What to Expect From NIMH 12C 30A 14.4V

[vbcoder]

I am new to RC aviation and have had a lot of fun lurking around these forums learning about equipment. I am ready to buy, and am making up my parts list. I have decided on a Swift 16. Most of my questions have been answered especially by the wonderful build videos available now by Finless. With these I feel confident I can endure the build phase. (Thank you!).

One question has not been answered. Century offers (and supports) the Electorn NIMH 12C 30A 14.4V Battery for about $79 as their low end combo option. Most of the setups talked about here are 4S-6S Li-Pos with some brave souls using more. I will only be hovering and minimal FF for quite some time, so I do not need much. The only disadvantage to this battery I can ascertain is extra weight of about 3/4 lb. I am hoping with this it will at least get off the ground nonetheless and hopefully stay aloft for 5 to 10 minutes.

How will the Swift 16 fly with the Century 600 motor and this battery? Obviously speed is not important to me at my level, I will trade that for cost savings and more hover time. Or...Is this battery a waste of money and should I go for a 4S (twice the cost) to use as a beginner. Without guidance I am inclined to buy three of the NIMH and hope for the best. Informed advice is very welcome to keep me from mistakes.

[ddheli]

latest summer about one week i've tested swift-lightnin600-14t-electronNiMh(white)14,4v. it's compare for non-wind and non-powerfull hovering and flat fly (about 6min at one accu) - not a bad combo for start and studying. next step for aerobatics - only to change this battery to 6lipo or 7a123.

[cmezip]

I use 4s 3600 Mega Powers from Helidirect and have been very happy with them, they are only $79, and lighter than the nimh I would think. I had about 65 flights out of one of the packs and about 40 on the current pack. I have let the voltage fall to low to many times and believe that is thye the first pack failed @ 65 flights. I ahve three of the mega power packs for my HDX-450 and they all have 60+ flights on them with no issues. My swift has a Century 550 /Electron 50-60 speed controller and I get about 6 min of normal flight time with a factory 0-100 throttle curve and running about 8 deg of pitch at max. I have the motor and speed controller for sale on here as I am ready to move upto 6s.
Steve



I am new to RC aviation and have had a lot of fun lurking around these forums learning about equipment. I am ready to buy, and am making up my parts list. I have decided on a Swift 16. Most of my questions have been answered especially by the wonderful build videos available now by Finless. With these I feel confident I can endure the build phase. (Thank you!).

One question has not been answered. Century offers (and supports) the Electorn NIMH 12C 30A 14.4V Battery for about $79 as their low end combo option. Most of the setups talked about here are 4S-6S Li-Pos with some brave souls using more. I will only be hovering and minimal FF for quite some time, so I do not need much. The only disadvantage to this battery I can ascertain is extra weight of about 3/4 lb. I am hoping with this it will at least get off the ground nonetheless and hopefully stay aloft for 5 to 10 minutes.

How will the Swift 16 fly with the Century 600 motor and this battery? Obviously speed is not important to me at my level, I will trade that for cost savings and more hover time. Or...Is this battery a waste of money and should I go for a 4S (twice the cost) to use as a beginner. Without guidance I am inclined to buy three of the NIMH and hope for the best. Informed advice is very welcome to keep me from mistakes.

[Dennisu]

vbcoder

A FlightPower 4C 3700mAH LiPo battery is a much better choice for the 600 motor for standard scale/trainer flying with about 10 minutes of flight time. It will handle mild aerobatics as well.

[RAV50]

Yep, I agree with Dennisu. I have flown my Swift on 4 cell FP 3700, 4350 and 4900 packs. depending on what pinion you match to the 600+ motor, you can go from mild to wild and from short to long flights.