target, etc. and buy an AirHogs AeroAce (no substitutions). The plane is small (about 9"), is very simple to fly, doesn't require much room (can be flown indoors in a gym), and is virtually indestructable. This plane is not meant to take the place of the Freedom: its simply an immediate step to get your son to fly, while he is excited about it. Put a small screw or tape a coin to the nose of the AeroAce to get it to fly better. Check out the various threads about this plane. Then go buy one (or two: one for your son and one for you). The only requirement is that you fly when there is NO WIND. But that goes for virtually any plane in the hands of a beginner.

As far as the Freedom is concerned, congratulations on your first flight. The Freedom is not a bad plane, but not the best selection for a beginner. My son started with the AeroAce, then we bought him a Freedom. He got three flights with it. First flight got off the ground OK and flew it well, but the wind started to pick-up, so he asked me to land it for him. Second flight took off OK, but he mis-judged the height of a tree, resulting in a torn-off tail. After repairs, third flight went OK until time to land. He slowed the plane down too much and it stalled, resulting in a nice cartwheel. Luckily the field was muddy and so there was no damage. He felt that he needed something slower, that would give him more time to decide what to do. We set the Freedom aside for now and bought him a Slow-V. It took a few crashes before he got the plane properly trimmed out, but now he loves flying it. You might want to consider getting a Slow-V for your son as well.

If you plan to continue with the Freedom, I urge you to do ground take-offs. The Freedom requires a lot of speed and you get a lot more time to trim it out when you ground launch rather than hand launch. When you ground launch, initially give the plane full throttle, until it leaves the ground. The moment that it lifts off, reduce the throttle to about 50-60% so that the plane levels out. Then gradually increase the throttle so that you achieve a steady climb. If you don't reduce the throttle upon take-off, the plane will nose up, stall and crash. You can also acheive the same thing by controlling the elevation control, but for a beginner the throttle control is easier. Make sure that you have plenty of room for taking off and landing. When landing, start circling the field, reducing the throttle until the plane looses about 15-20 ft. per lap. When its about 20ft. off the ground, increase the throttle to maintain elevation. Once you have the plane lined up for the final approach, reduce the throttle to let it gently settle down. Rely on the throttle, not the elevator control, to adjust how quickly the plane descends. Any turns that you make need to be very gentle, with only a little input of the control stick (anything over 1/4 of the throw is too much). Also, turn off the ACT. You'll have much better control of the plane. Let us know what you decide and how you and your son do.