How Electric RC Airplanes Work

"In recent years electric RC airplanes
have began to dominate our hobby!"

Due to advancements in RC electric motors and battery technology, electric model airplanes have more power and longer flight times than ever before! Today’s electric model airplanes can do anything a nitro or gas powered airplane can do! In fact, many people have converted glow powered airplanes to electric model airplanes.

The beauty of an electric RC plane is that there is never on oily mess to clean up when finished flying. There is no need for carrying a gallon of fuel or troubleshooting an engine for hours to discover that there is a pin hole in the fuel line! With an electric RC plane, you simply charge the batteries and fly!

Small electric RC airplanes are perfect for starting out in this hobby. I personally learned to fly with an electric park flyer. Park flyers are small electric airplanes that usually come with everything installed and ready to fly. Park flyers are cheaper and more durable than glow planes. RC electric airplanes are quieter, safer, and can be flown in fields, parks, and other places where glow powered airplanes can’t be flown.

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Electric RC Airplane Components

An electric RC plane needs batteries, a motor, sometimes a gearbox, and an electronic speed controller (ESC).

Electric Motors

There are two types or RC electric motors used with RC airplanes. The first type is a "canned" motor. This is a standard DC motor with brushes.

The second type of motor is a brushless RC motor. Brushless motors are much more efficient and lighter than canned motors. Brushless motors have drastically transformed our hobby over the past few years. Not so long ago, if you wanted to fly large airplanes you will had little choice but to use a glow engine or gas engine. That's not the case any more! Thanks to brushless motors, you can fly any size RC aircraft without worrying about loud and messy engines.

Brushless motors have revolutionized both ends of the spectrum. The increased power to weight ratio of brushless motors has also brought about an entire new breed of micro RC airplanes. Learn learn why brushless RC motors are so much more powerful than canned RC motors.

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Electronic Speed Controller

An electronic speed controller(ESC) is what controls the speed of the RC electric motor. The ESC plugs into the receiver. Both the motor and battery plugs to the ESC. As you move the throttle stick, the receiver tells the ESC to change the speed of the motor. It is very important know that electronic speed controllers are made differently for brushed motors than they are for standard brushless motors. An ESC made for a brushed motor will not work with a brushless motor, and vice versa.

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Gearbox

Many electric RC airplanes have gearboxes between the motor and propeller. These are generally made from plastic. The speed at which an RC electric motor runs most efficiently is often much faster than we want the propeller to turn. Gearboxes reduce the speed and increase the torque in order to swing larger propellers. Some electric RC planes use gearboxes, others don’t.

Batteries

The batteries supply power to the motor. The three types of batteries most commonly used with electric RC airplanes are Nickel Cadmium(NiCd), Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH), and Li-PO.

Each type of battery needs to be charged differently and may require different chargers. Be sure to read the directions that come with your batteries carefully. Many park flyers come with only one battery. When flying electric RC airplanes you always want to have 2 or 3 batteries on hand. Nothing is worse than going out to fly and spend more time waiting for your batteries to charge than you do flying!

NiCd batteries are commonly used for transmitters and receivers of both gas and electric RC airplanes. Many lower priced park flyers use this type of battery also. The main disadvantage of NiCd batteries is that they have a memory. In other words, the capacity diminishes if you do not fully discharge the battery after every use before recharging.

NiHM are similar to NiCd batteries and have less issues with “memory” The capacity per weight is more than that of NiCd batteries. I replaced my receiver NiCd receiver batteries with NiHM batteries and they last about twice as long before having to be charged.

LiPo batteries are a quantum leap from the other two types of batteries. These batteries pack an enormous amount of energy and are much lighter than the other two types. LiPo batteries combined with brushless motors have enabled electric RC airplanes to keep up with nitro powered airplanes. LiPo batteries keep a constant power output throughout the flight where as NiCd and NiHM batteries slowly loose power until the battery is dead.

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