Every RC term, decoded

📡 2.4GHz The radio frequency band virtually all modern RC transmitters use,… 🔋 2S / 3S / 4S How many LiPo cells are wired in series. Each cell is 3.7V nominal,… 🔧 4-Link Suspension A suspension design using four control arms (links) to locate a sol…

🏎️ ARF Almost-Ready-to-Fly — the aircraft equivalent of ARTR: airframe is… 🏎️ ARTR Almost-Ready-To-Run — mostly assembled but needs some electronics (… 📡 ATV / EPA Adjustable Travel Volume / End Point Adjustment — sets the maximum… 🔧 Ackermann Steering geometry that makes the inside front wheel turn more sharp… 🎥 Acro Mode Full manual flight with no self-leveling — the standard mode for FP… ✈️ Aileron The hinged control surface near each wingtip that rolls the plane l… 🎥 Analog vs Digital FPV Two video-link technologies: analog is cheap, low-latency and degra… 🎥 Antenna Polarization RHCP or LHCP — the transmit and receive antennas on an FPV video sy… 🔧 Anti-squat Rear suspension geometry that controls how much the rear squats und… 🔧 Approach Angle The steepest incline a rig can drive straight up without its front… 🔋 Arm / Disarm The step (a throttle sequence, switch, or button) that enables an E… 🚁 Autorotation An emergency landing technique that uses the main rotor's stored mo…

🎗️ BB Unit An airsoft-style mechanism fitted to some RC tanks that fires real… 🔋 BEC Battery Eliminator Circuit — a small voltage regulator (usually in… 🏎️ BND Bind-N-Drive — comes with electronics but no radio; you bind it to… 🔋 Balance Charger A charger that monitors and charges each LiPo cell individually thr… 🏎️ Bashing Driving for fun — jumps, sends and general mayhem — rather than org… 🔋 Battery Connector (XT60/XT90/Deans/EC5) The plug that joins a battery to the ESC. Bigger connectors (XT90,… 🎗️ Battle Mode A tank's configuration for organized IR battles — hit points, respa… 🛞 Bead-Lock Wheel A wheel with a separate ring that clamps the tire's edge (bead) in… 🔩 Bearing A small ring of balls or rollers that lets a shaft spin with minima… 🚁 Bell-Hiller The mixing ratio between direct swashplate input and flybar input o… ⚙️ Belt Drive A drivetrain that transfers power using reinforced rubber belts ins… 🎥 Betaflight The most widely used open-source flight-controller firmware for FPV… 📡 Bind Pairing a transmitter and receiver so they talk only to each other. 🎥 Blackbox A flight-data log recorded by the flight controller — used after a… 🚁 Blade Tracking Whether a helicopter's main blades spin in exactly the same rotatio… 🏁 Blinky A spec racing mode where the ESC runs zero timing (a blinking LED p… 🔩 Body Clip The small wire clip that holds an RC body shell onto its mounting p… 🔋 Brownout A momentary voltage drop severe enough to reset the receiver or rad… 🔋 Brushless A motor with no physical brushes — more efficient, powerful and lon… 🏎️ Buggy A lightweight, low-slung off-road racing car, available in 2WD and… 🔧 Bump Steer Unwanted toe change that happens as the suspension moves up and dow… 🔩 Bumper The front or rear protective piece that absorbs light impacts and p… 🔩 Bushing A simple sleeve that a shaft spins inside — cheaper than a ball bea…

