The dirt strip airport where my club flies had an open house this weekend. Only a handful of planes flew in, but one was very interesting: a well-worn Wilga 35. I took some photos of it as it landed, taxied and parked. (I just tried to FTP some photo files to my web page so I could post a URL but my FTP program isn't cooperating.) Later on, the pilot started it up so I got grabbed my vidcam. He took off, circled the field a few times and landed. I was surprised to see our club president get out of the Wilga!
It seems one of the club members lost (literally) a Cap 232 gasser to an Rx battery failure earlier in the week. He had mentioned it to the Wilga pilot and the pilot offered to take him up to look for it. He declined! Another club member nearby was asked and he also declined!! Our club president didn't decline the offer though. Up they went. I was getting the video without knowing he was aboard or what they were doing. He spotted the model in a cornfield and called down to the club member by cell phone to direct him to it. What a neat thing!
When I got home, I decided to check the Rx battery in my 25% Giles 202. It's a 4.8V pack of KR-1400AE Sanyo Cadnica cells. After a discharge/charge cycle, the pack peaked at 5.79V with 1356mah of charge. Ten hours later, the pack was down to 5.2V. I was concerned that the voltage dropped by over a half a volt with no load present. Soft short, or nothing to worry about? I'll be ordering a new pack tonight to be safe.
How exactly does one decide for sure if an Rx pack needs replacing? Is the "80% of rated capacity" rule the main factor?
Thanks for any tips, desmobob