I took off and got a reasonable distance away for my departure turn. Then it all went wrong. Engine sagged then returned, erratic control surfaces, etc. A quick, but mild turn got me back on the runway, knees shaking and beads of sweat on my forehead. This was my giant P-47 witha Zenoah G-62. On the ground I did the range check again and it failed. Servo chatter, huge drain on the batteries and the TX is only about 12 feet away (antenna down). Clearly a radio issue I'm using a Futaba 7 AUF (channel 16) and a Tower Hobbies RX (Same as a Futaba 127).

I took the plane home thanking my lucky stars that I was able to bring it back at all

I changed channel on the TX (ch 38) and installed a Futaba TX - no difference

I tried a new TX on both ch 16 and ch 38 - no difference

I removed one servo at a time and tried it again - no different

I changed the RX battery - no difference

I did notice that the posiition of the RX antenna was extremely critical. I mean EXTREMELY! The antenna was run inside a plastic tube inside the fuse. I found it was better if I ran the antenna outside the fuse.

The only thing I can attribute this issue to is the fact that my pushrods are all steel wire running inside an outer plastic tube and that the antenna was too close to these pushrods.

Has anyone had a similar expereince? I'd love to hear any comments or suggestions.
thanks
/colin