One big difference between brushed and brushless motors is that the brushless (barring crash damage) will last virtually forever, whereas the brushed motor will eventually wear out when its brushes wear down. Brushless motors tend to be more efficient, so you may see more battery life with a brushless. For the same weight, a brushless will usually provide better performance. And with a brushless outrunner, you can get rid of the gearbox.

While there are major advantages to brushless, switching your Slo-V to brushless may be more trouble and expense than you care to take. A brushless motor requires a brushless speed controller (ESC). Since the receiver and ESC for the Slo-V are integrated into a single proprietary (non-standard) unit, you'll have to replace that box with a separate receiver and ESC. That will mean you will need a new transmitter, too, since the stock unit operates in the 27 MHz band while a new receiver will be in the 72 MHz band. And you will need new servos, since Parkzone servos won't work with "standard" R/C receivers.

So basically, to go brushless with the Slo-V, you have to replace the whole electronics package. It's been done, and if you search RC Universe for "slo-v" you will find some threads where it is discussed.

From what I have read, one easy performance upgrade for the Slo-V is the optional 7-cell battery pack. I would probably stick with the stock motor and get the larger battery pack, then look ahead to a future plane with better performance.

If I'm wrong about anything regarding the Slo-V, I hope others will post corrections. One of our flying club members has a Slo-V, and I've been impressed with it as a relaxing slow flyer.

- Jeff