tell me more about the tango norfolksouthern. lots of people have the stik and I am leaning that way but still i have an interest in being different! is it pretty easy to handleI mean can someone a bit rusty expect to land it in one piece? I don't want to get in over my head! I have some basic skills but i was far from an expert when i last flew and that was a while back.

It's worth noting that if all frequencies on the 2.4 GHz band are full (ridiculously unlikely) then the transmitter simply won't bind. Don't listen to the people who say you can be bounced off while flying - it won't happen. If I started the hobby today, I would have a 2.4 GHz transmitter.

Back to the radios. I flew a 6ch futaba back in the day. It was plain looking and encased in a gold boxlooked crude by todays standards. my friend flew airtronics and our gear was not interchangble. (maybe the reversed wire thing) I recently bought a Futaba skysport 4ch for my slow stick and it seems fine. Wish I had done some research before i pumped $100 into it but I wanted to fly and didn't know any better. wish now i had put a bit more into a system that I could "grow" with. Another reason the 2.4 gx appeals to me is the short antenna. Broken antenna crashed me 2 times. My fault for not doing a proper range check but crashed non the less. An antenna pulled from the reciever cost me my first stik (my only "fatal crash" that could not be rebuilt!) Bad thing is it was pulled loose in storage and/or transport and not even from a crash! I can deal with crash damage if I know I did it but to get damaged on the ride to the field-that bites.

so for all practical purposes the 2.4 ghz is interfence free, now lets look at radios...the 6ch spektrum6ch is a great deal but no servos. Does it come with rx and tx batteries and charger. The 7ch spektrum comes with full nimh batteries a charger and 4 standatd servos according to a friend I fly with. It's about $150 more but you get $120 worth of servos. How does the airtronics compare?

Just getting back in after a long layout myself. The Airtronics RDS8000 I purchased came with the Transmitter, Transmitter battery, charger, receiver, and manual. The new "standard" connector between receiver and servos is called a "Z" connector. I've now hooked up Futaba (trim the index tab with an Xacto blade), HiTec, and Airtronics servos. Even after trimming the tab and rounding the corners on the Futaba it was pretty snug. I liked the Hitec's best for the money (HS-475-BB), torque, price. But its nice to know I'm not limited to any certain brand.

Purchased the battery(s) from http://www.batteriesamerica.com/newpage8.htm Very nice folks that seem very knowledgable about RC applications and delivery was prompt.

The transmitter battery uses the standard Airtronics connector and not the Z connector. I also went with the NIMH for better performance and lower weight.

Purchased the radio/receiver set and an additional receiver from http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/751700.asp They were also very prompt and courteous. I seriously considered the DX7 Spectrum too but because I'd been satisfied with Airtronics 20 years ago I decided to give them another whirl. Wouldn't hesitate to use Futaba or JR(spectrum) if that's where I saw the best value when I was ready to buy either. But every hobby shop around here carries anything but Airtronics so I figured it'd be easy to tell which radio on the table at the field was mine! Nope. When I went for my maiden flight the two fellas there were showing off the new Airtronics RDS8000's they'd just received!

No regrets so far,

Clay

Hi,
I am helping my friend get into rc planes and we picked up the Hitec Laser 4 at the toledo show for $95 with four servos, thats not bad for a starter radio. It should last him years.
Hitec servos are a good servo

Hi Ken,
Thanks for putting that in for me, I am getting back in after some time also. I was told I could my old futaba servos with my new Jr x9303 , but its great to also hear it from you and the people here. I feel lots better now, the sun is out and its warmer!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a computer kind of guy and also had one of the older computer futabas back then and don't feel its going to be a problem for me.

I don't mean to hijack, but I am getting confused. I purchased a Spektrum DX7. If I am reading this correctly, I can use the servos from my Futaba SkySports with the DX7. Is there any modification necessary?