RC Car ESC for a plane

SSgt Duramax

Junior Member
Quick question. Will an RC car brushless esc work with electric planes? I have one extra, it is a 120a, and aside from the weight, I couldnt think of any reason it couldnt be used. In fairness, it is only a tad heavier than my 60a esc. It was once used to spin a 5200kv 3650 motor to propel a 10lb rc car.

I was thinking that buying a larger jet motor for a big jet wouldnt be that cost prohibitive if I could reuse this esc.
 

AIRFORGE

Make It Fly!
Moderator
I don't see any immediate reason why it couldn't. Size and cooling would be important, of course, but very doable.

Which ESC is it? If it's a newish brushless, it could be easily programmed for your specific application. Most 1/8th ESC's have programmable throttle curve, current limiter, reverse on/off/delay, braking current, BEC, etc.
 

SSgt Duramax

Junior Member
I don't see any immediate reason why it couldn't. Size and cooling would be important, of course, but very doable.

Which ESC is it? If it's a newish brushless, it could be easily programmed for your specific application. Most 1/8th ESC's have programmable throttle curve, current limiter, reverse on/off/delay, braking current, BEC, etc.
Yeah, it is. It is off my rustler, the downside is it is only 4s capable. I would probably want to turn the ABS off, but I am familiar with how to program it. I just upgraded the rustler a while back and this is just sitting there.

Of course there is always this..
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1193309
 

BoredGuy

Active member
Hold up a sec…
I might be wrong on this, but I think the BEC works different on car and airplane ESCs. I remember reading somewhere that the low voltage cutoff on a car just turns off everything, including the BEC so servo/radio control is lost, while on an airplane, BEC output is retained so at least there’s some control. Seems like a fun idea, just don’t push the battery too low or it will turn into an unguided rocket.
Also, maybe the weight difference can be overcome by removing the heat sink and fan on a car esc, you’re gonna have enough airflow in an airplane, right?
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
I am on the same train of thought as @BoredGuy with LVC AND Failsafe. I also tend to want to think that motor timings are different as well due to cars using varied gear ratios. I think you might also get into motor overspeed issues turning just a prop with little resistance compared to geared systems.
 
Hold up a sec…
I might be wrong on this, but I think the BEC works different on car and airplane ESCs. I remember reading somewhere that the low voltage cutoff on a car just turns off everything, including the BEC so servo/radio control is lost, while on an airplane, BEC output is retained so at least there’s some control. Seems like a fun idea, just don’t push the battery too low or it will turn into an unguided rocket.
Also, maybe the weight difference can be overcome by removing the heat sink and fan on a car esc, you’re gonna have enough airflow in an airplane, right?
I'm a little late to this thread, but if I understand you correctly, wouldn't running a separate BEC fix that problem?