Slow Flight Product Reviews

Planes (kits and plans)
Product	Supplier	# of reviews	Avg Rating
Dimmwatt	ModelAirTech	1	5
Comments: dan@sefsd.org : The product purchased was plans and a kit of sticks, ply motor mount, ply gear mount, ply horns and wire gear. I supplied wheels, rubber bands, covering and electronics. You can also purchase just the plans. The prices were very reasonable. Plusses-- Easy to transport, setup and fly. Fairly simple building process. Inexpensive. Uses standard equipment or micro gear. Company has a history of making good quality inexpensive products for electrics. Minuses-- Elevator control rod was difficult to make work correctly without modification from plans. Not an ARF (for those of you who don't like to build) Overall-->Excellent plane for cheap thrills.
Dragonfly	Diversity Model Aircraft	2	4.5
Comments: darren@heimdal.compchem.ucsf.edu : I got a Dragonfly as my first electric after flying a 2 m glider. I have logged tons of flight time on it since it fly's very well in the baseball diamonds two blocks from my house. On calm mornings it floats very slow and gracefully. In the wind it will get tossed around a bit, but it is still controllable. I have even soared it in slope lift, in stiff breeze you can shut down the motor and get really long flights. Average calm air flight time is about 6 min on the 500 AR pack, and about 7 min on the 600 AE pack. Mine is equipped as follows: 2 Cirrus CS 10 servos, Castle Creations Pixie 14 speed control, 7 cell 500 AR and 600 AE battery packs, Hitec 555 receiver, or standard receiver without case Overall a very nice very controllable airplane. It flys well in limited spaces, and is slow enough that you have plenty of time to think. Roger Dorn (rd@netwurx.net) : A very complete kit that goes together very easily. Everything fits. Flies great. A pleasure to build and fly.
LeParqueWatt	ModelAirTech	1	5
Comments: Chuck Kriete (dotchuck@epix.net) : Not sure what to call this model, but it flies great - not too slow, not too fast for a novice. I built the kit and used the recommended motor, MiniOlympus gear box, FMA Tetra receiver, S80 servos, 7cell 500AR from SR and 7 cell 600Ae from Hobby Lobby. The kit was a straightforward build, it flies exactly as predicted, and does what Tom says it will do. I got flights of around 7-8 minutes on each battery. I am very much a novice and I fly at my own farm, which has crops in the fields which sometimes are hard on the motors when I land in the wrong places. I also fouond the landing gear to be inappropriate for my site, since i have no hard, level surfaces to fly from, take off from, or land on. I chose to redo the fuselage after several hard landings, making it a combination if blue building foam (from forward of the servo locations to the nose, deep enough for belly landing which would still protect the props. This system has worked fine, and I now have over 50! flights on the plane. It has been one of the three most reliable and predictable models I have. Get one - the price is right and you will enjoy it.
LF1	IMA Belgium	1	3
Comments: Steve Lewin (slewin@hotmail.com) : The LF1 was my first indoor model and it flies very well on a Speed 280, 6x250 mAH cells and a Gunther "toy" prop. Comes with separate indoor and smaller outdoor wings but even with the smaller wing it won't fly in any wind. The only problem I've had is that the balsa fuselage is a bit fragile in hard landings. I've now replaced mine with a carbon fibre tube, which is much better.
Mayfly	NSP	1	5
Comments: Mark Shimei (mshimei@mpcs.com) : Good kit, assembles fast and the Renolds wrap covering is durable. On a Sp280, 8cell AAA nimh, it will fly 13-17 min on a calm morning. Fuse breaks easy. Hard to change battery. Good flier!!
Mouse	Braun (NES/Todd Long)	2	4.5
Comments: william.campbell@motorola.com : Durable carbon construction. 1717 motor w/ braun prop gives greater than 1:1 thrust weight ratio if using 8 cell 50mah battery packs(AUW <110g). Very aerobatic. Quiet 1717 motor. Can be flown very slow if using high AOA. ward.shelley@cyberstar : DC1717, 8*50ma, SH&R 4 amp ESC, 2*HS-50, Hitec 555 receiver, 10*5 Braun prop, 4 oz RTF. Flies great. Loops, rolls, speed range from hover to scoot. The landing gear needs small gussets on the bottom/back to keep legs from folding during takeoff on rough pavement.