🔋 C-rating A LiPo's safe continuous discharge rate, as a multiple of its capac… ✈️ CG (Center of Gravity) A plane's balance point — getting CG right is one of the most criti… 📡 CRSF (Crossfire) TBS's fast, low-latency digital RC link protocol, widely used in FP… 🔩 CVD Constant-Velocity Driveshaft — a driveshaft design that transfers p… 🔧 Camber The inward/outward tilt of a wheel viewed from the front. Negative… 🎨 Candy Paint A translucent paint sprayed over a metallic base coat, giving a dee… 🔩 Carbon Fiber A strong, lightweight woven material commonly used for high-end cha… 🔧 Caster The backward tilt of the steering axis. More caster = more stabilit… 🚤 Catamaran A twin-hull boat design that rides on two sponsons — common for hig… 📡 Channel One controllable function on a radio system — steering is a channel… 🔋 Charge Rate (1C, 2C...) How fast a battery is charged, as a multiple of its capacity — 1C o… 🎥 Cinewhoop A small FPV drone with ducted (shrouded) props, built for smooth, s… 🚁 Collective Pitch Changing all main blades' pitch angle together to control lift, ind… ✈️ Control Throws How far a control surface (aileron, elevator, rudder) physically mo… 🧰 Cool-Down Period Letting a motor, ESC or battery sit and cool after a hard run befor… 🚤 Cooling Head A water jacket fitted around a boat's motor or engine that circulat… 🏎️ Crawler A slow, high-articulation RC built to climb rocks and technical ter…

🏁 DNF Did Not Finish — a driver who didn't complete the race, whether fro… 🏁 DQ Disqualified — removed from the results, usually for breaking a rul… 🎥 DVR Digital Video Recorder — records the FPV feed (in the goggles or on… 🚤 Deadrise The angle of a hull's bottom relative to flat — more deadrise handl… 🎨 Decal A pre-printed sticker (sponsor logos, numbers, panel lines) applied… ✈️ Decalage The angular difference between a plane's wing and its horizontal ta… 🚤 Deep-V A hull shape with a sharp V-shaped cross-section, built to cut thro… ⚙️ Differential A gear or fluid-filled unit that lets the left and right (or front… ✈️ Dihedral The upward angle of the wings from root to tip, which adds passive… 🎥 Diversity Receiver A goggle receiver with multiple antennas that automatically picks w… ⚙️ Dogbone A simple driveshaft with pinned ends shaped like a dog bone — cheap… 🏎️ Drift Car A car set up to intentionally slide sideways through corners with t… 🏁 Drivers' Meeting A pre-event gathering where the race director covers the day's form… 🔧 Droop How far a suspension can extend downward from ride height — more dr… 📡 Dual Rate Limits how far a channel travels for full stick input, shown as a p…

🔩 E-Clip A small, E-shaped metal clip that retains a shaft or pin in place —… 📡 ELRS (ExpressLRS) A popular open-source long-range, low-latency RC link protocol — an… 🔋 ESC Electronic Speed Control — the module that takes the receiver signa… 🧰 ESC Calibration Setting an ESC to recognize your transmitter's exact full-throttle,… ✈️ Elevator The hinged control surface on the tail that pitches the nose up or… 📡 Expo Exponential — softens the response around the center of a radio cha…

⚙️ FDR Final Drive Ratio — the total gear reduction from motor to wheels. 🎥 FPV First-Person View — flying or driving via a live video feed from an… 🎥 FPV Goggles The headset a pilot wears to see the live video feed from the aircr… 📡 Failsafe A receiver safety setting that cuts throttle (and applies brake) if… 🚁 Feathering Shaft The shaft at the rotor head that lets each main blade pitch (rotate… ✈️ Flaps Hinged surfaces on the inner wing that increase lift and drag for s… 🚤 Flex Shaft A flexible driveshaft running from motor to propeller, letting the… 🎥 Flight Controller (FC) The onboard "brain" board on a drone — reads the gyro/accelerometer… 🚁 Flybar A stabilizing bar mounted above an older-style rotor head that mech… 🚁 Flybarless A modern rotor head design that uses an electronic gyro for stabili… 🎥 Frame Size (5-inch, 3-inch, X-Class) An FPV drone's size class, named by prop diameter — 5-inch is the r… 🎥 Freestyle Flying FPV for tricks and style rather than racing against other pi…

⚙️ Gear Pitch / Mod The tooth size standard for pinion and spur gears — Mod (metric) an… ✈️ Glider / Sailplane An unpowered or lightly-powered plane designed for efficient, susta… ✈️ Glow Engine A small nitro-fueled engine ignited by a heated glow plug — the tra… 🚁 Governor A system that holds the main rotor RPM constant regardless of load,… 🧰 Ground Loop An electrical interference issue from multiple ground paths in a wi… 📡 Gyro A stability gyroscope that adds automatic counter-steer to help hol…

