Plug-N-Play RC Airplanes,cheap wholesale.
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Plug-N-Play RC airplanes.

Although the term plug and play is used as a very generic term for many different products these days, in this context the names 'Plug-N-Play' and 'PNP' are trademarks registered to Illinois-based rc product distributor Horizon Hobby.


So what are Plug-N-Play rc airplanes?...
 Well, when you buy an RTF rc plane everything comes with it in the purchase, including the radio control gear to fly it. When you buy an ARF rc airplane you need to buy the radio gear, motor, ESC & battery pack (for an EP plane, or just an engine for an IC one) separately and install them yourself.

A Plug-N-Play electric rc airplane has the motor, ESC and servos installed but is missing the transmitter, receiver and motor battery pack (& charger). In other words, the airplane comes 99% assembled just like an RTF one does, but you need to supply your own transmitter, receiver and battery pack.

A Plug-N-Play rc plane
Above: a Plug-N-Play plane is identical to an RTF one from the outside.

Plug-N-Play radio control planes are the perfect answer for aeromodellers who want to buy and fly more than one RTF rc plane, but don't want to have a separate transmitter for each one. This makes perfect sense of course but is only realistically possible if your transmitter has multi-model memory.

Plug and Play RC airplane manufacturers.
As previously mentioned the North American rc product distributor Horizon Hobby has registered the names Plug-N-Play and PNP as trademarks, and the products can be found in their popular brand lines such as ParkZone, E-flite and Hanger 9.

But in recent years there has been a huge increase in the number of manufacturers, many located in the Far East, supplying rc planes with powertrain components but without radio gear, and such aircraft are now widely available. You might also see the term Receiver Ready which is also widely used to describe plug and play airplanes.