SloMoWatt	ModelAirTech	1	4
Comments: jleigh@mitretek.org : This is a good airplane. The kit is quite straightforward to build - if you can cut a stick to length and glue it to another stick you can build it. Mine weighs in at 13.3 oz and flies quite well on 7x350 cells and a geared 280 - not the one that is sold for the kit, but comparable I think. I plan to try 8 cells to improve the takeoff and climb. Duration is about 12 minutes. My only negative comment is that I feel the plane is a bit overbuilt and could use thinner wood in some places without becoming too fragile. Additional Comments from John : I've repowered the plane with a 4.8v Speed 400 geared 1.8:1, 7x4 Master Airscrew prop and 6x1100AAU cells. What a difference - climbs out at 30 degrees, consecutive loops from level flight, barrel rolls (pretty ugly, but still ...), great hammerhead turns. It's not a real slowflier anymore, more of a parkflier, still quite slow and very maneuverable.. This setup is, to my mind, much better than the 280 motor. The airframe is plenty strong to handle the extra stresses, and the plane is just more fun overall.
Tiny	Todds Models	1	5
Comments: Bob Mosher (mosherbb@juno.com) : This was my first venture into the micro field. I built it as recommended by Todd to include motor and prop as provided by Todds Models. At this point I have over 40 flights on it and could not have been more satisfied. All of the flying has been out doors as we have not located a suitable indoor site.
Wespe	WES-Technik	1	4
Comments: olli.saloranta@sahkomarkkinakeskus.fi : Difficulties to use such a thin covering material. Otherwise excellent.
Yard Bee	Clancy Aviation	1	4
Comments: Lloyd Schultz (lloyd_schultz@zd.com) : Finished wing weighed 2 oz. Cover is opaque but goes clear when heated, has adhesive backing, no Balsrite needed. Seemed to stretch better than Mono. Fuselage and tail a tad heavy due to harder balsa than might be needed. Finished bird flies well anyway. Used .5 oz Canon Rx, 2 CS10 servos, Pixie 14 esc, Speed 280 with Titanic redux and red prop in slowest ratio Tom Hunt sells, 7-110 pack, made own wheels 2 discs each of 1/16 balsa w/grain 90 degr and glass gauze between. Flies about 4 min, has same rolly-polly panda cub like flight characteristics that make anything from Clancy entertaining. Building was fun, tail/fuselage area extra fun and different. I left the entire 1/16 thick triangle bottom piece off from landing gear to tailpost, and added 1/8 sq stringers at inside bottom of each side for stiffness. Overall a tad of weight saving, and stiff enough.
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Planes (ARF)
Product	Supplier	# of reviews	Avg Rating
Bleriot	Ikarus	1	5
Comments: Jeff (SHDAERO@aol.com) : Ikarus scores big with this kit. Like their Taube it assembles well and easily. Very complete kit even includes glue and control run lines. Very responsive in the air and has a solid feel. Will loop when coaxed but not an areobat. Not a windy weather flier by any means. Will fly in a small gyn if you are good on the sticks. Nice big wingspan is easy to keep oriented. Easy to fly, majestic, and very scale like flight. A real plus is the easy disassembly with the wings fastened by simple plug-in feature. Great fun...Get one... you won't be displeased.
Cannon Shot	Formoplast / Hobby Club	1	4
Comments: Frank Bush (fbush@ricochet.net) : I bought a Cannon Shot at the Fly-In in Half Moon Bay from Hobby Club. It looks like a Pitts Special with an 18" wing span and the fuse is 15.75" long. - P/U 050 motor, gearbox and prop (came with kit) - Tetra FM - HS-50s Rudder & Elevator - FMA-5 ESC - 8 Sanyo 110mAmp with Mini Deans - 1" Guillow's lightweight wheels (did not like the wheels in kit) The All Up Weight comes out at 173 grams, 13 over the listed weight. It built fast, but the instructions were poor at best. This assumes you know how to build light. The first flight took place in a small park near my home in San Jose, CA. The wind was light to one at times. It flew well in level flight but had a hard time gaining altitude. Once I got to some height I tried a loop, but it fell out at the top. When just buzzing around it turns tight and can fly vary slow at high angle of attack. I get about 5 minutes on the 8x110 pack. It is fun to fly and a solid plane. I would like to find a more powerful motor, gearbox and prop so I can try some real aerobatics indoors.
