Hey steveteal,

Sounds about right. Doing only simple hovering and slow FF, I'm getting 10-12 minutes out of the red 1800mAh 10C RC-Expert brand LiPo's and 12-15 minutes from a 2200mAh 10C Art-Tech LiPo. I'm using an Align 420LF with a 13T-pinion and Align BL-25G ESC, on a T-Rex 450X. The batteries only get slightly warm during most of the discharge, but heat up considerably during the last minute or so of flight. I have the ESC set for the most conservative low voltage cutoff it offers, which is around 3V per cell under load. So far, I've flown each battery at least 6 times already and they still seem to work as new.

These batteries are all in the US$25,- range, so I consider myself quite lucky that they work so well. :-)

BTW: If you get really short flight-times, it may be possible that your charger cuts off (or you unplug it) before the batteries are full, or it may be caused by binding or too tight gear-mesh somewhere in your heli. Using a good digital volt-meter, a fully charged 3S LiPo should be very close to 12.6V when coming right off the charger. I just measured mine after not having flown for a week, and they were still only 30-70mV below that. I'm using wall-plug type LiPo-chargers from RC-Expert, nothing fancy.


Grtz,

Traveller