thanks for your help guys.
I'm running a turnigy 2c 5000mah pack and got more than 7 starts of a single charge without fail. Total run time would have been less than 10minuites, not sure how much batt is consumed during runtime.
I think the battery usage didnt exceed 1000mah for all the starts..

am i being silly thinking i could do a full day of flying 5+ starts on a single lipo?