RC Planes have really simple engineering machines in them. Some of the main electronic parts of a RC plane are the receiver, transmitter, motor, speed control (ESC), and battery.
Receiver:
Receiver the word describes it all. Receiver is a little electronic device that is present in the RC plane which receives signals from the transmitter. There are two kinds of receivers. First one is a 72MHZ receiver. 72MHZ is the old kind of receiver. There are different channels in the 72MHZ band. Therefore hobbyists use crystals of different channels to fly planes. The only problem with 72 MHz is that if there are 2 planes flying at the same time on 72 MHz, they can interfere with the signal. This is where crystals come in handy. I would recommend you always have an extra set of crystals with you if flying on 72MHz.
There is another better kind of receiver too and that is the 2.4 GHz receiver. These receivers have really small antennas where as 72 MHz receiver has a really long antenna. 2.4 GHz is a more sophisticated but better receiver. The thing that makes 2.4 GHz receivers so much better is the fact that there are no transmission problems. These receivers don’t need crystals at all and there is a lot more range with 2.4GHz.
Transmitter:
Transmitter is with the pilot on the ground. The transmitter is a box that has little joy sticks on it and also switches. The transmitter gives a signal to the receiver in the shape of the command. For example if you move the left stick down on the transmitter, the transmitter will give a signal to the receiver to pull the plane down. There are also trims on the transmitter. The function of the trims is to adjust the direction of the plane when no turning command is given or when the plane is flying straight.
Motor:
Motor is the part which gives energy to the plane. It is usually connected to propeller turns and pushes the wind to move the plane. There are two types of motors. First there is a brushed motor and there is a brushless motor. Brushed motor is not that often used now because of its weight: power ratio. Brushed motors have brushes on them that really slow them down. They are not that efficient and have 2 wires come out of them. There are also brushless motors. Brushless motors are really efficient and more complicated. The brushless motor has no brushes. They are more lightweight and fast.
ESC:
ESC also known as electronic speed control is what controllers the speed of the motor. There are two different types of speed controls. One is for brushed motors and the other one for brushless. The speed control is connected to the battery, the motor and the receiver. Technically the speed controller is the distributor of electricity in the plane.
Battery:
Battery is the source of electricity in the plane. There are different kinds of batteries but the most commonly used is the Lithium polymer battery. This battery is made of 1 or more cells. I cell has 3.7v charge, 2 cells have 7.2v of charge, and 3 cells have 11.1v of charge. The bigger the plane, the more celled battery you want to have.
