The plane is heavy with a NiCd or NiMH battery. I flew both of mine with the included ESC's and had no problems. I agree, though, they aren't much. You quote $160 for a better ESC. Wow! What kind are you talking about? I use Castle brushless ESC's and you shouldn't need more then a 35AMP controller for a brushless set-up and they are under $100. Electrifly (Tower)has nice ESC's, the Silver series, and they are well under a $100. For a brushless motor, I don't know what to recommend. I'd probably use the 2814 Series AXI, or 2820. These are outrunners and I love AXI motors. There are other less expensive ones, but I have problems figuring out the equivalents. The othe brushless I use are the EFlite outrunners from Horizon. If you stay with the brushed motor, Electrifly (Tower)has 35 and 55AMp controllers that can be used with LiPos for under $60.