ORIGINAL: wreck_em_all
It is not possible to buy an ESC without a BEC. The BEC is in reality a voltage regulator that powers the brains and other electronics in the controller. The regulators used in common ESCs have adequate current rating to power an RX and several servos, thus the BEC. Cutting the red wires removes the RX and servo current drain from the ESCs regulator. This results in a very small load (~10ma) on the battery and should run the ESC for some time on a 9V battery. If you are planning on using 9V "transistor radio" battery, 1 activation of the brake at 1.5A will eat the battery's lunch. BEC current drain is the least of your worries in this application. Sounds to me like using an ESC for this application is over-kill. Would you consider an alternate design?
You're wrong about battery life. A single battery lasts all season with a simple micro switch on/off affair. The brake is applied at the end of the flight. A ESC for a proportional brake would last even longer. Brake "ON" time is but a few seconds at a time. Say 100 hundred flights and you have a total on time of 5 minutes a season providing. A 9V battery has a capacity of almost 700mah. 1200 mah divided by 12 is @100mah..about 1/6th it's capacity. I'm sure I'll find one without a BEC feature. Thanks for your input.
Dave Rigotti