I'll try and keep this short. A fellow joined our club the other day to learn how to fly. told me he had all his stuff. i went over it on sunday and changed things that needed changing and test flew and trimed the plane. We were to meet on Thurs. night to start lessons.
On thurs. night ask all the right questions about charging and had someone else trim the plane on the buddy box.
He was doing well until he got the planes up-side down as i was fixing it and turning the plane away fromthe run-way,i lost all radio control and the plane went in.
some at the field felt that i had lost it and gave me a hard time in teaching because i own a LHS.
I have a hughesrc cycler and charger, and put his rec battery on it. On the first cycle a 600ma battery only went to 107ma. The voltage was 4.5. these batteries were over 3yrs old and have never been charged. I'm now trying to cycle it hoping i can save the battery.
Just because you charge the battery over night, doesnt mean you have a full charge. They be must be cycled on a regular bases to know if they can hold a full charge.
also some at the field should wait until all the information is in before making up their minds. they told the student that is was all my fault.
check and cycle your batteries, don't wait until the plane hits the ground to find out what shape your batteries are in. Dennis

This is a good example of why several of us suggest that a battery tester, or voltwatch, be among the equipment every new person buys. Testing the batteries before the beginning of the day would easily catch something like this.

What is going to be the outcome on this? Do you feel you are at fault? I'm asking because an instructor has a lot of responsibility. Let me give an example.
If a newby brings their trainer to the field and says it is new, he is new, this has never been flown before, etc... What does an instructor do? Here is what happened to me.
The assigned instructor told me he needed to check out the plane first. He preflighted the plane then took it up for a few laps. He trimmed it and flew it some more. All the time he was explaining to me what he was doing. When he landed he showed me how to refuel it, how to start it, and how to tune it. Then off we went for my training.
The question is, what would have been his 'responsibility' (loosely phrased) if something had happened to my plane when he maidened it? What would you do if for example, the engine came off of it's mount? What if he lost it and found out the batteries were bad? How would the newby feel putting their trust in an instructor and found out that the instructor didn't bother checking the batteries? I'm just asking, not pointing any fingers as to who was right/wrong because as the instructor the newby expects perfection. Do you just ask about the batteries? Do you just ask about how long they were charged? Or do you (this is directed at instructors not you DadsToysBG - I should make that clear) test the batteries, all of the hinges, mounts, etc or just rely on the newby's answers?
Again, I'm just asking what the instructors in the crowd do and am not saying DadsToysBG did anything wrong.

(1) a volt meter would have showed 5.4 volts but would not show the ma in the battery.
(2) I pulled everything on sunday and flew it hard to try and shake it up.
(3)I always tell a new person it's not a plane until it lands and things can happen beyond our control.
(4) i did make of point of asking hm how long did he charge.
(5) the point of this story is to care for your batteries and not assume they are good just because they were on a wallmart charger. Dennis

Dennis is right, cycling your batteries periodically is the only way to know if they're performing as expected. A voltmeter or voltwatch type of device will give you an instant reading that may catch simple problems, but they can't tell you whether or not the battery can put out enough current to sustain control for a full flight.

Cycling your batteries conditions them and improves their performance while also alerting you when it's time to replace a battery pack so a $12 NiCd battery doesn't cost you a $500 aircraft.

To follow up on this, batteries age they loose the ability to hold a full charge. most people don't cycle them, they just test voltage. That 107ma was not enough to even get one flight even tho the volt meter said 5.4. I felt sorry fot the student and am helping him get things back together. And he learned a hard lesson on battery care. But the guys at the field may be right. I should't teach if i sell the replacment parts. The sad part is there are so few that will teach, so some days I fell I have to jump in and help. To watch a new guy just sit and wait for someone while all these people just walk by because they don't want to be responsible if the plane chrashes. Is there a good answer?. when i learned I broke my plane on a weekly bases and was always back on Sat. Dennis