ORIGINAL: TimBle
if the pack drops a cell there will be redundancy provided it's not from a broken solder/weld joint and depending on which cell (I had one pack lose a cell 4 years ago and the 5 cell pack saved my plane...believe it or not)
is there a noticable advantage in 6V for sport planes? unlikely, some say they can feel it, others can't
Not sure how this affects other RC planes and flyers, but I can certainly share my experiences. I recently switched three planes to 5C 6V 2000 NIMH packs (GP Rev 70, Rev 50, and H9 Pulse XT 40) and I was amazed! I normally used the 4C 4.8 V packs. It is a huge difference and noticeable in all three planes.
I can fly my planes all day and the planes are quicker responding and the batteries hold up much better to the loads. I never could imagine this would make that much of a difference. The other day I flew about a half gallon of fuel through my Pulse XT and checked the pack later on in the day and the pack was around 6.5-6.8! I usually get to the field and flying around 7:30 AM and hang out until around 1-2 or even much later. [8D]