RE: transission to 2.4 Ghz
Hi Cloudy
FM radios aren't going away very soon. The 2.4 mhz systems are great in all ways and they are the future of RC but, at this time, they have one fairly big drawback. The receivers run around $200 US and you need one for every plane you fly with the new system. The servos all work the same as with the FM setups. You can mix and match digitals and analogs in the same receiver. Also, I don't think FM is going to disappear immediatley from the stores. There's too many FM radios in use right now and even if they do stop producing them in the next year or two there will still be an incredible amount of fantastic used FM parts floating around at bargain prices.
The real and biggest advantage I can see with the 2.4's is that you don't have to worry about interference from "outlaw" fm users. There are some guys that don't belong to our club that fly within 1/4 mi of our field. One has a 2.4 and the other flies FM. The FM guy will some day take out one of our club member's planes when he comes in on the wrong channel (in this case ch 52 as I have been told). The widespread proliferation of these unafilliated "park fliers" make this a more and more common occurence.
I recently lost a beloved 25% Cap to a radio glitch and just the paranoia of not knowing the real cause will probably motivate me to go 2.4 on my favorite planes but keep my FM for all my other planes. I hope this gives you some perspective from my viewpoint.
Good Luck