Jacked69

I have 2 questions, first all I orderd the plane that will be my 2nd even though I have a sopwith camel and TF p-51 which I will work my way up too but I decided on the Pulse XT 40 PNP from H9. My questions are do they make a turbo prop 4 blade for my TF p-51 and where can I get one at and will I notice a performance difference when I do fly it from the 2 blade prop that came with it? Also I have always flown my alpha 40 with the 3 blade prop, what performance improvements would I get adding a 2 blade prop? Also one more ? can I put a Electronic servo that stabilized the plane when you let go of the controls like some trainers have in my P-51 or my pulse xt? If so what item will i need? Thank you all, you have been so great and VERY friendly here......

da Rock

Everyone always thinks the number of blades matters. It does. About as much as the color of the blades matters. OK, that's a stretch........ but with the props we have to choose from, it's close to being true.

The difference in number of blades is that the more blades (and blade tips) the less the efficiency. Does the efficiency lessen enought to matter? Nope. Not enough to matter.

In the fullscale world, the designers understand how little it matters. They pick what works for their engine. And look at how many planes are flying around with 2 bladed props nowadays. They match the prop to the engine. We can too. Except there aren't many 3blades to try. So they won't match up as often.

da Rock

You will gain performance from using a better suited prop. And with the hundreds of props we've got to choose from, there's a good chance there will be a better one for your plane/engine combination.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

In regards to the second part of your question concerning wing levelers or so called auto pilots which are nothing more than learning crutchs which in virtually every case will steepen the learning curve for you. In other words it will take you much longer to acheve any given level of airmanship. But to answer your question yes you could use one of several with FMA having one of the better types.

There is only one application where any of these things has some usefulness in RCand to that end I have experimented with several types and that is active X-Country Meaning the pilot traveling along with the airplane not RPV.

Jacked69

Thank you all, so should I keep the 2 blade on my p-51? It would look more scale with a 3 or 4 blade which it had in real life. If they do make one does anyone have a link to the one I would need?

Jetdesign

My Feedback: (8)

I've noticed a lot of 3 bladed props at pattern contests. They say it helps with braking, but I think many of the ones I saw were 're-pitched' by a local pro.

I agree that they look better on scale planes, and am interested in trying one myself.

Edit: Scratch that. It's not worth shelling out another $30 for a 3 blade spinner[]

jaka

Hi!
Keep the 2-blade! 3 or 4 blade props doesn't "pull" as well as a 2 blade does!

Jacked69

Ok, I will stick with the 2 blade that it came with. Thanks for the advice.

2slow2matter

My Feedback: (1)

If you go to a 3 blade, or even a 4 blade prop, you will have to reduce the diameter of the prop by one inch for each additional blade. So if you were originally going to swing a two blade 15 inch prop, you'll have to go with a 14 inch 3 blade, or a 13 inch 4 blade. Which looks more scale, a 15 inch disc, or a 13 inch disc? Afterall, once the engine is running, you can't tell how many blades there are, but you can easily define the disc. The only time a four blade prop looks "scale" is on a static model. If you want, get a nice static prop to show your plane off with, and then switch to the 2 bladed prop when you are ready to fly it.

One of the reasons they put four and five bladed props on these engines was because of their horsepower. In order to properly load the engine, they had to make a choice....2 blades, and a prop diameter that was awfully close to the ground, or four or five blades, and have some ground clearance.......With the F4U, they even had to bend the wings to get the landing gear lower, effectively raising the prop further off the ground. That plane had LOTS of horsepower.....of course, it needed to to fly off of carriers.