ORIGINAL: nargargle

I just clicked on this thread out of curiosity and have a thought about your gyro issue. If your gyro operates like they do in a heli when set to head lock / hold then it is acting properly. In a heli in head lock mode the gyro controls the piro rate of the tail. If the heli is on the ground,not powered up but with the receiver on, and you give rudder input the tail rotor blades will move but not return once you let go of the stick. But if you were to pick the heli up and rotate it in the direction you input the nose to turn you wound see the blades start to counteract the rotation. That being said you might have to try to move the plane on it's axis to see if the gyro is functioning properly.

Hope this helps and best of luck