Adam, welcome to the site. The best thing you can do is hook up with your nearest R/C club. Odds are there will be a member or two that would have known your father. Certain clubs have preferences to brands of radio gear, my local club is 90% Spektrum. Others may prefer Futaba. The servos you mention, are the wires twisted or flat. If flat they will work with just about any current radio system. There are some higher end systems that allow the pulse timing to be changed to make use of the new super digital servos. For most sport engines fuel with 10% nitro and 18% oil works just fine. If you have any further questions post them here. My father also taught me how to fly back in 1977. I lost him in May.