No, I doubt that the connections are your problem if you're using nylon. It's really starting to sound like you have a bad radio. Pull the receiver completely out of the plane and check it again. By taking out the receiver you will eliminate any problems that might be caused by the plane. If the problems disappear then you'll have to start trying to figure out what in the plane is causing the problem. As was said above, you should be able to get about 100' away from the radio with the transmitter antenna collapsed and still have control of the servos. It's sounds like you're going to have to send it in for service. Use this link to get to Airtronics website and get the information you need when sending a radio in for service. [link]http://www.airtronics.net/company_information.htm[/link]

Hope this helps

Ken