RE: Battery longevity
We have been looking at the effects of temperature and current stress on Lithium packs for over a year now and have greatly increased the longevity of LiPo packs in F3A pattern flying to over 400 cycles.
Please read my article on [link=http://www.fmadirect.com/new_applications/LithiumPowerSolutions/index.htm]Lithium Power Solutions[/link] for a brief top-level description of the latest technology.