[NSRCA-discussion] Scary night of flying

[Paul LaChance]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the advice.  I have to admit I did not cycle the batteries 
before flying this time.  They were cycled when purchased and were new for 
the 2008 NATS.  I already bought a new battery but wanted to know if NiCad 
can be quick charged on a first charging or do they have to be slow charged 
like NiMh?  Thanks in advance.

Paul


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lightfoot" <lightfoot at sc.rr.com>
To: "'General pattern discussion'" <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2010 11:13 AM
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Scary night of flying


> Might well have been a case of NiCad "memory". I wouldn't have thrown them
> away unless after cycling them twice they showed to be weak. Periodic
> cycling is a must!
>
> Jay Marshall
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org
> [mailto:nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org] On Behalf Of Paul 
> LaChance
> Sent: Saturday, August 21, 2010 10:57 PM
> To: General pattern discussion
> Subject: [NSRCA-discussion] Scary night of flying
>
> Hi all,
>
> I finally flew my Prestige tonight after not flying it since the NATS 
> 2008.
> I have not flown it or ANY planes for 2 full years.  I charged everything 
> up
>
> and all seemed well.  Flew my first flight and landed without incident.  I
> checked the plane over and checked all my batteries and all looked well.
>
> Flew flight 2,  all was going well.  Flew the Advanced pattern twice and
> landed.  Checked my batteries again and they still read over 6 volts.
> Engine was running great and all was well.
>
> Flew flight 3 and that is where things got scary.  I flew the sequence 
> once
> and everything was going well.  When I started my second sequence the 
> plane
> got sluggish and was not feeling right.  I landed ASAP and as soon as the
> wheels tounched down, I went to add rudder to stear towards the pits and 
> had
>
> no rudder, no elevator, and only one aileron was working but it barely 
> moved
>
> and was very sluggish.  I shut the plane off and checked the batteries and
> they were barely reading 4.5 volts.  This was a 5 cell nicad pack.  I 
> guess
> I had a cell short and kill the pack.  I was just amazed and am very lucky
> to have been able to get the plane back on the ground before the battery
> completely failed.
>
> Has anyone had this happen before?  What would cause this?  I am going to
> get a new pack in the morning and try to fly again tomorrow evening.
>
> Thanks in advance for the help,
>
> Paul
>
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