Yep should've qualified that - real heli pilots do crash but its a very rare occurance. Very very rare because of all the safety procedures - checking and double checking everything - knowing what the aircraft will do given all the conditions.

That's great news about Realflight - I am very encouraged by this because I am getting in an hour or so of sim time every day, and now I can fly fancy circuits, dabble with inverted flight, and generally not crash while flying around casually with this sim model.

But the real thing needs to be treated like the space shuttle - and even that thing can crash and burn despite the best efforts of the best people in aeronautics.

In short - it will take some luck to be able to get to the point where I am comfortable with the hover and not have to replace parts. I'll maximize this luck by minimizing the chances for bad luck where ever its feasible to do so. The test jig really helps here: I have a good feel for what the model will do as it spins up to the point of lift off. Much better than going into the maiden flight like a blind date!

I hear your caution about this model wanting to leap out in a random direction and then need to be pulled in again. It's a twitchy bird going into this project, and here I am ripping out the stock radio... heh [&:]

But I figure the long term advantages in smoother control and enhanced safety are worth the effort to convert to DX6. Its a good feasible move in this case, and should increase the odds for success overall.