Well we finally got good weather here in Ohio for a day of flying. We got in several great jumps with our new diver, then he bailed out of the plane at only 100 feet to save his life. He survived without a scratch, as you can see in the pictures below the plane was a total loss. I guess when they say LiPo cells are dangerous they really mean it! We found out the bigger the LiPo cells the bigger the fire. Other than the obvious LiPo cell exploding we have no idea what caused this. The last charge the chargers reported perfect charge. The plane flew fine all day until this. This flight was even fine for the first 45 seconds or so, then we lost partial power and thats when the diver bailed. Needless to say the plane is a total loss, what the battery explosion didn't hurt the being on fire for 3 or 4 minutes did. We landed with flames shooting out the top of the plane, while all this was happening I never once thought I could have lost the receiver earlier and caused the plane to go down in a building while on fire. Makes you think twice about wanting LiPo cells in your plane of this size.

Dave
Does this qualify your diver for the caterpillar club?
What C were you pulling out of what C rated cells? Very worrying. :-(

Regards

Gordon

Actually the diver opened and made a safe landing from less than 100 feet. Good thing the jumper pilot was paying attention!

As far as the amp draw, we had 7400mah packs that are 20C and we are only pulling about 95 amps. Not sure exactly how many cycles I have had but definately not that many to warrent this. If the pack would have gone bad there would not have been no hard feelings, but it burns your $#@* plane to the ground when it happens![:@] I love electrics, but this sucks.

[X(]Dave: Sorry to see such a fine flying bird like that burn up, I won't fool with lipo batteries
my freind on the next street had just started to charge his when he heard a loud bang and when he looked back at his bench it was on fire. And when I have to put batteries in a inclosed container becuase of fire or exsplosion I WILL STAY WITH GAS AT THAT THE ONLY SAFETY DEVICE i NEED IS A FIRE BOTTLE. but I am glad you didn't lose your skydiver. will talk to you at sommerset

BOB

95 amps in reality is a lot of amps. A lot of houses only have a 100A service. Think about the minimum wire size the NEC wants for a 100A house service - #2 aluminum.