Originally Posted by RealGambler

Just noticed that the UM Stryker is $129 at HH
http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...0-bnf-PKZU2280

Since when did the price go down?

I bought mine over a month ago, and that was the price then.

Originally Posted by pugsam

Yer basically quite correct, SP, and I'm basically just fantasizin'.....but......what's wrong with fantasizin'.......

Nothing wrong with that

Originally Posted by RealGambler

Just noticed that the UM Stryker is $129 at HH
http://www.horizonhobby.com/products...0-bnf-PKZU2280

Since when did the price go down?

Thanks to RCBabbel this is how I got mine, $119:

http://www.ultimatehobbies.com/istar...KZU2280%211002

I know you have to pay for shipping but it still may be cheaper for ya, if you need another Stryker, but your MiG 15 should keep you a little pre-occuppied for now huh?

Just brought my UMX Stryker home. Haven't flown a wing since my Zagi 10 years back, so it will be interesting.

I'm charging up the stock battery on my icharger 206b (2s lipo balance charge, 200 mA charge rate) The 1c max charge rate is annoying, but I'll live. Turnigy 180s on the way.

My problem: my charger has put 259 mAh in and still going (8.23 v right now). No heat, no puffing. None of my other batteries (parkzone radian, blade msr x) have taken more than their rated capacity on their initial charge.

• Should I be worried?
• Is this normal?
• did I get an extra good battery, or just one that was very drained?

I would say that is pushing it. You may want to stop the charge and fly a full cycle till LVC then put it back on.

Thanks for the quick reply. I like your thinking: no harm in stopping early, and lots of peace of mind.

Stopped at 300 mAh, 1 hour 38 minutes, 8.3V. Maybe somebody cut the pack a bit generously.

It weighs 14.2 g, so it appears to be the correct battery (not mislabeled). I'll fly it to LVC tomorrow (if my plane lives that long, I've been having a bad week) and see where my recharge takes me.

Paul

i have the same problem with the plane life being too short. i fly way too close to the edges and it always bites me.

I bought my Stryker because:

1. My best soaring ever, circling with hawks under a cloud, ended up with my Radian rising into said cloud, never to be seen again. I waited half an hour, watching the cloud float away.
2. My replacement Radian Pro was eaten by a tree on my fourth flight, just starting to get it trimmed in. I learned that clevises stay on much better when you slide the rubber band back on, and that sailplanes are much easier to keep out of trees with attached clevises.

I needed something to fly while I put my RP back together. Tree retrieval broke the fuse in two.

Everything flies better with the clevises attached!

Maiden flight(s) today. Hot sunny day, 10 mph wind or so. Flew in Zilker park in Austin.

Tried a couple of unpowered hand launches to get the hang of it. Once I could get some 20' controlled glides of the tosses, I powered up and we were off.

My first few flights were 40' up or so, big circle downwind, kill the throttle and elevator flop back in. Then a couple of full circles around myself. Then a bunch of figure eights back and forth upwind and another flop.

I only lost orientation once or twice for less than half a second. Never a problem, but it's going to take some practice getting used to using color/behavior to determine orientation when I lose it. I can see it's going to be a blast once I get more comfortable with it.

I only have one battery ($17 for a 200 mAh 2s eflite at my LHS, so I'm waiting for bigger/cheaper cells mail order). Called it a day after 7 short flights and 4 minutes or so, as kids with kites were starting to crowd me.

Adding in a bench burn at 50-100% throttle to LVC after I got home, I got 8 minutes out of the battery, which wasn't fully charged. Longer than I expected. We'll see what I can put back into it now.

I suspect I got a bad battery. I charged it to 4.15 V (which took way too long, should have killed it earlier). Got a reasonable flight out of it (mostly 50-60% throttle).

Now it won't hold a charge. Put 200 mAh back into it and it was still at 7.65 V (should be approaching 8.4). Discharged it down to 3.3V at 1A and got 91 mAh out of it. I'll cycle it a few more times.

I guess I'll have to pick up a $17 rip-off pack at the LHS to fly with this week while waiting for my turnigy packs to come in. Or just do short flights with the bad pack.

Originally Posted by pmeyer

I suspect I got a bad battery. I charged it to 4.15 V (which took way too long, should have killed it earlier). Got a reasonable flight out of it (mostly 50-60% throttle).

Now it won't hold a charge. Put 200 mAh back into it and it was still at 7.65 V (should be approaching 8.4). Discharged it down to 3.3V at 1A and got 91 mAh out of it. I'll cycle it a few more times.

I guess I'll have to pick up a $17 rip-off pack at the LHS to fly with this week while waiting for my turnigy packs to come in. Or just do short flights with the bad pack.

call horizon hobby and tell them what happened. If its a bad battery out of the box chances are they will be more than happy to send you another one.

Originally Posted by verticalspark

call horizon hobby and tell them what happened. If its a bad battery out of the box chances are they will be more than happy to send you another one.

I just shot them a support email. Hopefully I'll get a replacement. Either way, I'll buy the $17 pack so I can fly while I wait.

If it didn't use such funny connectors I would just cobble together a pair of my MSR-x 150 mAh 1s1p batteries to tide me over.

Originally Posted by pmeyer

I suspect I got a bad battery. I charged it to 4.15 V (which took way too long, should have killed it earlier). Got a reasonable flight out of it (mostly 50-60% throttle).

Now it won't hold a charge. Put 200 mAh back into it and it was still at 7.65 V (should be approaching 8.4). Discharged it down to 3.3V at 1A and got 91 mAh out of it. I'll cycle it a few more times.

I guess I'll have to pick up a $17 rip-off pack at the LHS to fly with this week while waiting for my turnigy packs to come in. Or just do short flights with the bad pack.

If you took it down to below 6 volts, that was probably the end wasn't it? Didn't think you could drag lipo cells below 3 volts each without damage.

Originally Posted by bobly

If you took it down to below 6 volts, that was probably the end wasn't it? Didn't think you could drag lipo cells below 3 volts each without damage.

I have had lipos that each cell was a 2.2 and they managed to come back. I dont think they held the same mah as they once did but they still worked with no problem.