Hi, I wish to get more flying time out of an Artech Wing Dragon by using a lipo - Beginner's Forum for RC Helicopters, Airplanes & Cars!

I read a formula for figuring out a battery's discharge in amps (mahs divided by a 1,000 x C rating), and maybe for choosing appropriate batteries for my system, but was worried that a battery performing well under an average discharge would fry the electronics under a burst one. For example, a 7.4v 1,800mah 15C battery (1.8 x 15 = 27 amps) might work well, but if its burst is 20C (1.8 x 20 = 36 amps) that means 6 amps above what the ESC is rated at, and the fear is that at least the ESC would be fried. The 7.4v 4,000mah 15C looks good, but its discharge is (4 x 15C = 60 amps) double what the ESC is rated at (it all depends if battery discharge is relevant). Another question is "what transmitter inputs result in burst discharge? full throttle, two-thirds throttle, half throttle? full throttle for x seconds, two-thirds throttle for x seconds, etc?"

I also read about a formula for figuring out how much power one wants (and maybe what battery to get) depending on what one wants their plane to do: normal flying, sport flying, or non-stop hovering and vertical climbs. They recommended 110 Watts for sport flying and 200-210 Watts for non-stop hovering and vertical climbs (their calculations were based on a 2 pound plane, the artech is one pound). They arrived at their numbers using the following formula: Power (in Watts) = Volts x Amps. So using this formula and the one mentioned before, a 7.4V 1,500mah 15C battery (7.4 x 1.5 x 15 = 166.5 Watts) would provide between sport flying and nonstop vertical climb capability, while a 7.4V 3,200mah 15C battery (7.4 x 3.2 x 15 = 355.2 Watts) would provide way beyond non-stop hovering and vertical climb capability (it all depends if the current setup can handle it).

I’m assuming that the connector has to be the same when one switches from a Nimh to a lipo as the energy source (the original battery came with a Deans female connector). I’m aware that it would be easier to match lipo batteries with a brushless setup, or that perhaps I would not need to make more modifications or need a voltage regulator without one. Although I wish to minimize as much as possible any soldering or modifying, I’m open to such suggestions if such modifications are needed or unavoidable. In the end, though, I’m a beginner, and wish to gain more flight time with the least amount of modifying, if possible, before moving on to a higher-speed (brushless) setup or plane. Thanks for having read all this. Any help would be great.