Not usually. Just turn on the TX, make sure the throttle is off and plug your battery into the ESC and treat the plane as if it has a running motor. SOME ESCs have a switch on them to turn them on and off.. but that switch is kind of misleading. It does disarm the motor and stops powering the receiver, but it still draws some power. You can't leave your battery plugged into it with the switch off overnight or your battery will be dead by morning.