We have a guy at our club with a Big stik 60 and he put one of those RCGF 20cc Gas engines on his. Sounds really nice and seems to pull this along quite nicely. Not a bad combination for this plane either. The Stik would be an awesome choice for a first time gas engine platform to use and experiment with.

I second the Airtronics RDS8000 radio. For the price, ease of programming, and 8 channels available, its a great radio to use. That and the receivers are quite inexpensive compared to the other brands. But going the Futaba or hitec route is not a bad option either. Save up for the radio that YOU want, with the options and features YOU want, and you won't be disappointed. It doesn't hurt to see what others at your field are using so that they can help you out if you have any questions. Thats always a handy bonus there.

Just my $0.02 worth...... after inflation though, only amounts to $0.005, but hey....its the thought that counts......