DR1 Fokker Triplane	Simprop	1	3
Comments: Duke851@msn.com : The DR1 was very easy to assemble and seemed to be very well thought out and a slight improvement construction wise over the Pfalz. The 280 drive and three bladed prop supplied did not provide sufficient power to fly the model and were pulling about 3.9A. I substituted an APC prop 9 x 4.7 (as used on the Pfalz and 250 drive) which I epoxied to the drive gear of the 280 unit. This put out significantly more thrust and dropped the Amps to 3.2A. I also had to adjust the Undercarriage to have zero incidence with regards to the wings as as built it had a significant negative angle. It also needed about .8 oz of lead in the nose to give the correct CG which the model is very sensitive to. My wings also had a slight Gull wing look to them and tended to drop of in the turns. I weighted the model down while supporting the wing which after a few days had fixed the gull wing look and give an increase in Dihedral. The model then flew fairly well on a 7 x 350 Nicad but marginally on 7 x 500 Nimh. I finally setteled for a 8 x 650nimh which gives ample power and will fly at 3/4 throttle. Take off is in about 6'. And it now flies very well but the Pfalz still has the performance edge but the DR1 looks great in the air.
Elinor/Hummel	Hobby Lobby / Multiplex	2	3.5
Comments: boyajian@worldnet.att.net : IMO this aircraft requires a little more space than the typical slow/park flyer. It flies well and has aerobatic capability. I think it would perform better with ailerons with (or without) rudder. slewin@hotmail.com : Easy to put together attractive "vintage" model. Gentle enough to use as a trainer. Needs to be kept light.
Flybaby	Hobby Club	1	3
Comments: ward.shelley@cyberstar : Built nearly stock. Used motor/gearbox/prop as supplied with a JR credit card receiver (no case), 2*HS-50, Jeti5, 8*110ma. Takeoffs are very scale, the tail is up in 15 feet, liftoff in another 10. I get 5 minute flight with touch and goes. The wing is on the weak side as is the landing gear (attached to only foam).
Grade Eindecker	Ikarus/Hobby Lobby	1	3
Comments: boyajian@worldnet.att.net : The original version of the Eindecker I received had a very soft balsa fuse. I flew it about 10 times with a fuse structural failure each time. As the aircraft became heavier from repairs, its performance deteriorated. I replaced the fuse with a new, medium grade balsa fuse. It now performs very well, is fun to fly and is a true slow/park flyer.
MicroLite	Marky's Hobby Shop	1	5
Comments: Larry McFarland (): The MicroLite is a very nicely made ARF from Marky's Hobby Shop (Web access). This model presumably hails from the Czech Republic, but I haven't seen any supporting info for this. It spans 36", and is powered by the new SP260 (4:1 GD w/ an 8" GWS prop), weighs ~7 oz. ready to go aloft. Mine is fitted out with an SH&R RX-72 receiver, 2-HS50 servos, and a CC Pixie Lite ESC. I'm also using one of Marky's 5-cell, 225Mah Sanyo Ni-Cd packs. The SP260/6-volt Sanyo pack produces some surprising power with the GWS prop. Though I haven't flown mine enough to attempt aerobatics, the raised entry airfoil, along with its light weight and peppy SP260, I suspect the bird should do well for an rudder/elev. ship. The flying characteristics of the MicroLite are superb! Plusses-- Very light balsa selected for construction; The use of what appears to be Oracover Lite covering; the Horst 4:1 GB which has been pre-drilled by Marky's for the GWS prop; Superb, soft, flight manners; a sizable speed range - the plane can fly quite slowly, but can also zip right along; Extremely well executed ARF construction. Minuses-- Too soft balsa landing gear mounting block for grass field landings; Hard plastic wheels. Overall-- Though expensive, the MicroLite is an excellent slo flyer for larger back yards.
