Firstly I am very sad for you loss however I would make the following points:

1) As you will see I am from the UK and in my experience 2.4 gig is certainly taking over from 35 Meg over here. My local hobby shop doesn't seem to sell a 35 meg radio any more. At jet meets I would also say that 80 % plus of the pilots are using 2.4. I would also say that generally spektrum is more popular than futaba or any other systems.

2) I was one of the first people in the UK to buy and use a Spektrum DX7 and despite the initial problems with the now known software fault on the AR6100 receivers I have had well in excess of 500 flights on planes ranging from small parkflys to turbines and have not had a single worrying issue. I have had the odd bind that fails initially but this is easily corrected by switching off and switching on. I have also had what I call the spektrum shimmy where the retracts ping up and down on my DSX9 at switch on. Others have had this also but it is generally sorted by a rebind with the retract switch in the down position.

3) When I started in Jets I only did this because of 2.4 because I had read so many reports on these forums about lockouts and failsafes etc on 35 meg. I am convinced that 2.4 is far safer and better than 35 meg for many reasons.

4) I think part of the problem is that we expect 100 % reliability. this wasnever the case on 35 meg and will notbe the case on 2.4 but I am certain that 2.4 is far better.

5) For me knowing that you cant switch on the wrong model or some joker in the pits cant switch on and shoot you down while you are flying is worth a lot. Also to not see my smaller electrics glitching about the sky is also very valuable.

6) I also suscribe to the basic principal of keep it simple. I build and fit out my jets in the same way as all my other planes (and I have 87 in total). Which is basically servo's switch, Receiver and battery. I have never used power boxes, regulators or other fancy electronics. In my view that is all just more to go wrong.

Finally at our field we have had a few people who think that they have had problems with 2.4 and have crashed several models. After a while having put the crashed gear into other planes they have realised that it was somthing simple to do with the rest of the gear. In one case it was as simple as the thread on a push rob being poor and pulling backwards and forwards in the clevis.

So my simple answer is that yes 2.4 is for our hobby now but I fully understand your concerns having lost such a nice and expensive plane

Regards

Dennis