The fact that some never had this problem may suggest that it's not a systems issue but possibly an installation issue. My first installation was a very early model (possibly even pre-version 1.0). From that point on I would uninstall and then install the latest version. Maybe something about that original version was not being deleted and was conflicting with the updates?

Also, when this would occur, the landing gear would disappear as well, so it was more than a simple battery drain.

Anyway, this time I'm installing 1.7 on a fresh Windows 7 installation. Will report how it goes.