Nora	Hobby Lobby	1	0
Comments: Roger Dorn (rd@netwurx.net) : The gear box seized up. Even thought I have used a lot of washout it still likes to tip stall
Pfalz	Simprop	2	0.5
Comments: Duke851@msn.com (score 4) : Kit built easily and flies very well. Using the Simprop 250 drive and 7 x 500mah Nimh cells it gives about 15min flying time. It will loop with a slight dive to build up momentum first. It takes of in about 6' on asphalt. I love the model and have had a blast olli.saloranta@sahkomarkkinakeskus.fi (score -3) : Shall soon test with Cox 020 if I find fuelproof painting suitable for styrox body! (I think he means it's underpowered - SL :-)
Soarstar	SF Models - Horizon Hobby	1	4
Comments: Larry McFarland (yylarry@verizonmail.com) : The MTH Hobbies Soarstar (also being sold as the Poppy) has been called a Wingo "knockoff" on the various electric lists. While this may be the case, given all the mistakes attributed to the latter, I was pleasantly surprised to find the Soarstar had been engineered with all the mistakes corrected. I believe the span and other dimensions are very much like the Wingo, as is the airfoil, wing shape, etc. The fuselage is a tad different, however, with a tail boom which is greatly improved, eliminating the occurrance of the infamous "Wingo Tuck", caused primarily by fuselage boom bending under load. The Soarstar builds like many of the foamies - I thought the amount of work needed was high. I should state that I made all R/C gear removable, which added some more time, rather than go the doubl-sided tape route. Thanks to the EZone discussion lists, the matter of where's the balance point was settled: use the rear of the wing strut support mounts. The otherwise good, supplied manual failed to mention this rather important point. The kit from Horizon comes with a very good ESC, an 8-cell 600Mah pack, and an excellent geared SP380 with pusher prop. In flight, this combo yields excellent power, and the model exhibits superb flight characteristics. My judgement is that this airplane is a VERY light wind flyer, and in those conditions, it's a lot of fun to fly in close. Its landing habits are splendid. In the hands of a good instructor, the Soarstar would make an excellent trainer! Plusses-- Parts fit and quality of the construction manual make assembly pretty much straight forward. Completeness and quality of the supplied hardware. And excellent flying qualities along with the model's appeal to the younger generation. Minuses-- Failure of the manufacturer to specify a propr balance point; The construction process is very "busy" in that there are many pieces to get properly installed, glued in, and working. A novice definitely should seek help from an experienced builder before attempting R/C gear installation. Much care should be exercised in routine handling, as the foam is very soft, and hangar rash can build up fast! Overall-> The Soarstar is a lot of fun to fly. I highly recommend it as a stress-break airplane for those windless evenings at the local park.
Spider	NSP	1	-5
Comments: Jim Duckworth (jduckworth@msn.com) : As received, the aircraft would not fly! Assembled properly, CG correct, surfaces working in the proper direction. Upon launch the aircraft decends in a long shallow dive. Add some up trim, same thing. Move CG back, same thing, maybe worse. Add positive incidence to the wing, no change. Decrease downthrust, some help, but not much the aircraft now goes out fairly straight upon launch, but when up elevator is given, the plane decends into a dive. Tried launching with almost full up elevator, plane goes maybe 10 feet and into an almost vertical dive while I'm still holding up elevator. Turns out the fuselage (5/8 X 5/8 balsa stick) is very flexible and any application of up elevator produces a downward pressure on the fuselage stick, causing it to bend, in effect giving down elevator. Just as if you were introducing a down elevator trim command. Crazy to design an airplane that way, and sell it as an ARF. Those of us who have paid our dues designing and building planes for many years buy an ARF once in a while just to save some time and relax with someone elses ideas, but in this case, I wasted both money and time. I suspect we will see much more of these shenigans as the attraction of money entices companies to forego their principals to grab a quick buck with the new parkflyer/slowflyer activity.
Taube	Ikarus	1	4
Comments: Jeff (shdaero@aol.com) : Easy to build although it is very unconventional for an r/c aircraft, being similar to plastic static model airplanes. The instructions were very clear and have no flaws or things out of order. The kit included two tubes of "foam cement" that works very well. The glue is flexible without being weak or rubbery. The kit is all foam with the only balsa parts being the motor/wing bearer. Some very nice control horns would allow you to hook up the contols with pull/pull wires, however the kit includes carbon rods. I believe Ikarus included these because this slow flier can do loops from level flight and barrelrolls with some speed from altitude. Ikarus has thoughtly included two carbon rods and a joiner for wing strengthening for just such activity. I choose not to use them and have still been able to execute aerobatics. Total build time was about two hours. It has a wide speed range and is capable of very scale like flight when flown slow. No trim changes from slow to high. Excellent glide ratio in power off. And I cannot think of any way to crash it that would cause the total loss of the frame. Maybe stepping on it. Hand launches very well at low throttle and has a good solid feel in the air like a Goldberg Chipmunk or similar. I have flown it in winds 3-8 mph and have even caught some residual thermal lift in late evenings. I like this plane and the radio will stay in it. All in all it is a very predictable flier with no bad habits and has been the best slow flier I have had to date. Equipment: HiTech 555 no case Ikarus drive-modified with ball and thrust bearings. Pixie 14 ESC - Castle Creations. 7- 350mah nicads yield 13-15 min flights with bursts of high throttle. 2 CS20 servos Some nose weight required to balance (about .6 oz) but a better battery location on the builders parts would have sufficed. Weakest part of this kit is the wheels. They are white foam and are easily damaged if taxied/landed on hard coarse surfaces and become somewhat wobbly after some use. I have heard some good things about this kit from other modelers that have built one. I am happy with it.
