RE: Futaba 18MZ ???
No doubt that the jets and scale will be able to find uses, but that is a small slice of the RC pie. Most of the clamor I hear about an 18 channel radio seems to be coming from outside those two groups as well. I am betting on a 16+2 radio. The S-Bus stuff all touts 16 servos and the servo programmer has 16 channels to select on it. So 16 proportional channels plus 2 on/off channels.
A built in RF deck would be nice just for looks. A bigger or better battery would be cool too. SD card will likely be the deal too. Maybe even a built in S-Bus programmer?? Perhaps direct computer connection too? Do away with the cards?
Regardless, I will be very surprised if we see anything on sale any time soon.