Plug-N-Play™ RC airplanes (PNP)
What are Plug-N-Play rc airplanes?
Well, in short, PNP planes (and helicopters) can be classed as a 'hybrid' category somewhere between RTF (Ready To Fly) and ARF (Almost Ready to Fly) 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 does Plug-N-Play mean?... Well when you buy an RTF rc airplane 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 and motor, ESC & battery pack (for an EP plane, or just an engine for an IC one) separately to install yourself.
A Plug-N-Play electric rc airplane has the motor, ESC and some of the radio gear installed but is missing the transmitter, receiver and motor battery pack (& charger). In other words, the airplane comes 99% assembled just like an RTF model, but you need to supply your own transmitter, receiver and battery pack.
Above: a Plug-N-Play plane is identical to an RTF one from the outside
Browse Plug-N-Play rc airplanes & aircraft here.
Plug-N-Play rc airplanes are the perfect answer for modellers who want to buy and fly more than one RTF rc airplane, 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, which means owning a computer radio.
Plug and play RC plane 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 airplanes with powertrain components but without radio gear, and such models are now widely available. You might also see the term receiver ready which is also widely used to describe plug and play models.
A handful of PNP planes from Horizon are shown below, to give some examples...
See the above Plug-N-Play rc airplanes (and more) here.
Plug and play radio control airplanes and helicopters are a great option if you do have a multi-model transmitter, and with some careful shopping around for the receiver and battery pack they can be better value than a RTF package. Personally if I'm in the market for a new RTF-based plane then it's a PNP one that I will choose to fly with my Spektrum DX8 radio. Although the receiver isn't always cheap, good quality battery packs can be purchased for not too much money these days; Zippy Flightmax and Turnigy packs offer excellent value and are a perfect buy for Plug-N-Play rc airplanes.
Discuss PNP planes in the forum.
Related pages
Bind-N-Fly rc aircraft - an overview of BNF planes and helis.
RTF rc airplanes - what to expect from a Ready To Fly airplane.
ARF rc airplanes - Almost Ready To Fly airplanes explained.
Electric rc airplanes - a general overview of this sector of rc flying.