Teddy	Multiplex	1	-0.5
Comments: olli.saloranta@sahkomarkkinakeskus.fi (Score = -4) : CG-problems. Stupid advice to add lead to nose - even without that too heavy with recommended AA-cells. Rick Page (rick-page@home.com) (Score = 3) : Attractive kit for children. My 14 year old daughter found the assembly instructions too difficult on her own. Use 7 heavy (500AR) batteries or add lead to ensure the correct CG. Enlarge the battery compartment if necessary. I added carbon fibre tape along the spar to stiffen the tail boom. With Speed 400, FMA S80 servos, Hitec 535 and Jeti 10C I was still under the projected weight. Good for beginners (with instructor). More stable and slower than most trainers. Foam repairs easily with odorless CA. Not perfect, but the first kit to attract my daughter's interest. That's enough to sell me. No more flying alone.
Wattage B2	Global Hobby/Hobby Shack	1	-2
Comments: william.campbell@motorola.com : Finished airplane looks good. Underpowered, will not fly with the heavy gear supplied in full kit. Do not recommended the 13g ESC available for the B-2. Older instructions did not state aileron throw, be sure to limit first flights to 1/8" travel up/down. Flys better with 7 cells, rather than the 6 cell pack provided in full kit.
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Helicopters
Product	Supplier	# of reviews	Avg Rating
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Motors
Product	Supplier	# of reviews	Avg Rating
MG1	EMPS (Dick Miller)/td>	1	5
Comments: Chuck Kriete (dotchuck@epix.net) : This is a great littlemotor that will put out incredible torque on five cells. Dick Miller has the stats on it in his motor analysis list. I have been flying them for two years and they are unbeatable in their class. They are reliable, easy to repair when crashed, and very reasonably priced and 3 motors for $10 and $4 each for a set of gears. The instructions that come with the motor and gears are marvels of clarity and should be followed to the letter.
Titanic 280 Gear Drive	Titanic Airlines/Tom Hunt/Todd Long	1	3
Comments: Bill Campbell (william.campbell@motorola.com) : This is a Graupner Speed 280 motor with 3:1 gear ratio. Best feature is a prop adapter so you can use the APC slow fly props with it. The 9 X 4.7 and 10 X 4.7 are both good matches for this motor/gearbox. The plastic gear shaft supports are weak and will break quickly, but they are easily/quickly replaced with a balsa block spacer. Once these are replaced, this is a very durable setup with good power.
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Receivers
Product	Supplier	# of reviews	Avg Rating
555 Rx	Hitec	1	5
Comments: Jeff (SHDAERO@aol.com) : Excellent performance. Nice and small and reliable enough to use in large precious models. Excellent performance with antenna shortened and with a Deans base loaded add-on soldered directly to antenna output.
Pico 3/4	Multiplex	1	4
Comments: Light, simple, some rare moments of disturbations, overall worth the price
RX72 Hybrid RX	Sky Hooks and Rigging	1	4
Comments: Bob Mosher (mosherbb@juno.com) : This Rx is used in a Tiny all up weight 4.41 ozs. I particularly liked the tiny connecters and the switch harness in general. I have over 40 flights with no range or other problems. It is not a narrow band Rx. and I have been careful not to try to fly it when other TXs are opperating.I used the provided connecters to rewire micro servos so the same connecters are used throughout. My only complaint is that it is not narrow band.
Rex 4	Jeti	1	5
Comments: Michael Henriksen (mhenriks@vip.cybercity.dk) : My favourite RX for both indoor and outdoor lightweight applications. Low weight, ample range and very resistant to interference. Another plus is the short antenna.
Tetra	FMA	1	-5
Comments: Jeff (SHDAERO@aol.com) : Mediocre performance. Intermittent reception in cold weather. Lots of glitching on low frequencies.
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Infrared Controllers
Product	Supplier	# of reviews	Avg Rating
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Speed controllers
Product	Supplier	# of reviews	Avg Rating
FMA 05	FMA	1	0
Comments: Dave (daveairway@jps.net) : I do like the Mini 05. It works fine. The only thing to watch for is no cut off for low battery. I just listen to the prop speed or watch the rate of climb, then land when either shows it is time.
