with the 8711 i doubt seriously you'd ever strip the gears of it in flight and if it failed it would most likely be in a locked position. all things considered IF that happened in flight, I'd take my chances with being able to safely get her on the ground with just the 1/2 deflection, or you could set up a extra 'dual rate' with extreme servo throw for just such an occasion so you'd still have ample elevator authority, you could call it 'Crash Mode'