✈️ Hand Launch Throwing a plane or glider into the air by hand to start the flight… 🚁 Heading Hold A tail gyro mode that actively locks the helicopter's nose directio… 🏁 Heat / Qualifier A qualifying round used to set the grid for the mains. Drivers are… 🔩 Heat Shrink Plastic tubing that shrinks tight when heated, used to insulate and… 🔩 Hex Driver (Allen Wrench) The most common tool in an RC toolbox — drives the hex-head screws… ✈️ High-Wing A plane with the wing mounted on top of the fuselage — generally mo… 🧰 Hop-Up An aftermarket upgrade part (metal gears, aluminum shocks, ball bea… 🎗️ Hop-Up Chamber The part of a BB-firing unit that puts backspin on each BB for a fl… 🚤 Hull A boat's main body/shell — displaces water to keep it afloat and sh… 🚤 Hydroplane A hull design that rides up and skims mostly on the surface of the…

🔋 IR (Internal Resistance) A measure of a LiPo cell's health — how much it resists current flo… 🎗️ IR Battle System An infrared "laser tag" setup for RC tanks — each tank fires an IR… 🎗️ Idler Wheel An unpowered wheel that tensions and guides a tank's track, usually…

🏎️ Kit A model that comes fully unbuilt — every part in the box, nothing p… 🔋 Kv A brushless motor's RPM per volt with no load.

🎥 LOS Line Of Sight — flying or driving while looking directly at the veh… 🔋 LVC (Low-Voltage Cutoff) A safety feature that cuts or reduces motor power when the battery… 🎨 Lexan Body A clear polycarbonate body shell, painted from the INSIDE so the pa… 🔋 LiFe / LiHV LiFe (Lithium Iron Phosphate) is a safer, lower-voltage LiPo varian… 🔋 LiPo Lithium-Polymer battery — the light, high-power rechargeable pack m… 📡 Logical Switch A programmed switch on the transmitter that triggers automatically…

🏁 Main The final race that decides the result, after qualifying. Split int… 🚁 Main Blade One of the two (or more) blades mounted on a helicopter's main roto… 🚁 Main Shaft The central vertical shaft that the main rotor head and blades are… 🏁 Marshal A volunteer stationed trackside during a race to flip over or repos… 🎨 Masking Covering areas of a Lexan body with tape or liquid mask before pain… 📡 Mixing Programming two channels to move together — like elevon mixing on a… 📡 Model Match A safety feature that refuses to bind or arm unless the receiver ma… 📡 Model Memory A saved settings slot in a transmitter for one specific vehicle — r… 🚤 Mono Hull A single-hull boat design — the traditional RC boat shape, as oppos… 🏎️ Monster Truck A solid-axle truck on oversized tires built for jumping and crushin… 🧰 Motor Break-In Running a new brushed motor gently for the first several minutes to… ✈️ Motor Mount / Firewall The reinforced bulkhead at the front of a plane's fuselage that the… 🔋 Motor Timing The ESC setting that advances when it fires the motor's windings. M… 🎗️ Muzzle Velocity How fast a BB leaves an RC tank's barrel, usually measured in FPS —…

🔋 NiMH Nickel-Metal Hydride battery — heavier and lower-voltage than LiPo,…

🔩 O-Ring A small rubber ring used to seal a shock shaft or waterproof a comp… 🎥 OSD On-Screen Display — telemetry (battery voltage, flight timer, GPS,… ⚙️ One-Way Bearing A bearing that only transfers power in one rotational direction, le… ⚙️ Outdrive The cup-shaped part that connects a differential's output to the dr… 🚤 Outrigger (Rigger) A small stabilizing float mounted out to one side on certain race h… 🎨 Overspray Paint that lands somewhere it shouldn't — controlled with masking t…

