Jet Turbines are simply an incredible part of RC. However they are also quite complex to operate. One of the most important parts of a Jet Airplane is the batteries that exist on board. How many batteries does a typical RC Jet Turbine ?
Well there are (hint) quite a bit of batteries that exist on an RC airplane. The question is why are there many batteries?
A Common Battery Type used in Turbine Jets
In Jet powered aircraft it’s important to have a reliable battery to power your aircraft’s systems and especially the radio receiver/servos. In order to achieve reliability, we must use a battery that can supply a predictable amount of capacity, maintain a healthy voltage under-load, long-term stability and safe operation.
The battery that fits this bill ideally is the LiFe battery. A LiFe battery is nominally 3.3v per cell and has a maximum voltage of 3.6v per cell. This type of battery pack can take abuse, provides reliable capacity, maintains voltage under significant load and has a great reputation for operating safely. The last problem that you want is a battery that is on fire in your jet turbine airplane.
Why a Jet Turbine Uses Multiple Batteries?
Theoretically, a Jet turbine airplane could be completely powered off of just one battery. This is to run all onboard equipment including the radio receiver. However, no one would ever recommend this. It is simply just too dangerous and unreliable. If for any reason that battery were to fail from either running out of capacity, loose connection, an unplugged connection, etc, it would be a big problem. The odds of causing property or personal damage could be very high.
In this Jet, there are 2 batteries that operate the radio receiver. These batteries are both a 2s LiFe pack. This is exactly what redundancy means. The second battery pack is actually not used until there is a problem with the first battery pack or the voltage is too low.
There is also one battery pack that is used for the turbine’s ECU. This battery pack is a 3s LiFe.
In addition to these battery packs there is a 4th pack used for the retracts and wheel brakes. Although this is not required on the jet, (air powered vs battery powered) having electric system just seems to be less of a hassle.
In conclusion 3 battery packs are required, however there are 4 being used in the jet pictured. If you want to know how a jet turbine engine works, check out the how an RC Model Jet Turbine works article.