ORIGINAL: texzen1
I did the same after 15 years... Careful if you jump to the 2m platform in electric.....you will have to spend quite a bit to get to the sub 11 pound limit. A 2m Electric pattern power setup....battery , engine, engine mount, and speed control outweigh a YS 170 by about 2 lbs... I found a really good 2m pattern ARF kit for the price of a 110....Try Texas RC plane called Fortuna. Also sold around the world under the name Sword II or Swordfish. Look at hobby king for low priced batteries and motors... they are not star quality but pretty good...
With the new, small gasoline engines available today, you can have good power and reliability, extreme low cost of operation and light weight. It makes no sense to me to use electric power in the lower classes. You should fly a lot in Sportsman and Intermediate to learn the craft of Pattern flying, and gasoline operation will save you a ton of money in the long run
Electrics make much better sense in the higher classes..... the flexibility of electric allows better tuning of the airplane and power curve. MHO