It depends on your club for FM. If there is a frequency board or not. Fewer people use FM now, so there is rarely a conflict. There are often nice programable FM sets for very cheap, like $20. They are fine, but if you find one, make sure you get quite a few receiver crystals to match, as they are pretty much not available any more. It is nice to have some choices of delta or V tail even if you don't use the rates and endpoint or mixing. I would go with 2.4 myself if starting over even just for less trouble with frequencies, and routing the antennae. As for brands IDK. Make sure you get a few receivers that match, as things change over the years on that too. FASST, FHSS.... Lots of guys like Flysky, Futaba and Spectrum, and lots hate them after a couple crashes. Locals seem to prefer certain brands... I think a .40 is a nice size, even a .25 or .15. Anything less I really like, but flying time is limited from wind and muffler rules......