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You know the old saying, it’s not the engine that makes a pattern flyer, it the amount of practice to be a pattern flyer. As for me, I would say any brand 61 size engine would be good for the first couple of levels in SPA/BPA pattern, by today’s standards. At that price you could get a lot of quality practice time with the Tower engine. Plus you can buy two for about the price of one OS. Also don’t forget that the short stroke 61 engine was once the king of the hill, pulling around 8-9-10 pounds planes through all the classes back in the day.