Hobbyzone’s Super Cub comes with a 7-cell 1000mAh battery pack, and the only thing it really has going for it is that it’s probably lighter than any other 2/3A NiMH pack available (not talking about lipos). Even though I was consistantly getting over 1100mAh on each charge and over 10 minute flight times, I still wanted more. So I was anxious to pick up an 8-cell 1500mAh pack to replace it, since it’s a direct replacement and perfect fit for the battery compartment on the SC. Well it arrived today, and me being the patient person that I am, hooked it right up to my Intellipeak Digital Ice Charger (best charger ever invented BTW), discharged it at 10A and quickly went into a 2A charge cycle. After waiting what seemed like forever, I bumped up the curent to 2.5A (not recommended) and it probably went another 10 minutes or so before it finally peaked. I only got 1360 or so mAh into the cells, most likely due to it being their first charge, and it was a quick one. Subsequent charges at 1.5A and less have shown the pack can charge up to 1520mAh without problems. It usually takes cycling a new pack a few times before it shows its true potential.
True potential or not, the first run on the pack was awesome in the Super Cub. It had so much stinking thrust I could pull out of almost any maneuver without concern. I could pull hard into large loops and do loop after loop without loosing altitude. Man it was sweet! The plane becomes a whole new animal with the extra voltage, and power for that matter. I believe the Elite cells are quite a bit better than the stock cells, meaning they have less Vdrop and less IR (internal resistance). Whatever it is, they make the Cub take off like a rocket (yeah, even for a park flyer with a 48″ wing span) I could climb to several hundred feet in only a few seconds. It felt nice, anyway I’ve got some more video that my brother shot with the new battery pack. So here it is. Some of the slower-moving shots are with the motor either off or at 50% throttle.
