What do you guys do for spare/backup servos? Currently having issues with one or both of my aileron servos in my Wind. Can't really afford to buy a full set of replacement servos for all my planes, but thought of having plane down while servo gets serviced really kills me.

Would it make sense to have one pair of backup servos that can be used anywhere? Suggestions for size/power/speed?

Thanks.

Hello Joe,
Servo wear being an issue is a simple fact of life in Pattern. We ask for great precision, and the airplanes will misbehave when servo centering starts to degrade with gear wear or feedback potentiometr wear.
With wet power, it was typically every 75 or 100 flights! With E-power, this has gotten better, but not been eliminated as a necessary bit of maintenance.
Often the degradation is subtle and gradual, so periodic servo sweep tests are an excellent idea.

Regards,
Dean Pappas

Don't know how many planes you have, but I basically have gone with three basic servos, all JR (3421SA, 9411SA, and 8411SA) for all my planes. If I need to temporarily borrow from another plane, I can do it. The best way to go is to have a couple of each new in the package laying around when you need a replacement. Then again, the longer you're in the hobby, the more you tend to accumulate and will likely have extra servos and receivers, etc laying around.

I would think you need the identical servos as those in the plane for backup purpose. If you have more than one planes, servos from the backup plane can become the backup ones in the primary. Usually one is sufficient to make the speedy repair. The broken ones probably just need a new gear set.

Joe,

If you want the plane to fly like it did before, you will need to have identical servos. Going with a standard setup as Joe suggested is a really good idea, but you are still going to have multiple kinds of servos sitting around.

Arch

Since I always use JR DS9411sa servos for my ailerons, I have 1 extra pair that I keep onhand to swap when necessary.  I do the same thing for throttle servo (Futaba S9650's).  Rudder and elevator servo's seem to last a lot longer than the aileron and throttle servos.  I do have spares for them, but rarely use them.