Why Electric? - RC Airplanes

A Quick Overview of Electric RC Airplanes

Flying electric rc airplanes - Or rc park flyers is a fun, easy to learn to fly, thrilling high tech sport and a great way of experiencing the challenge of flight - safely!

It’s also a fabulous stepping stone for boys and girls of any age who dream of becoming future pilot's. They can have fun and build confidence while learning aerodynamics and what makes a plane fly while refining their own flying skills. Benefits:

1. Safer - Electrics are always remote started, no need get your hands or fingers close to flip the prop with your fingers. 
2. Less expensive to build - Less expensive to fly.
3. Requires a great deal less equipment to fly - basically a battery charger that you can connect to your car. No cans of fuel, fuel pump, starter battery, power panel, glow starter, engine starter, cleaning spray, paper towels.
4. Fly year round comfortably - electrics can be small enough to fly in gyms, backyards or local parks. Some micro electric rc airplanes can even fly in your own living room.
5. Rechargeable batteries that can be recharged hundreds of times. No cans of flammable fuels around the house.
6. Many can fly very slowly, making it much easier to learn to fly.
7. Little if any noise to disturb those around. Good for keeping peace with the neighbors.
8. Can be small and simple enough to fit in the trunk or backseat for a quick lunchtime flight.
9. Possibly less of a carbon footprint compared to gas or nitro fueled planes.
10. Cleaner improved scale appearance- No cylinder and exhaust muffler ruining the planes outline.
11. Properly setup - an electric rc airplane will often have as much and sometimes much more power than a gas or nitro system - with no tweaking of needle valves and tuning.
    

 No smell - No oil residue - No smoke - Less noise

Downside:

Batteries:
Waiting for a battery to charge - simple solution - get an extra battery!

With the advances in this technology newer batteries called li-poly's or li-po's can store and deliver an incredible amount of charge for their small size. They do require and you MUST have special equipment to charge and maintain these batteries.

It is very important that you NEVER attempt to charge a li-poly with any charger unless it was made specifically for lithium polymer batteries. The good news is that with the right type of charger and a little care, you should expect to safely use your li-poly batteries for years to come. 

Complete Li-poly guide - Complete Guide to Lithium Polymer Batteries

Checkout some electric rc airplanes

More questions? How electric rc airplanes fly!