Sorry to hear about the loss of your plane, that baby was beautiful.

You didn't mention whether or not the batteries had been used frequently over the last three years or if they'd been sitting for a while. When NiCADs or NiMH batteries have been sitting around for a long time (or when they're brand new) it's very important to slow (trickle) charger them at about 50 mah for a good 24 hours. This will bring all the cells to generally the same level of charge, assuming they are all in good shape.

The next step should be done whether the batteries have been sitting around, have been in use, are old or brand new. After the trickle charge you should perform a discharge test with a charger/discharger that will tell you exactly how many mah were pulled out of the battery. Sometimes with older batteries the first discharge will only pull out a very small amount but after three or four charge/discharge cycles you'll begin to get a more consistent amount of discharge. Regardless of whether the batteries are old or brand new if you don't see a discharge amount close to the rated capacity of the battery throw the batteries in the trash and buy new ones. Note: I said throw them in the trash, not put them aside... throw them in the trash!

Here's my guess (assuming the batteries were the cause for the crash). When you quick charge batteries even bad batteries can show a high voltage (in the "green") but will taper off very quickly when under load. This could be why your test after the quick charges showed the batteries as good. This is why, in my opinion, it's critical that the charger/discharger you use displays exactly how many mah are put into and pulled out of the battery. Otherwise it's like the fuel tank in your car just says Full and Empty, but you don't know if it holds 16 gallons or 16 oz.

I also agree with the others, batteries should be replaced every year or two. They should also periodically be checked for capacity by cycling (this does not apply to Lithium batteries).

Don't feel bad, we've all learned things the hard way. When I was in college in 1982 I'd been flying about a year and in my excitement to fly a new radio system I did much the same as you and flew after only short night of charging of my RX battery. I lost that plane and being a college student was unable to build a new, which ended up knocking me out of the hobby. I didn't get back in for about 18 years!

Now I'm older, wiser and have more money to spend than when I was in college, but I still make mistakes

Keith B