RE: Spektrum DX8 vs. Futaba vs. Airtronics
My uncle was a Royal dealer (purple box) and I had a few of those. One never knew if it was going to work or not. I drove 75 miles to his place many times for repairs. I finally bought myself a good radio....a Kraft Series 74 for college graduation. That was finally reliable....except during a rough landing. The crystals would break. Radios back then were match tuned.....transmitter and receiver. Fortunately, I was living in Florida and a Kraft repair guy was just up the road, but I only had one transmitter and one receiver. Things finally got better with an Airtronics Vanguard VG6 in 1987 or so. The electronics were infinitely better and multiple receivers were affordable.
Some people have no idea how difficult thing were back in the early days. I started with a one button MRC which was really a Futaba for rudder only. It had a really wideband receiver so if someone keyed a CB radio nearby, your airplane came crashing down. The escapement turned by a rubber band.
Every radio on the market today is much better than those and sorry to see so many people complaining because everything is not perfect. My Kraft 74 was $400 back in 1974 and there were others that cost plenty more. I have seen problems with every brand and people who swear by every brand. The one thing I have learned over the years is that the majority of crashes are pilot error, but is much more convenient to blame the radio......
You cannot go wrong with Spektrum, JR, Airtronics or Futaba. As people above have said, see how a transmitter feels in your hands, the relationship of the controls, etc.
bob