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<DIV>Gentlemen,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I agree with you Lee. Risk is an element of this hobby that cannot be
overlooked. The human process is prone to mistakes (I know!), not only in
construction & development of technologies but also in the actual
application. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I also realize it's never just one thing that causes problems but
likely a chain of events that leads to an end result. Was the battery &
associated circuitry examined for fault? Was it charged correctly? </DIV>
<DIV>Was it hooked up correctly? What component failed and why? </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Not to underscore the resultant fire & damage but what
<U>specifically</U> led to this result. I am planning on using Lithium-ion for
my airborne power and welcome constructive comment.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dave Reaville<BR>NSRCA I-VP Canada-West District <BR>NSRCA 3156<BR>MAAC
56510<BR><A
href="http://members.shaw.ca/nsrcawestdistrict">http://members.shaw.ca/nsrcawestdistrict</A> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Lee wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=lee@piedmontmodels.com href="mailto:lee@piedmontmodels.com">Lee
Davis</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=discussion@nsrca.org
href="mailto:discussion@nsrca.org">discussion@nsrca.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, December 14, 2002 9:56
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: Li-ion & Nimh</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Calculated risk is the nature of our hobby. Every time we
fly a plane we're<BR>betting that we will bring it back in one piece. A
lot of things can go<BR>wrong and eventually do.<BR><BR>Acceptable risk is not
a constant; it varies from person to person. I use<BR>Nickel-Metal
batteries in my transmitters and Lithium-Ion (not<BR>Lithium-Metal) batteries
in my Pattern planes. I am aware of the use and<BR>charging requirements
for these types of batteries and for me, the benefits<BR>outweigh the
risk. Would I recommend them to everyone? No.<BR><BR>It should be
mentioned that one can burn just about any battery,
even<BR>Nickel-Cadmium. We used to sometimes torch Nicads when I was
into serious<BR>electric car racing. Overcharging was the norm and every
so often we got a<BR>little carried away. Any shorted battery can
quickly become the equivalent<BR>of a soldering iron.<BR><BR>There's at least
one horror story, sometimes many, associated with just<BR>about every
component we use. If we had any brains we wouldn't be doing<BR>this, a
fact that only women appear to be aware of!<BR><BR>Lee Davis<BR>Piedmont
Models<BR><A
href="http://www.piedmontmodels.com/">http://www.piedmontmodels.com/</A><BR><BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>