Hi, picked up an old Wattage Thermalaire glider (1.8 meter, I think) with a direct drive 550 sized motor. The motor is shot and the ESC may be as well. I'm interested in getting it flying, but I don't want to spend much money.

I see that hobbycity sells really cheap brushless/esc combos ($20) for smaller airplanes. Is there any way to make one of these work in place of my 550 direct drive? I just want to get it into the air, and climb enough to find some thermals. I'm not into 3D with a glider. Any suggestions out there? I don't want to spend more than about $50 total (including ESC). Thanks.