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How to Fit an Airplane Brushless Motor

Radio controlled (RC) aircraft use electric or gas powered engines to power them to flight. Brushless RC engines use stationary magnetic poles that allow the permanent magnets of the engine rods to rotate around the poles, allowing the engine to power the aircraft. Fitting a brushless engine requires knowing the size of your RC aircraft and the engine size-rating. Because there are no brushes surrounding the working pistons on the engine, the brushless engine does not wear out as quickly as its counterparts.

Things You'll Need

Size of RC aircraft
RC aircraft engine rating

Instructions

- 1
  Look at the tail area of the RC aircraft and locate the scale size. This is typically a number ratio such as 4:1 or 8:1. This indicates the size, in proportion, to the actual aircraft the model is designed after.
- 2
  Check the existing engine size (if the aircraft is so equipped) and cross reference the RC aircraft handbook for the engine rating size. For example, the aircraft may be a 6:1 scale Piper Cub with an engine rating of 10,000 RPMs. Use this to fit a new brushless engine for the aircraft.
- 3
  Select a brushless engine within the aircraft model's engine RPM rating. Again, if the engine rating is between 8,000 and 10,000 RPMs (for the maximum throttle use) use a brushless engine of a suitable size within the rating. The higher the RPM, the faster the aircraft will go, but the greater the stress on the wings and airframe will be during aerobatic maneuvers.
- 4
  Mount the engine into the RC aircraft as you would mount any engine. Follow the RC aircraft manual for the tips for your particular model and size.

Aviation