page_title: Brushless DC electric motor
section_title: Aeromodelling
hierarchical_section_title: Brushless DC electric motor / Applications / Aeromodelling
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of the nose of a Violator by Dynamics Unlimited; M-60-5-3 DC brushless motor with a BLC-1 controller (the small PCB). The photo and everything in it is my work. (Kenzi Mudge)
context_page_description: A brushless DC electric motor, also known as electronically commutated motor and synchronous DC motors, are synchronous motors powered by direct current electricity via an inverter or switching power supply which produces electricity in the form of alternating current to drive each phase of the motor via a closed loop controller. The controller provides pulses of current to the motor windings that control the speed and torque of the motor. This control system replaces the commutator used in many conventional electric motors.
  The construction of a brushless motor system is typically similar to a permanent magnet synchronous motor, but can also be a switched reluctance motor, or an induction motor. They may also use neodymium magnets and be outrunners, inrunners, or axial.
  The advantages of a brushless motor over brushed motors are high power-to-weight ratio, high speed, electronic control, and low maintenance. Brushless motors find applications in such places as computer peripherals, hand-held power tools, and vehicles ranging from model aircraft to automobiles.
context_section_description: Brushless motors have become a popular motor choice for model aircraft including helicopters and drones. Their favorable power-to-weight ratios and wide range of available sizes, from under 5 grams to large motors rated at well into the kilowatt output range, have revolutionized the market for electric-powered model flight, displacing virtually all brushed electric motors, except for low powered inexpensive often toy grade aircraft. They have also encouraged growth of simple, lightweight electric model aircraft, rather than the previous internal combustion engines powering larger and heavier models. The increased power-to-weight ratio of modern batteries and brushless motors allows models to ascend vertically, rather than climb gradually. The low noise and lack of mass compared to small glow fuel internal combustion engines is another reason for their popularity.
  Legal restrictions for the use of combustion engine driven model aircraft in some countries, most often due to potential for noise pollution—even with purpose-designed mufflers for almost all model engines being available over the most recent decades—have also supported the shift to high-power electric systems.
caption: A microprocessor-controlled BLDC motor powering a micro radio-controlled airplane. This external rotor motor weighs 5 g and consumes approximately 11 W.
exif: {}