I have found the perfect model airplane for children (pre-teen). The 1/2 A MAN-WIN Trainer is basically a board with a motor, prop and elevator. It is very simple to build, and actually quite easy to fly. It is not very elegant in it's aerodynamics, but then that is why its perfect for beginers. To help keep credit where credit is due, I won't post a copy of the plans on my site, but here is a link to the place where I got the plans. If you have trouble with the link, send me an email and I will see what I can do to help.

It is the Balsa Beavers Model Flying Club. Click on the Beginners link, there are some pictures of the plane (sans motor) and a link to a PDF drawing for the plane. Their field is located in Toronto's Centennial Park.

My 8 year son & I built one and flew it in the summer of 2005. We substituted a metal rod for the wood dowelling (because that is what I had) and used a small bolt through the wind to keep the rod from flying out. We also made our own control horn for the elevator out of tin. The motor is a surplus Cox .049 from a P-51 Mustang that took one to many core samples of the back yard. Launching the airplane is a bit tricky, it takes 2 people - one holding the controls, and another to gently throw the plane into the air at the right angle to allow the motor time to get the airspeed up. Once its flying, my son had now problems keeping it in the air for almost the whole tank (after about 10 laps he started getting a bit too confident and was looping somewhat on purpose, but also somewhat out of control). Needless to say nearly every flight that evening ended prematurely, however, the plane took the pounding without many problems. The biggest problem being the engine mount bent (we used fairly thin tin for the brackets - my fault). They were easily bent back, and up it went for another couple of flights.