🎥 PID Proportional-Integral-Derivative — the tuning values that set how a… 🏎️ PNP Plug-N-Play — an aircraft with motor, ESC and servos already instal… 📡 PPM Pulse Position Modulation — an older analog protocol that carries s… 📡 PWM Pulse Width Modulation — the classic single-channel servo signal, w… ⚙️ Pinion The small gear on the motor shaft. More teeth = more top speed (and… 🏁 Pit / Pit Lane The staging area at a track where drivers prep, charge and repair t… 🚁 Pitch Gauge A tool used to measure and set a helicopter's main blade pitch angl… 🔧 Portal Axle An axle with a gear reduction built into each wheel hub, raising gr… 🧰 Pre-Run Checklist The quick safety pass before every session — battery secure, screws… 🎥 Prop Propeller — for planes/drones/boats. Rated by diameter and pitch; p… 🔋 Puffed A swollen LiPo — a sign of damage or abuse (over-discharge, over-ch… 🔧 Punch How aggressively the car accelerates off the throttle — the initial…

📡 RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator — a telemetry value showing how… 🏎️ RTF Ready-To-Fly — the aircraft/heli/drone equivalent of RTR: comes com… 🏎️ RTR Ready-To-Run — a model that comes fully built with electronics inst… 📡 Range Check A radio mode that deliberately reduces transmit power so you can wa… 🎥 Rates How fast a drone rotates for a given stick deflection in acro mode… 📡 Receiver (RX) The onboard unit that receives the transmitter's signal and passes… 🎗️ Recoil A mechanical or hydraulic effect that makes an RC tank's barrel and… 🔧 Ride Height How far the chassis sits above the ground at rest — lower ride heig… 🎗️ Road Wheel One of the wheels running along the bottom of a tank's track that s… 🏎️ Rock Racer A hybrid between a crawler and a buggy — long-travel suspension for… 🔧 Roll Center The geometric point a chassis rolls around during cornering, set by… ⚙️ Rollout How far the car rolls forward for one full turn of the motor — the… 🚁 Rotor The spinning main blades that generate a helicopter's lift. 🚤 Rudder (Boat) The underwater steering fin at the stern of a boat that turns it, w…

📡 SBUS A digital serial protocol that carries many channels over one wire… 🏁 Sanctioning Body An organization (like ROAR, IFMAR or SORRCA) that sets official rul… 🏎️ Scale (1:10, 1:8, 1:5) The size ratio between the model and a real full-size vehicle — 1:1… 🔋 Sensored A brushless motor with a sensor that tells the ESC exactly where th… 🔋 Sensorless A brushless motor without a position sensor — the ESC estimates rot… 📡 Servo The motor-and-gear unit that turns a channel's signal into physical… 📡 Servo Horn The arm or wheel attached to a servo's output shaft that the steeri… 🔧 Servo saver A sprung link in the steering that flexes on impact so a hard hit d… 🔩 Set Screw A small screw (often driven into a pinion gear or wheel hex) that l… ⚙️ Shaft Drive A drivetrain that transfers power through a solid metal shaft rathe… 🔩 Shock The spring-and-oil damper at each corner of a suspension that absor… 🔩 Shock Oil The fluid inside a shock that controls damping. Thicker (higher wei… 🏎️ Short Course Truck A pickup-styled off-road racing truck on 4-link or independent susp… 🛞 Sidewall The side of a tire between the tread and the wheel — its flex and s… ⚙️ Slipper clutch An adjustable friction clutch on the spur gear that lets the drivet… 🔧 Solid Axle A one-piece axle where both wheels at that end are mechanically lin… 🎗️ Sound Unit An onboard speaker and amplifier module that plays real engine, fir… 🏁 Spec Class A racing class where the rules lock down key parts (motor, tires, o… ✈️ Spinner The rounded cone fitted over a plane's prop hub — smooths airflow i… 🚤 Sponson One of the two outer hull sections on a catamaran that provides lif… ⚙️ Spool A locked (non-differential) axle where both wheels are forced to sp… 📡 Spread Spectrum Modern radio technology (used by 2.4GHz systems) that hops between… 🎗️ Sprocket The toothed wheel that drives a tank's track, usually at the front… ⚙️ Spur The large main gear the pinion drives. Set the pinion-to-spur mesh… 🎥 Stack (FC/ESC Stack) The flight controller and ESC combined into a compact bolted-togeth… ✈️ Stall When a wing loses lift because it's flying too slow or at too steep… 🏁 Stock Class A class limited to a specific, lower-power motor spec — as opposed… 🔋 Storage charge Bringing a LiPo to about 3.8V per cell for storage — the voltage th… 🚤 Strut The shaft housing that supports a boat's propeller shaft where it e… 🚁 Swashplate The mechanical assembly below the rotor head that tilts the main ro… 🔧 Sway Bar (Anti-Roll Bar) A stiff wire linking the left and right suspension that resists bod…

