Stryker NiMH flight longevity contest..
 

Just thought I'd post here to relay the following info:

I have two NiMH batteries for my Stryker- both 1000mah, one came with the plane stock, and I bought another.

I just flew today in wind that ranged from about 3mph with gusts 5-10mph. With stock batteries, motor, and prop, I got the following flight times with lots of throttle management:

10minutes 45sec
13minutes 20sec

Neither flight hit the BEC, but the last flight, I did hear the motor drop off drastically, and made a landing at the last second. Not too shabby for non-lipo!

So, I figured I'd post, and see if anyone is interested in a little contest? How long can you keep your Stryker in the air with the stock batteries? It must be stock motor, stock batteries (900mah or 1000mah), and stock prop. My bird has had the servos and receiver replaced with standard RC receiver, servos, and ESC units.. I'm not sure if the wind helped or hurt the flight times I got.. I did have full throttle at launch, and to get altitude. Then I would get as high as possible, then throttle way back and look for thermals. Both flights I got a little greedy and did a roll or two, high-speed low altitude flybys, etc., so I'm sure these times are beatable.

Let's hear some times from you guys!
Jason

RE: Stryker NiMH flight longevity contest..
 

It's hard to compare your striker to others. For example, I now have an Electrifly 25-amp speed controller on my stryker, which is a lot more efficient than the stock one, and I have noticed longer run times because of it (not by much, but a little). A better comparison would be taking one plane, such as yours, and trying different batteries.. ex: stock, Intellect 1400, GP 1100, etc. I run parkzone 7, 8, and 9-cell batteries (made for the typhoon 3d) in my stryker. I also run Intellect 1400 8 and 9 cell packs.. as well as a lipo. The intellect 1400's are nice, but I noticed the run time isn't long enough to justify the xtra 10 bucks over them vs the parkzone ones. Additionally, a well cycled parkzone pack often charges to 1100-1200 mah for me.. while the intellects hit just a smidge under 1400.. so the gap is narrowed even more.

As a side note.. I do notice slightly higher voltage levels from the intellect packs.