I go with the old addage. Keep it simple stupid.

I have a 116 inch Davis D1W that I fly with a Quadra 35. I am using standard metal gear servos on the flight controls. I run a standard for the onboard kill. Throttle is a standard also. Believe it or not I get 4 flights on a 900MAH nicad battery. I use a switches with the largest wire available. I try to keep the battery and reciever switch close so I do not need extensions. I am flying it with a Turnigy 9x radio, HK module, and HK 8 channel reciever. It is 2.4 I have not had any problems at all.

Right now as I write this it is on the charger I am recycling the nicad to insure it is still up to par. The surfaces are HUGE but because it does not fly fast it is fully capable of handling the load.

The more complex you make something the easier it is for something to go wrong. I know guys will think I am nuts but with 20+ years in the hobby and flown many different styles of aircraft. A proper setup with smooth movement of controls do not require much power to operate.

Reliability is what you need. If what you have works good then go with that.

I am putting together a Corsair with a 75 inch wingspan. It will be powered by a HH26 gas engine. Radio is a Turnigy/flysky 9x with Assan Module and 9channel reciever. Servoes are MG996 on flight controls. throttle is a standard futaba. Retract is micro to operate the air valve built into the wing center section I only have one airline to hook up that way. Batteries will be 2000MAH nimh. I will test fly it in MAY or JUNE. I have to wait for it to warm up and dry up so I can paint. NO powerboxes, no fancy high dollar servoes. Just reliable equipment. I do not anticipate a single problem. Ground tests have been fine so far.

What I have learned about gas engines so far. Keep the reciever as far away from the ignition box as possible. DO not bundle wires. I run my engines just a tad on the oil rich side. So far so good and I enjoy the cheaper price of fuel.

You can make it as complex or as simple as you want. I just prefer a simple setup. It is far more reliable and easier to troubleshoot if a problem occurs on the ground.