FMA 20	FMA	2	-5
Comments: Jeff (SHDAERO@aol.com) : Pass on this one. Glitches and inconsistant perf. There are better performing ESC's at prices around this one. Dave (daveairway@jps.net) : I agree with the Mini 20 NOT being the way to go. If you have one already, try twisting the motor and battery leads to reduce the glitching.
JMP HF9	Todd's Models	1	5
Comments: Curt Knight (springrise@earthlink.net): This little ESC is the one to have if you run the smaller coreless motors. The maker claims it will prolong the brush life of these motors and provide a bit more run time when using less than full throttle. I have used this controller with two DC5 motors,a 1524 motor and two of the GWS motors as found on the Lite Stik and Pico Stik.(I have even used it on a speed 400 motor) It does prolong brush life and increase run times as advertised. The installation and operation of this ESC is well covered in the included instructions. This model is one of the new generation of "Self calibrating" controllers. What this means is that no longer must we mess with tiny little adjustment pots and worry about setting end points with our transmitters. Simply move the throttle stick on the transmitter from idle to full throttle, wait about 5 seconds and move it back to idle. The ESC adjusts itself to your transmitters settings and requires no further adjustment. The "failsafe" works as follows. In case of mild interference (seen by the ESC as invalid input pulses), it just freezes on the last valid throttle setting for up to about 1/2 second, then stops and automatically resumes operation when the valid pulses are back in sufficient number. In this case, it is not necessary to "rearm" it. If however the interference is real bad, then it completely resets itself. The purpose of this is to definitely stop the motor, in order to give the receiver the best chance to work in a noiseless environment. If you want, the manufacturer will either send you a microcontroller with modified software which only reacts in the first manner (i.e. no "hard" stops), if you feel you can replace it yourself, or he can replace it for you if you send it to him. Both options being free of charge, except for the mailing. All in all this is an excellent product with top notch support.
Pixie 14	Castle Creation	2	4
Comments: john leigh (jleigh@mitretek.org) : Light, can handle significant current, flawless performance. Dave (Daveairway@jps.net) : I agree, great little ESC. Used around here a lot with Wingos and 8 cells.
Rondo 400	Kontronic / Northeast Sailplanes	1	5
Comments: Robert Parisot (parisot@coastalnet.com) : Solders right to the motor connectors, has BEC and Brake, 6-10 Cells, Power for 3 servos, Cutoff @5.6 volts, 15 Amps Cont., 20 Amps Peak, Auto Setup, Current Limiting, Weighs .4 oz. with wires, 12 month Kontronic Guarantee. $30.00 at NE Sailplanes (March 2000). This is an excellent ESC for the price. I've been using two of them for almost four months now, they work great. :)
Slim 08e	Schulze	1	5
Comments: Steve Lewin (slewin@hotmail.com) : Very light, very reliable with a reasonable 8A current rating. No fuss, no glitching. One of the nicer ESCs I've used.
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Servos
Product	Supplier	# of reviews	Avg Rating
JR 241	JR	1	5
Comments: Dave (Daveairway@jps.net) : I really like JR servos. This one is real nice. It is slower than some which I think is good, more torque with less current. Very smooth and nice centering. Excellent parkfly servo.
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Batteries
Product	Supplier	# of reviews	Avg Rating
Tadiran Lithium Cells	David Lewis/Todd Long	1	5
Comments: Kern Hanson (Gradingsup1@aol.com) : For the last 2 years I have been using the Tadiran 800 mAh cells in most of my small planes with great success. The weight of each 800 mAh cell is only 17g but they are rated at 3.4v each which makes them hard to beat when you you look at their energy density ratio. I like the fact that they have no memory, they can sit for months with almost no voltage loss and you can charge them at any level(you don't have to cycle them). I use them in every thing from an astro Firefly to a 6v speed 400 and have replaced most of my nicads and nimh with them. They do have some drawbacks in that they are not cheap at $13/14 each. You do need a special charger (not expensive} and you have to slow charge them which for most of my slow flyers is not a problem because most of them will fly from 30 min. to over an hour and a half on a charge (Astro Firefly 800). The largest plane I use them in is a 20 oz. bip. of my own design. I'm using a total 8 cells in 2 packs of 4 which gives me a total of 1600mAh @ over 13v. They tell me that you shouldn't discharge these at more than 2 amps but I have run them as high as 3 without any problems.
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Miscellaneous
Product	Supplier	# of reviews	Avg Rating
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