RE: ESC shutting down at WFO
LVC stands for "Low Voltage Cutoff". It's a circuit that cuts the motor off when the battery reaches a certain voltage so the battery will still have enough capacity left to power the receiver and servos so you can still land safely. For a NiMH battery that's usually when the battery voltage reaches 1.0 volts per cell (in your case that would be about 7.0 volts for your 7.2 volt battery pack).
One thing you might want to consider getting, if you don't have one already, is a wattmeter. This is a device you connect in series with the battery and ESC which will tell you numerous things including your battery voltage at any given time, the amount of current your motor is pulling at that moment, which if you had one right now we could almost certainly tell you where the problem is.