🏁 TQ Top Qualifier — the driver who set the fastest qualifying result, e… 🚁 Tail Rotor The small rotor at the tail that counters the main rotor's torque a… 📡 Telemetry Live data sent back FROM the vehicle to the transmitter — pack volt… ✈️ Thermal A rising column of warm air a glider pilot circles inside to gain a… 🔩 Thread-Lock (Loctite) A liquid applied to screw threads that keeps them from vibrating lo… 🎥 Tiny Whoop A tiny, lightweight ducted-prop FPV drone (typically 65-75mm) safe… 🛞 Tire Compound The rubber hardness/softness of a tire. Softer compounds grip harde… 🛞 Tire Glue Cyanoacrylate (CA) glue used to bond a tire to its wheel — applied… 🛞 Tire Insert A foam ring fitted inside a tire before gluing, supporting the side… 🔧 Toe Whether the wheels point slightly in (toe-in) or out (toe-out) view… 🏎️ Touring Car A low, road-going race car body on a flat, on-road chassis — raced… 🎗️ Tracks The continuous rubber or plastic belts an RC tank drives on instead… 🔧 Traction Compound A liquid or additive applied to tires (mainly on-road/carpet racing… 📡 Transmitter (TX) The handheld radio you actually hold — sends your stick and switch… 🏁 Transponder A small device on the car that a track's timing loop reads to recor… 🛞 Tread Pattern The molded pattern on a tire's surface, matched to the surface it's… 📡 Trim A small adjustment to a channel's center/neutral point — used to fi… 🚤 Trim Tab An adjustable underwater tab at the stern that fine-tunes how the b… 🚤 Turn Fin A small fin mounted near the propeller that helps a boat corner cle… 🔩 Turnbuckle An adjustable threaded link (often a suspension or camber link) tha… 🔋 Turns (T) The number of wire windings on a brushless motor — the traditional… 🎗️ Turret The rotating upper section of a tank carrying the main gun, able to… 🔧 Tweak A twist in the chassis or suspension that makes one corner sit lowe…

🔧 Unsprung Weight The weight of parts that move with the wheel rather than the chassi…

🎥 VTX Video Transmitter — the onboard transmitter that beams the FPV came… 🎥 VTX Power (25mW–600mW+) How much power an FPV video transmitter puts out — higher power rea…

✈️ Warbird A scale RC replica of a WWII-era military aircraft — typically fast… 🚤 Water Pickup A small tube that draws water from around the propeller to cool a b… 🔋 Watt A unit of electrical power — volts × amps. The real-world measure o… 🎨 Weathering Techniques (dry-brushing, oil wash, pigments, salt chipping) that m… 🔧 Weight Transfer How much grip shifts from one end/side of a car to the other under… 🛞 Wheel Dish How deep-set a wheel's face is relative to its outer lip — a stylin… 🔩 Wheel Hex The hexagonal adapter that connects a wheel to the axle and transfe… 🛞 Wheel Offset How far a wheel's mounting face sits from its centerline — changes… 🔧 Wheelbase The distance between the front and rear axle centerlines — a bigger… ✈️ Wing Loading A plane's weight divided by its wing area. Lower loading flies slow… ✈️ Wingspan A wing's total tip-to-tip length — the standard way RC plane sizes…