Being a Futaba man im partial to them but they are all good so its a matter of personal choice. You could use non digital as long as they center well and have plenty of torque, not to many 2 stroke glow motors that are competitive, some guys use that big OS motor with success, the YS 160 to 180 size seems to be the engine of choice for pattern, electric for me is the way to go I switched about 4 years ago and never looked back, but then again its a matter of choice, hang out here in the forums thee will be plenty of people offering their advice. As far as batter pack I use a 900 MA Lipo pack 2s with a BEC regulator, again just my choice.