I've been using Li-Poly batteries for nearly a year now, and have only had 2 bad things happen. I use the Astro 109 Li-Poly charger.

In my shop while charging a 720 pack I heard a pop and quickly pulled the pack off charge. Upon checking I found that I had previously been charging a 1500MAH pack and forgot to adjust to the .7 MAH setting on the charger. (DUM)

At the flying Field, I put a 1320 MAH pack on the charger, loaded the 3000 MAH pack I had just charged in my plane and went out and got in the air. Do you see a picture here?? Next thing I heard was yelling, and I turned around to see flames and smoke on the bench where the charging took place. A fire Extinguisher quickly got the fire out, I landed and proceeded to analyze the situation. By the way it burned halfway thru a 2 X 12 board that it was resting on. (Dum again)

Since then I make sure and rotate the knob all the way off on my Astro Charger after removing a pack from charge. And lo and behold - I havent had an incident since.

I have been making it a practice to have a pack that is 50% over the requirement for the motor. For Example if the motor draws 30 Amps - my Pack would be 3S-3P 1500 MAH batteries for 4500MAH total capacity. And I've not had a plane burst into flames. I never leave a pack in a plane after flight, and never plug a pack into the ESC till I'm ready to proceed to the flight line.

Another safety factor that I use is if a pack is 3000 MAH, my charger can be set for 3A. I make it a point to set it for 2.90 Amps and the extra 5 minutes or so it takes to charge - I call insurance.

So in my opinion if you are careful with Li-Poly batteries and use extreme caution in charging them and choose a pack that has plenty of MAH to power the plane, you wont have any problems. Probably information that most already know, but if this prevents someone from burining up their house or car, I'm happy.

I do find it amazing that some clubs throughout the US have banned Li-Poly batteries from being used at their flying fields. Gasoline is just as dangerous if not handled correctly, (a gas can after an hour in the sun is a bomb waiting to go off) yet they allow it to be used.