Last week I did some bench testing on the NCR18650B Lithium Ion cells, and the results were very promising, showing twice the energy density as a LiPo. This week I wanted to get the packs out of the lab and in the air on the Raptor 100 for some real life testing.
First I tested what the take off and cruise throttle was for the Raptor100, and then used a watt meter to determine the watts at those throttle settings. I found the same throttle setting for those same watts on the Li-Ion pack to ensure all was tested equal.
The throttle % was lower for the Li-Ion cells as they operate at a higher voltage, and I was able to match the same watt rate at about 4A, just over 1C for takeoff.
The plane flew just fine on the Li-Ion packs. I did some full throttles and hard climbs and this single 4S1P pack performed perfectly. The Raptor100 flew faster than it ever has before due to the higher voltage, and was easily traveling 100kph.
Now I’m off to build 6 more packs and put them on the Raptor140 for over 2 hours of flight time!
See you next week!
-Trent