To reduce wear with the tail servo, got in the most expensive, most
durable micro servo in the world. That's right. The Futaba S3102.

For the first time, we bring you detailed images of the inside of the
Futaba and a realistic assessment from someone whose not afraid to admit
failure in a purchase that costs more than most people make in a day.

Firstly, the wire is so short you'll immediately replace the crazy
Futaba connector with a longer wire and a normal connector.

Its direction is opposite to the HS-81MG so the second thing you'll do
is reverse the transmitter direction. The third thing you'll do is
crash. The fourth thing you'll do is reverse the gyroscope.

So once trimmed, how does the Futaba do? It's absolutely horrible.
It's flat out, too slow to deal with any kind of wind. It frequently
and suddenly swings 90` left or right before the servo catches up.
Without any wind, it manages to hold a hover but you need to flog the
left stick to do any kind of turning. Sort of like driving a 57 Buick.
It turns when it wants to turn.

Still have HS-81MG's on the cyclic and what a difference. The cyclic
snaps into position while the tail tries to reform Japan. Forget about
S3102's for cyclic.

Suppose such a servo could be a good left hand excercise for pianists or
a way for Democrats to get even with Americans. Inside, its main gear
only has 180' of teeth so forget about retooling for robotics.

3300mAh
10mph wind
25 min to exhaustion

4000mAh
no wind
19 min to voluntary shutdown

"Sort of like a '57 Buick..." Ha! What a hoot. Way back when, when I was a youngster going to college, I had a job as a mechanic in a "do it all" shop. We did everything- oil changes, transmission rebuild, A/C, engine rebuilds- you name it. Last job I worked before heading home after graduating was a '57 Buick with a Dynaflow trans. Boss didn't seem to care that this was a antique car that you couldn't obtain basic parts for- let alone parts for the Dynaflow that was leaking like a sieve. Anyway, pulled the trans, fixed it, and believe it or not, the thing actually worked, much to everyone's amazement- especially mine. Took it out for a test drive on some old country roads- and suddenly found religion- old bias ply tires coupled with oh-so-sloppy steering made for a wild, hair-raising ride- especially at about 70 mph.

Anyway, thanks for the trip down memory lane.