Peter - I'm sure the Jet & Scale community can figure out what to do with an 18 vs 14 MZ. They are highly attuned to the intricacies of the programming, and able to reduce extraneous electrical do-dads like gear door sequencers. The precision heli guys are also use the programming to a very high degree of its capability. The "split rudder" on Chip's newer planes has been just about the only increase in radio setup complexity for a pattern plane in the last few years - which the 14 MZ handles flawlessly. Basically though, I think 90% of all pattern pilots simply use dual rates or conditions for Normal, Snap, or Spin.

The 9WCII on 2.4 will serve you very well. The 8FG, 12FG, 12Z, 14MZ, are all very intuitive to operate. Notably, if you use conditions, you will not see servo center's change when you switch conditions, as you may see on the 9WC from time to time. The newest 8 channel has awesome programming capability on a newer platform - don't forget to include it if you are considering a new radio.
Thanks Jim W.
Team Futaba