I want to dust off my flying thumbs next week so, rather than risk one of my "good" planes, I was planning to take out the beat up old trainer. I want to get in lots of flight time so I was planning to take two transmitters but then I got to wondering about the aircraft's batteries.

Realistically speaking, how long can one expect to fly on a single 4.8 volt battery pack (before recharging) if the plane uses 5 analog servos?

Regards

It depends on the capacity of the battery. I was using a 4.8v 2300mah battery pack all summer long, and it could realistically fly for a FULL day. I'd fly in the morning, leave my plane at the field, and fly in the evening. My voltwatch never went below the first yellow bulb, if it even made it to yellow. Not sure how many flights, but a whole gallon of fuel with a .46 engine.

There are batteries that are only a few hundred mah, like the ones the come with radios. They only get a handful of flights (5?) before needing a recharge.

If your charger has a cycler, Cycle the battery under full load then when your at the field check the voltage after half the cycle time.

600mAh ( the standard OEM pack) should give you at least three 15 minute flights plus ground time and pit time. Could be less depending on how free and smooth your control surfaces and linkage move and the age and prior treatment of the battery. Sometimes you get more off a standard pack.

An ESV (expanded scale voltmeter) or even a VoltWatch are handy in keeping tabs on how the battery is doing.

Don41, Get you a good volt-meter & a fast field charger . That should solve your battery problem. Max H.

I'm with Charlie on this one.

Regardless of what size battery pack I have, I use the "3 Flight" rule.

Thanks for the input fellows. I don't have a field charger so I think I'll repack the radio gear so I can easily swap out the battery pack if needed.

Regards