Ed,

My AR-7000 has been back to Horizon Hobbies two or three times in the three years I've been using it. They have updated the firmware at least twice in that time. As far as I know, none of these updates were intended to fix "critical" problems. There have been no "recall" issues. So there's probably no urgency to returning the system prior to using it. I will join many on RCU to recommend that you replace the receiver battery with a good quality 6.0v battery. That said, if you have any discomfort about using the system after having it sit on a shelf for two years, by all means, send it in.

Greg