EXCELLENT, then you're halfway there already. My first pattern plane was a scratch built Typhoon 2000, so I can relate to the right tool for the job thing.

Kits....well, there's a lot, but not many in wood that are 2 meter. There are plans for Typhoons, but they have to be scratch built and teh designs need to be updated. Not that they don't fly great, they do....but to WIN they need a little more tweaking.

Plenty of glass/foam kits available, including Tony's Panacea. The best kits are by ZN Line, but try to get one

Also you can get a used pattern plane, but be CAREFUL because if someone is selling a pattern plane, 90% of the time there's a good reason for it unless they are just quitting. An active pattern flier doesn't sell thier main bird unless there's something wrong with it, or it's worn out. Or like Troy and just goes through planes like most people change underwear

Yep look at www.nsrca.org under pattern links and start clicking. Also look under merchandise in the swap shop section, there's a few good ones in there.\

How do they fly so straight? Practice and more practice. Mastery of the left stick is crucial if you want to win. Wind correction takes a lot of time to learn properly, and even top FAI pilots are still learning every day....because every day is different. Today you may have to learn how to keep your plane out because tehre's a nasty crosswidn in your face, and tomorrow it's quartering behind your back....the next day it's shifting back and forth, gusting....etc... so you have to burn a lot of fuel and fly no matter what. Because I garauntee you at a contest you can count on at least a 20 mph crosswind from your weakest direction, whatever that happens to be. The best thing is the next time you're at the field, fly straight and level all the way across the box (60 degrees to either side of your center line) and then execute a half reverse cuban 8....then intersect the SAME line at the SAME altitude at the SAME distance away from you and fly straight and level to the other end, where you execute anotehr half reverse cuban 8.....rinse and repeat until you're low on fuel. Sound boring? It is somewhat, but you'll be out of fuel before you can blink, and won't feel like you have improved a whole lot. So you do it again...and again...and again...until you can do that every time, in any condition, no matter what. THEN and ONLY then do you begin adding other manuevers, such as ROUND loops (try that one too hehe), 2 point rolls with the pause directly on the centerline, a perfectly symetrical double immelman without rolls, a full roll without dipping the nose or changing your heading at ALL.....etc. If you get this far, you won't need me to tell you anything else, you'll be ahead of 99% of the other guys out there already.

-Mike