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Old January 20th 13, 09:28 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
RAS56 RAS56 is offline
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First recorded activity by AviationBanter: Dec 2010
Posts: 85
Default Maybe Lithium batteries in gliders not quite such a good idea yet?

Interesting.

This article:

http://seattletimes.com/html/busines...gpainsxml.html

Has a Japanese safety investigator opining that it COULD BE overcharging that led to the event(s). Boeing and the US NTSB saying one thing, Japanese Safety Board saying "...not so fast." These batteries are so big, I'm wondering if there is the possibility of developing localized internal "hot spots" during charging that the sensors cannot detect that result in the explosions/fire? It seems too early to unequivocally state it is or is not one thing or another.

I'm a huge fan of Boeing products, having flown most of my career in them, but I am cynical enough to remember that according to Boeing, there wasn't anything wrong with the 737 rudder system either, but "we'll redesign it anyways".

There is a gigantic financial interest in seeing these things get flying again, ASAP.