Servo Options:

[2FewDaysAtFlyingField]

I am an addicted Motion customer and the new FL birds are awesome. I totally understand the business challenge to balance quality/cost/originality which is key to your strategy.

However:

I have three birds down right now due to servo failures and my B-25 was a total loss when the elevator roasted. One of the flap servos in my FL Spit literally melted the case and was smoking even after my procedure to check the current draw on every servo before assembly on all foamies. I have replaced some based on high current but many others just sit there and hunt for zero like the aileron on my new FL Bearcat that has been sitting since the maiden, waiting for me to get the energy to replace it.

On 30+ Foamie planes I've replaced at least 10 servos and have a dozen on a peg awaiting more failures. Let's face it, these are not the best servos when you can replace them for $6 bucks and an equivalent from Futaba can be had for $15-30 depending on what you want. It may seem like I'm a Futaba Fanboy but I've never had a single Futaba component fail in the 25 years I've been using them!

Proposal:
1. Don't do anything on $200 or less birds, probably not worth the cost/risk. You could take a cue from the little e-flite P-47 and put a servo female socket at the servo/retract so a guy can replace, plug in, and go in 2 minutes or less.

2. On bigger more expensive birds with higher loads, don't glue the servos in and leave off servo wire covers/stickers at the factory so that the builder can pick the servos they want for their setup. Personally, I would replace all critical rudder, aileron, elevator servos on my favorite birds. I replaced the elevator servo on the P38 since I was still reeling from the B25 loss.

I know there are some flyers that want to get in the air an hour after they open the box and the thought of glue and servos seems huge so that has to be considered.

Personally, I never take to the air with the same confidence in my gear with a foam plane as I do with a Balsa plane featuring hand picked Futaba components.

[xviper]

I have many, many foamies of different types and price ranges. Although I've had several of the no-name brand cheapo stock 9g servos fail (some DOA, some after many flights), the bulk of them still work after several years and a lot of flying. It's a risk that one takes in this hobby and we can (and often do) go a bit nuts when selecting equipment. That said, I also have what I would call a very expensive foamie - Eflite CZ T-28. After several flights, one of the aileron servos died in mid-air. Luckily, the plane still flew on one aileron and I actually finished the flight calmly and landed. That servo was one of the bigger, digital ones that cost quite a bit of money. Horizon replaced it for free and I bought another one for a spare. Price and brand doesn't always assure us of non-failure.

[Pheonix]

I have had many type servos fail, from the cheap plastic one to the relative expensive metal gear ones. They all fail sooner or later. From experience, I know that some type will fail with increased load. Therefore, I replace these on critical surfaces (elevator, rudder, ailerons, etc.). I am a Futaba supporter; however, I have these fail as well. There are just too many variables to say one brand is always better than another. I used my experience to determine when I should replace servos. Good luck with your choices.