Hi! I have a Dynaflight Butterfly 3ch. powered glider that I like to take up really high and set the engine to idle and then see how long I can keep it up for.. I am currently using a standard futaba 600mah 4.8 battery for the RX.. How long can I safely stay up with this battery.. Im just running the 3 standard servos with the battery.. I have made multiple 10 min flights on a charge and the voltwatch says I still have full power. do you think it would be safe to stay up for 30-40 mins or is that pushing it? Thanks!</p>

With a 3-ch glider? You could easily stay up 30 - 40 minutes

Ditto what Mike said.</p>

Ken</p>

Awesome.. Thats just what iwanted to hear!

If you know how to effectively hunt for thermals then you could probably stay up ther even longer then 40 min , I have flown for as long as 90 min on a single charge with the engine at idle , flying a 3 ch glider

I agree with 90 minutes at the upper limit.  Since it is a glider, you should have very low current draw.  Best way is to go for the 40 minutes, then test how much is left on the pack by discharging into a 20 ohm resistor.  When the voltage drops to 4.6 volts, stop the test.  It should go 40 minutes in the air and at least another 40 in the test.

And trust me, the first time you get into a good thermal the plane just keeps going up and up you'll be hooked on it!!!!

That's what happened to me!!!!

Ken

I've thermaled a Goldberg Eagle 63 for over 15 minutes after the engine ran out of fuel.  I was on the downwind leg for landing when I found the thermal.

you will be tired of flying it before the battery runs out. if i had to guess, 1.5-2 hours till dead battery. what servo's do you have?
im thinking about getting that plane, is it worth it?

I really like this plane.. I have an OS 25 on the front and it pulls the plane aroundgood enough.. What I like most about the plane is it is SLOW.. I pull it out when i want to go flying with non r/c friends.. I take it up high, hand them the TX and let them have a go at it.. Most of my friends have no problem keeping this bird straight and level becaude of all the dihedral in the wings.. The only thing I would watch out for when building is the way the landing gear are installed.. on anything but a perfect landing, they push through the balsa fuse.. I fiberglassed where they rest on the fuse and havent had a problem since!