outacontrol41

My Feedback: (9)

I have and use several Futaba 6YG radios...very dependable. However, last March (04) I bought one for my new Hangar 9 Cessna. Installed the receiver and tested, worked fine. For another approx. two months I scaled the plane down for realism. During this time radio and all channels worked fine...still testing...I'm a test fanatic because I fear the worst. So the plane and radio has been hanging in my climate controlled shop since then. A test yesterday revealed I had no throttle channel!! Completely gone. The servo jitters back and forth at best. Glad I caught this before I flew which I was going to do soon. After some research using my other 'good' radios it was determined to be the transmitter, not receiver or crystals. How does a serious problem like this arise just sitting on the shelf? Can I send back to Futaba for a fix? Please help.



My transmitter is OUTACONTROL !

blikseme300

My Feedback: (118)

I once had the same problem. There was a dry solder joint on the throttle pot of the transmitter. I don't know the specific TX that you have but with older units the dreaded "black death" corrosion sometimes occurs in wiring. If you are not going to use a TX for an extended period of time it is a good idea to remove the battery pack for seperate storage.

I would recommend that you send it in for repair and service to either Futaba themselves or to Radio South.

I would also recommend that you send in your TX and RX units for checkups from time to time. Some people do this every year, typically in the winter if that is when they cannot fly because of weather. I send mine in on average every 2 years.

The question should not be "am I being paranoid" it should be "am I paranoid enough".

Remember, safety is no accident! Take care of your equipment and they will take care of you.

People get annoyed with me when if I tell them that I don't care if they crash, they must not crash into me. They don't get it that it is not the loss of a plane which is a problem, the problem is the loss of life and possibly the loss of our flying sites.

End of rant.

outacontrol41

My Feedback: (9)

It's okay. Your ranting sounds like sound advice which everyone should read...it really is about safety. I never thought about corrosion and I do keep my batteries in the transmitters for long periods of time. This is the first time its happened to me after 6+ years in the hobby. I will send that radio in for repair and start removing my batteries from transmitters, it makes sense. Does Futaba provide a regular inspection service for hobbyists? Every 5 years sounds good to me considering I have 21 Futaba radios and all work perfectly. By the way, this particular radio is a YG 6 / 6 channel manufactured in early 2004 - not that old. This is probably an extremely rare isolated incident.

If I tried to fly a plane without throttle management, I'd really be OUTACONTROL!![X(]