Stuart, You can expect to get 1 1/2-2 1/12 hours per charge on 2 servos. This is only a ball park estimate. Depending on what you call "all day", you can fly all day on one charge assuming you aren't "on" all the time. I understand your frustration about wanting to know the answer, but it is highly subjective. If you plan on staying in the hobby, I STRONGLY recommend getting an ESV (expanded scale volt meter) It'll be the best $35 you spend in this hobby. Forgive me if you already know this, but the ESV only reads a very small range, specifically the 4.8 and 9.6V range we opperate it.
Fully charge your batteries. Check your battery voltage at an hour and then every 10 minutes or so after that. The meter will tell you if it's safe to operate the plane and radio. I'm not sure of your educational background but I'll throw this out for you. If you don't understand just let me know. The place you want to stay away from is past the "knee of the curve". This is where the batteries drop rapidly in voltage. As long as you stay below the knee, you are OK. Remember, the batteries are rated at 1.25V per cell. Anything lower than 1.1V per cell is a danger zone! I typically don't fly if the rx pack reads 4.5 and the tx if it's 9.3 or less. I have a fast field charger so I'm not worried if the batteries run down. But, I've been in this hobby for over 30 years so I have lots of cool 'stuff'. In your situation, I'd recommend the ESV first and a Fast field charger second. I've save a number of planes from crashing by using the ESV. For instance, I saved my #1 thermal ship from demise because the ESV found I had a dead cell in the rx. I had charged the pack overnight with the regular charger and everything looked fine...until I checked it with the ESV(I didn't have my fast charger at the time). That saved me a $1000 airplane. If you have any more questions please let me know. gv stuarthall_ct wrote: > Another question from the resident newbie: > > How long can I expect to fly on one charge of either a receiver > battery or TX? I realize it depends on how much drain you put so let > me give a typical beginner scenario: > > 600 mah Hitec receiver battery (comes with Flash 5x), two servos > HS422 - elevator and rudder, rank beginner flying a Highlander on a > 2M highstart. > > I am thinking that battery life will probably depend on how much *I* > move the sticks, so I guess instead of a calculation of battery drain > I just need some for instances... with one overnight charge I should > be able to fly for XX hours. What is your all experiences with > beginners? Can I get a full day of flying on one charge? > > (assumes that I will be physically/mentally willing and able to fly a > full 4 - 6 hour session, and really I am trying to justify my > decision not to buy a battery charger yet) > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and >"unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
