Hey Shawn,
ok great...... good to hear you got a good simulator...... how are your hovering practices going?
do you have any preference on transmitter ?
Each have their own pet Tx here I like Spektrum ... .but Futaba have way more flexibility with any switch being able to be assigned to any function you can think of.
also another thing you can consider is going nitro .... as everyone is getting out of them so complete kits are very very cheap now! the ups are you can get upto 20mins of fly time per tank ... simply land... fill tank and fly again ....
Downs on it are Messy and tuning and noisy.... but you will quickly clock up the flying hours.
Not trying to confuse you ... just since you are starting out, you have not committed to any faction NITRO VS ELECTRIC or outlayed for chargers and all the gear needed for electric....
have you done any research on servos? I could suggest micro digital and high speed..... there are many out there ... but you get what you pay for.
Some people say go cheap on them as crash costs are much less ... I come from the side of.... if you have good simulator discipline, practice all orientations and then start with basic hovering (Magic Box Method) and then gently get into perfecting your 4 non inverted orientation hovering techniques... you will then have sharp eye hand motor reflexes and subtle dexterity required to begin controlled circuits and sweeping turns etc.
The biggest mistake (THAT COSTS THE MOST) is people generally are like big kids ..... they run before they walk. I did .... but had to relearn how to do it properly so it would not cost me! so far it has not cost me a crash (Touch wood) in 2 years!
once you have decided your Transmitter .... you can begin your journey from there..... 8 or 9 channel as you will definately gro into it rather than going cheap and regretting not spending the extra couple of hundred on the one you know you should have got! [Don't ask me how I know that one LOL]