RE: current pattern ship
My Dirty Birdy is built from the Bluejay kit but I can highly recommend the ARF. I have flown one. It is smooth and fast. I was a bit jealous, I thought it flew better than the one I built up. The only problem is that the provided tank is way too small and you need to cut the tank mount out to get a decent tank in the plane.
There is also the Phoenix 7 ARF. I've never seen one personally but hear good things.
Dave