TexasSkyPilot
Posts: 3599
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Joined: 2/2/2004
Last Login: 5/17/2013
From: San Antonio,
TX, USA
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According to the Great Planes website, the red is True Red. I guess I'll take a sample with me to the LHS, so I get it right.
I also did some research on the battery situation. At the urging of pgmeyer and ahicks to explore my battery options, I called Radical RC (http://www.radicalrc.com/) and attended the Dave Thacker phone-school crash course for the A123 deficient. In other words, I buttonholed him and made him tell me stuff. Always the accommodating one, Dave told me that the first NiMh batteries (my favorites) that came out were Panasonics, and that the cell failure rate was high, and the discharge rate was very low.
This was compounded by the fact that Tower sold many, many of that brand, so it gave the NiMhs a bad reputation. Today's generations are much improved, very dependable, and they now have a much higher output. They're much better for Rx packs now.
But - even with the higher output, the NiMh packs can fall short, for instance, when a giant-scale model is outfitted with numerous higher-draw servos, and in the JR/Spektrum (and I imagine with Futaba as well), that can put them close to the brownout voltage, because under certain conditions they can't give that "dump" of amperage those servos require.
That's where the A123s came in. They have the ability to "dump" higher amounts of amperage on demand, making them a much better all-around Rx pack. It requires no voltage regulator, because its voltage is just over 6 volts.
Dave also recommended the standard additional measures when you want to be sure; two battery packs through two switches, a separate pack besides for your engine spark.
Al and I were discussing this just lately in PMs, and we figured out that when we'd argued in here, I was talking about apples, and he was talking about oranges. I typically fly nothing larger than my 30CC Super Sportser or Stearman, and I usually fly a single, fairly-large NiMh pack (2700 to 4000), with a separate 4.8 Volt pack for my spark. Al, on the other hand, was talking about voltage regulators and double packs and double switches. But he was also talking about setting up larger birds with higher-draw systems.
So, he was right about his setups, and so was I - about mine.
But now that I spent all this time researching the A123s, something I worked very hard NOT to do until now  - I thought I might blend our two trains of thought, thanks to some recommendations by Dave Thacker at Radical RC. The A123s come highly recommended for any Rx pack, but Dave suggested that since I often fly with a 4000mAh NiMh, that I now switch to TWO 2300mAh A123 packs, and two switches. Hmmm. . . I was intrigued, even tempted. 
I'm preparing to begin my Decathlon build soon, and seeing as I haven't chosen my batteries yet, I think I'm going to put together a more Al-approved  system consisting of the two 2300mAh A123 packs and two switches. This should also make my flying buddy Paul Meyer happy, as he has been urging me to make the shift to A123s. There. I hope you're both insufferably pleased with yourselves now. 
Note to others: If I didn't already have a good battery charger with the balancer, etc., I wouldn't be doing this, because the A123s are absolutely not wall-wart charger friendly. The batteries have to be charged on a good charger, and though they have the advantage of being able to be charged at high rates at the field, they also require maintenance charging with cycling, balancing and monitoring. So - that's something new I need to learn about. And some little device with L.E.D. indicators that Dave calls a MAMA, which helps poor old me to monitor them. Goodness. Whatever happened to the old Futaba AM radios, 400mAh packs, and simplicity? lol - oh, yeah, I left out "hits" and "crashing a lot". . .
~ Jim ~ 
_____________________________
J.M. Surra, author of AERODYNAMIC, and T.I.T.O.R. - In July of 1947, something crashed in Roswell, New Mexico. . .
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All Forums >> RC Airplanes >> ARF or RTF >> RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!! 
RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!! - 
RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!! - 
It happens. I would have sworn that wire was WAY below me. Which means I must have been making near-misses all day without knowing it. Had I made the landing, that would have wrapped the whole day. I don't have video of the crash, but I have some video of the earlier flights, and the winds. I forgot how much I love flying in really MEAN wind. It takes the whole thing up a few notches. Landings are a real workout. I'll try and get the footage together and get it posted up to YouTube, and get a link in here.