ORIGINAL: Missileman
ORIGINAL: CGRetired
A single RRC Lithium Polymer 4S 1P 14.8V, 3000 mAh 25/30C battery costs about $172.00. That's an awful lot of glow fuel.
That is true but Lipo batteries can stand 20,000 charging cycles (info gleaned online here:
http://www.rc-oval.com/lipobatteries.html )
Maybe optimistic but even 1,000 flights would actually make that $172 battery much cheaper than than the equivalent amount of glow fuel.
Whoa!
I think you misread the article. It talks about a new battery technology that is supposed to be good for up to 20K cycles, but it's not out yet.
LiPo's are rated to be good for 200 cycles, but that's rather optimistic, and there is degradation towards the end.
150 cycles is more realistic, which makes glow still cheaper, until battery technology catches up.
It will happen sooner or later, but the current LiPo's don't do it yet.