hello,well murphy is making his pressence known....yesterday i was with some others trying to fly the 747 from zurich to insbruckas i was the first one on the runway everbody looked as i was planning a perfect take off.well it went a bit different and i blew the first impression by no being able to lift it off the ground even though i had the trim set and was pulling on the yoke.the flight before that disaster i heard a little tick inside the casing so since the aircraft was not responding i think something broke.does anyone have ever opend the case and perhaps has a schema lying arround that explans all inside? i have wrote an email to saitek, but doubt if reaction will be on time for the race.i will ask my "personal sponsor" aka wife if an extra budget could be made availablebut any advise for repairing would be welcome, so i dont have to spent on a new onebest regardsleon

Ohh no, thats hard luck man.. Glad it happened now and not during a baton takeoff.. Hammer out all your bugs people.. :)

well it went a bit different and i blew the first impression by no being able to lift it off the ground even though i had the trim set and was pulling on the yoke.the flight before that disaster i heard a little tick inside the casing so since the aircraft was not responding i think something broke.

The Saitek bits have demonstrated a love/hate relationship with static electricity. Probably because they have metallic part in the stick/yoke/throttles for strength they will pick up the smallest static charge from the user. This happens often and most likely when you step away and return to the computer after walking on carpet ( or petting the cat) but also from the fabric of some chairs. The effects range from a small "zap" to the fingers, to an audible "pop". The effect tends to be a disruption of the USB connection to the computer.Since the first time this happened to me (X-52 stick & throttle - on descent in a RTWR practice leg on final) I am always on the alert. The cure? Disconnect the Yoke and/or stick and/or pedals from the computer one-at-a-time (you will hear the USB conect tone), wait a second or two then reinsert the plug for each (hear the tone again). If you have the profile manager running and esp. if you have a profile set, you have to reselect it from the taskbar to enable any special functions. Occasionally it will be ALL parts, but is usually just one. (nasty way to lose toe brakes on a short runway too!)I now have all my Saitek USB connections either on the front face of the computer or a USB hub right next to the monitor for easy access as a result. Oh, have also been told of one case where a cat walking across the pilots feet on the pedals had the same effect.It does not seem to impair the internal electronics and is more a USB issue as the same static zap can (has) disrupted my USB headset on TeamSpeak.

Excellent Observation! Roman