I have a stock Hummingbird II with birdseed battery, Century gyro, GWS Receiver and Century ESC/Mixer.

I'm considering moving to LiPo power but I am not sure what to expect.

My local store sells two LiPos of interest

2 Cell, 700mAh, 8C, weighing 31g
2 Cell, 1000mAh, 10C, weighing 42g

Now the LiPo is 7.4V compared with the birdseed's 8.4V, so there is less power but less weight - so how will the performance compare?

The LiPo is 700/1000mAh compared with the birdseed's 600mAh - so how will the flight times compare?

Finally, the 700mAh and the 1000mAh LiPos are the same price. Obviously the 1000 has a greater capacity but it is also heavier, so which battery would give the best performance/duration combination.

Please note that I don't want to spend much on my HB (it's just a bit a fun for when I can't take my Raptor out) so please don't suggest upgraded motors, brushless setups etc.

Thanks for any advice.

Nigel

The 2-cell 1000 MAH would be perfect. A capacity in the 1000 to 1350 range seams to work out best for micro helicopters.

You should get about 12-15 minutes with a 1000 MAH battery. LiPo batteries last longer if you don’t run them down to much – I would suggest that you fly about 10-12 minutes then land and recharge.

I hope you are aware that you need a special charger to charge a LiPo battery.

Yes I was aware that I need a LiPo charger but many thanks for the warning anyway.

Out of interest how does the weight saving alter the flight - better performance, better duration or both.

For example a 600mAh birdseed last about 6 minutes realistically. For arguments sake if I were to fit a 600mAh LiPo would the duration be the same or greater - and would the heli fly better in terms of performance and response.

Cheers,

Nigel