The Firebird Phantom is a nice, small, inexpensive 3 channel plane.

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=HBZ4700

The pusher prop configuration makes it pretty durable. I've heard the tail boom is the weakest link, but they sell repair kits for it, and there are some instructions to fix it here in another RCU thread.

The down side with this is there is no way to "buddy-box" with him with this plane. If you get a larger plane (electric or nitro), you can always just "buddy-box" with him and let him fly it.