Manufacturer Decision-making


Even if nickel-cadmium batteries tend to be preferred for installation on turbine-powered helicopters, they are not, per se, an optimal solution. Some business jet aircraft manufacturers, for example, are increasingly making it possible to install lead batteries as an alternative to nickel-cadmium batteries. When the voltage is the same, it is theoretically possible to use either type of battery. It is down to the helicopter manufacturer to decide whether lead, nickel-cadmium or both may be installed.


From the perspective of the manufacturer having to make this decision, the discriminating factors are the capability of batteries to maintain their charge level over time and their overheating potential. “The reason why nickel-cadmium batteries continue to be the preferred choice of turbine-powered helicopter manufacturers has to do with the fact that nickel-cadmium batteries have a constant charge level, whereas lead batteries progressively lose their charge,” Segrè says.


“With regard to the safety implications of their overheating potential, nickel-cadmium batteries have more overheating potential compared with lead batteries and the extreme consequence of this is battery explosion. It should be pointed out, however, that in case of battery overheating, a helicopter can relatively easily find a suitable landing spot within a handful of minutes from the time the overheating is noticed. It is also for this reason that turbine-powered helicopters tend to be equipped with nickel-cadmium batteries.”


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