Nick Rigg

May I point you in the direction of Phoenix-RC.com who stock the DEANS-XT plugs http://www.phoenix-rc.com/products/products.php These are of high quality and have a ribbed casing that makes disconnection etc a doddle

 ...not necessarily the same kind of timing! But useful nonetheless

Just to let you all know, there's a Californian webtailer operating at www.Phoenix-RC.com that sells some high quality DEANS-type connectors that have ridged sides which makes them really easy to get apart. Good service too.

I think it has been mentioned here before that Flightpower may not merit their price or reputation - I wouldn't know. I had the same issue with one of my Zippy 4S packs, my charger only recognised 3 cells, but I put it on slow balance charge anyway and checked it again after 15 mins and all 4 cells were showing fine 

I have the IMAX B5 which is not allegedly LiFE capable. Could I use the Lipo program on it to charge A123 cells but remember to stop the charge when the balance charge values are showing around 3.6v each (or just under to be safe) ?

Waiting for a peg is so old hat...2.4ghz in the way to go As for IC flight, that's for another (bygone) era, and another forum come to think of it. And 10/20 minute flights will soon be a thing of the past too...we'll have Lithium-kryptonite cells, solar energy panels on the wings and Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems to ensure the batteries never fade - the plane could stay up all day (and night)...... 

If you want everything included in the box, I can't recommend Hobby Zone's SuperCub highly enough. It is easy to assemble, solidly built and is pretty easy to fly. You can use their ACT or you can turn it off. Not sure how much Santa is prepared to 'pay' though...

I was looking at the weather for the weekend and was thinking 'feet up by the fire'....

I'd like one with the traditional (olive/silver) colour scheme please....or the one in the picture's fine too come to think of it

Hi John - as soon as you've experienced going to the flying field with just a plane, TX and a couple of batteries in your pocket, you'll quickly forget about those oily, noisy troublesome IC planes and the associated carload of clutter need to get them in the air.... As for 5 min flights, it all depends - certain plane/battery combinations can yield 10-15 mins no problem, it all depends what you want and how much you're prepared to spend I guess As for your specific questions, I'm sure others here can supply the info you need

...and before you know it, you'll be soldering up connectors just for the fun of it. Yesterday, I put together a couple of no-wire parallel battery connectors using 3 Deans plugs. Now I just need to buy those batteries

I would think Lipos would only be dodgy during any kind of charging /discharging event. Could well be wrong of course...

I thought that the optimal storage value was 3.8v per cell. Some of the better chargers have this function

Thanks all, and I hope you're right Eric because if you are, I can use a few more props than I thought I could on a certain model set-up I have where the motor is the limiting element too...

Talking  of indoor testing, I recently re-engineered a JP Easy Pigeon to use a TowerPro brushless motor and had the the thing all finished on my dining-room table. I'd just checked the motor/rudder/elevator functions so the battery (3S Lipo) was plugged in.... You're probably way ahead of me here. Anyway, I decided to assign the model to a blank set-up on the TX and started scrolling through to the next available. One of the existing model set ups must have had a reversed throttle servo setting because as soon as I selected it the Easy Pigeon set off from the table and gouged three large chunks of wood from one of our dining chairs before self destructing. Good job I didn't put my hand out to stop it... Anyway, you tend to learn from these mistakes....

In Nigel's Fly Electric column in this month's RCM&E, he says that a certain model set-up was right at the limit of his motor's safe limit and hence he only uses WOT sparingly during flights. I think I remember reading (here?) that it doesn't matter if you use full throttle or half throttle, if you're drawing too many amps you run the risk of sending smoke signals. Can anyone clear up my confusion?

Hope your friend recovers soon. I return to my previous suggestion that one way of keeping the throttle closed until you're absolutely ready is to stretch a good strong rubber band horizontally across the bottom half of your Tx and then hook it over the throttle stick in the closed position. Only unhook it when you're standing on the strip waiting to take off. After landing, rehook the throttle before collecting your plane. It's not pretty, but it should do the job

Hi Scott - I've had very good service from BRC but just a thought on the 'in stock' comment: some webtailers include a stock level for each product (e.g. HobbyCity) so if you see a store has, say, 150 items in stock it should be safe enough to order that item and expect receipt accordingly. It's possible some webtailers are not updating the stock level numbers frequently enough but if you can include an accurate real-time counter on your web-site it may be a good idea...  

I'd say that would require the output of a large offshore wind farm or maybe a small nuclear power station... To pay the bill you'd need to apply for a government bailout

I trust the current economic malaise will be forgotten by Christmas and we'll all be asking what the fuss was all about... ...but in times like these when the family budget gets a little stretched, the first things to go are the non-essentials. Does our hobby come under that heading?  (of course not ) But I do hope that all our favourite sellers on the web and the local hobby stores can weather this particular storm.

Talk about missing the boat.....

Timbo - Interested to see the paintwork on the plastic prop but isn't it difficult to keep it balanced?

I'm afraid Tonbridge is also currently closed to new members

Frank mentioned you'll rarely fly all the time at full throttle but it's also worth mentioning that any measurement from your Watt meter will be static - in flight, the propeller will unwind to some extent so the amp draw will reduce further and the potential flight time increase 

The odds of winning are better than the Lottery (I think)