Simon Chaddock Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 Making use of the fine calm weather I flew my lightweight Wing Dragon yesterday or rather it flew itself - I had a battery failure! It went to 0 volts so no power, no radio, nothing.The lightweight is pretty stable and glides well and if trimmed out correctly straight and true as well, which it did.Fortunately it was not too high and it picked a direction where there is a big easy access area not far from the flying field and it executed a perfect landing on grass. One of the aluminium cell 'tabs' had fractured close to its cell so a absolute 'open circuit'. Never happened before. Moral - if it glides well leave it trimmed to fly power off in gentle circles - just in case! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Card Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Reminds me of the time the battery fell out of my acromaster at the top of a loop. With no battery there was, of course, no control response, but it took a while for my brain to catch up as I continued twiddling the sticks. Fortunately the plane executed the 2nd half of the loop, ending up level with the ground where it made a hard but damage-free landing. Phew! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon burch Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Was hoping to maiden my Dual Ace last weekend. Was fiddling around getting ready to run the motors for the first time, when I noticed the onboard battery checker was showing one red light. Battery had charged fine the night before. On inspection, one of the cells had corroded or leaked (not sure which). Pack is less than a year old !!. Always thought the battery checker was a bit of an overkill on my models, but certainly paid for itself on this occasion !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W-O Posted September 14, 2010 Share Posted September 14, 2010 Had a similar problem a month or so ago. Taking off with a depron "Sonic Boom" (quite modified), had full flaps and some down elevator, it climbs like you are pulling it up on a string, until the motor cut about 30' off the ground, when it continued flying like a brick. One cell had gone, even though it charged OK. I have found now that sometimes the cells don't seem to balance properly, though the readout says they are OK, charging a gain a few times at a low charge current seems to put it right. Cheap batteries and cheap charger probably Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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