[NSRCA-discussion] Scary night of flying

[Ken Thompson]

I always cycle my NiCads at least twice when new and when I bring a plane 
out of hibernation.  I do a slow cycle, slow discharge and slow recharge.
FWIW.
Ken
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul LaChance" <plachance at cox.net>
To: "General pattern discussion" <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2010 10:37 AM
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Scary night of flying


> 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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