Ihave been using Hyperion 5350mah packs which have been great but they do struggle in the wind. Ihave been researching some replacements and it seems that the packs out of HK are well regarded for the price (albeit that you do get some duds). There seemsto be be three brands with packs as follows (aswell as the new Hyperion product for reference):
Zippy-H 5000mah 20-30c $105 659gm 160x51x40
Flightmax 5000mah 20-30c $69 632gm 145x50x41
Flightmax 5000mah 25-35c $82 628gm 145x50x40
Flightmax 5000mah 30-40c $94 650gm 145x48x40
Rhino 4900mah 20-30c $70 625gm 184x51x41
Hyperion G3 5000mah 25-45c $161 618gm 141x46x53

Here is a link www.unitedhobbies.com/UNITEDHOBBIES/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=8589&Product_Name=ZI PPY_Flightmax_5000mAh_5S1P_30C to the second option for reference.

So, I have seem some great comments about the Zippy-H and newer comments on the Rhino. Iam interested int he Flightmax packs and am curious if anyone has tried them and if someone can explain the difference between the different C rated packs (looks like they have the same cells but are rated differently).

All the best, Simon

Ihave in excess of 20 different Zippy/Flightmax packs ranging from 1000 to 4400mah, all bought from Hobby King. Ihave never received a bad pack and all of them are still going strong. Iwill continue to buy my Zippy packs from Hobby King as long as Ican!

Have you had experience with the same packs with different C ratings as per items 2,3&4 above? I'm wondering if it is worth paying more for the higher rated packs.

I don`t have <u>a lot of </u>experience, but I have used some Zippoes for the last two years.

Have used 4 "older" Zippy batteries rated 20C. They have been loaded at 20C, in a small warmliner. They now have balance problems, and seemes to loose their "C" now. No doubt my abuse have caused them to have a short life.

I got 4 of 5S5000 30C Flightmax some months ago. Use them in my Angel, and they perform pretty good so far! My load is appr 1200 Watt, or appr 64A max. Equals appr 13C, which is (IMHO) a reasonable load. They have full power during a whole 10-12 min flight, and then I usually put back 4000mAh. They have perfect balance, and so far I am very pleased with them. I did use FlightPower 5000 batteries in my Angel before, and they lost the power at 2/3 of flighttime. But they were ratet 25C. So far I feel the FlightMax batteries are "better"than my older FlightPowers...
I have more Zippy batteries, propably 10-12, and none of them are abused being ran at close to max C-rating. None of them have any issues, perform OK and I am pleased. As far as I stay away from loading close to max C-ratings things have a tendency to work good!