RE: Futaba or JR?
My very first radio was a JR F400. I am now flying Futaba, not sure why ended up switching. I have actually tried them all on for size but still flying Futaba. The thing I dislike about Futaba is their constant desire to change items forcing you to buy something new, for example their trainer system. Different models require diferent cables etc. Perhaps they need to do this in order to make a profit given their margins may be low in order to offset the quality ? Nonetheless, service captured me, I had a GV-1 that needed serviced and their crew looked after me very well. Not sure what I recommend but Futaba works well for me!
Cheers!