On Monday, September 24, 2012 5:38:14 PM UTC-6, Greg Arnold wrote:
On 9/24/2012 4:23 PM, Renny wrote:





Interesting that the Silent has more battery capacity than the LAK. I



wonder if the LAK can be modified to take the larger battery capacity.



Greg,

My LAK-17B FES does have two batteries with 14 cells...so it does have the following:



"2 x 14S LiPo, 20 kW continuous power"



The earlier installations had the 12 cell LiPo batteries, but it was upped to 14 cells for the newer 17B installations. Each battery is 58 volts, so when fully charged it starts off at 116 volts. FYI, I did write an article for Soaring on the LAK-17B FES and I am hopeful that it will be published soon.



Thx - Renny





Renny:



What type of climb rate, total climb, and range are you seeing?

I have had limited experience running the FES on the LAK-17B FES as this is my first season using the FES and the ship was also away for several weeks this summer at the WGC in Uvalde. I am also very fortunate to fly out of Moriarty, and with our excellent conditions, I have not had to use it (thus far)out of necessity.

So, I have no data on endurance and range, but in conducting some local (unscientific) testing, I have been able to climb (dry) on a hot day (over 95 deg F on the ground) at over 200 fpm at altitudes of 8,500 to 9,000 feet MSL in the 18m configuration. FYI, the Moriarty airport is at 6,200 feet. Hopefully, you will see additional and more scientific data as Idaflieg testing was conducted in August and results are expected this winter.
Thx - Renny