First of all, I read the 35 thread and most of this thread. I can't even remember all of the people to thank, but much of the advice was excellent and very relevant. I've got a comment and quick question. First, for those who have never flown before, aside from the electrical and mechanical flaws/challenges of the 36, it seems that many of the crashes and much of the damage come from trying to do too much too early. Flight sims or not, unless you actually enjoy modelling and deconstructing/constructing, slow down. Skimming a few inches off of the deck will provide the ability to test the systems, the stability, and develop some basic flying skills. Yes, there will be more unstable air as opposed to being 6 feet up, but glitches and loss of orientation will only result in a dented blade. I've cut the throttle dozens of times to avoid a wall or piece of furniture and the only damage I've had was outside when the skid got caught in grass roots. Besides, it seems that most 36ers end up outside anyway, so you might as well learn how to counter a little wind/turbulence(from flying in the copters downdraft). A little wax paper under the tail and skids will prevent the copter from flipping(or make it much harder) on carpet. Instead, it will continue to slide so keep a mindful finger on the throttle. I've gotten a good feel for the 36 in this way without buying a stream of replacement parts(including coordinated turns with aileron/rudder). I was just starting to feel like I was one of the lucky ones because aside from adjusting the pitch of the main blade, I got about 20 flights without a destructive crash and without a major overhaul. Aside from a very hot motor(standard-brushed) I suffered no glitches or twitching servos until my controls just locked up. All of a sudden, I had no aileron control, but the aileron stick was moving my pich servo(more like seizures). I powered down, unplugged the battery, plugged it back in and now the copter was just in seizures. Esc? Receiver? Transmitter? Regulator? Maybe one of their infamous soldering connections. I tried with no luck to diagnose the problem, but I had invested in a watt meter and instead of the standby current of .06-.08 amps, battery elimination circuit was pulling .40 -.50 amps, so it appeared one of my servos had locked/seized or whatever the term is. I bought 2 36's though so I bring out my back up. I get the blades up tp speed and it starts acting crazy. Different receiver and transmitter, and with no crash, no heat build up, etc., 2 36's go down in a matter of minutes. At first I thought the transmitter or receiver had gone bad, but I checked them for heat build up regularly and they never even got warm. I was going to ask the forum for a diagnosis, but after a few weeks on the shelf, I took them down and found that one aileron servo and one rudder servo were locked/seized. Once I unplugged them, the rest of the systems functioned normally with no more heat build up. Within a few seconds of plugging the servos back in, (I guess it's the voltage regulator or esc) whatever chip it is got very hot. I noticed a few people mounted their receivers on the side with the covers off to cope with heat build up. I found that there are 2 cutouts in the reciever to dissipate the heat, but Walkera put the adhesive strip to fix the receiver box to the copter, right over these holes, thereby defeating there intended purpose of venting heat.

Sorry for the long submission. I combined all of my posts into one (too long) post. For the prices I've seen around, I think this copter is worth the money and it was really great to have it up there after wanting one for 20 years. After reading all of the posts, I'm no longer afraid of having to strip it down and replace parts as needed and I will definitely be flying for years to come. Brushless and LiPo coming next. By the way, I've been getting 4-5+ minute flights with the stock motor and the 650mah. Less pitch, higher rotor speed seems to draw up to 30% less power than bogging down the power system with too much pitch. I'll post the specific current draws vs. pitch one day soon.
RF