non ballbearing servos
 

The local H.S. has non ballbearing Futaba servos for 7.50 each. I don't have the part number but this is for the servo only, no box, no hardware. I have used cheap servos in the past for throttle but was wondering if anyone uses non ball bearing servos for other controls. Does a ball bearing alone make a servo that much more dependable than non ball bearing types and finally is buying name brand the most important thing when looking at cheap servos or are they all about the same ( a non ballbaring Futaba better than a ball bearing non name brand servo).

RE: non ballbearing servos
 

Not at all and in some cases brand X argueably may be better. And remember always compare apples to apples along with the application (type flying and aircraft.)

Bering type servos may be a little faster, a advantage that is most likely lost on the majority of flyers. About the only other advantage of bering type is durability not reliability. A bushing type servos output shaft will not last as long as a bering type. Bushing types are just as reliable.

In regards to bulk packaged servos, No problem, however be carefull without the servo arm packet that is always included (your LHS has likely sold the packet separately) the chances of you using the wrong output arm is greater. There is no cross brand compatability on most of the servo arm splines. Many airplanes have been lost when the wrong arm was used and later slipped in flight.

John

RE: non ballbearing servos
 

Here's one for you. I built A Goldberg Ultimate in 1991 and put 2 - plain Jane S148 servos on the ailerons ( remember this is a bipe ) I had an OS 1.08 in it and flew the heck out of it for 10 years and 1100 flights. I sold the plane 3 years ago and it is still being flown periodically and yes those 2 - S148 servos are still in there.