steve ypsi mi

I have a T hawk and am learning to fly, slammed into the ground many times, trees etc, I was running out of props, they don't sell them in a store and they are 2.99 Plus shipping from toytronics, bought some 5 1/2 inch rubber band props for a 1.29 and took my time drilling out the hole with 3 size's of drill bits with a battery drill, better control, went from one to the next size so I could keep the hole straight and it would fit the shaft tight. here's what I found, the stock 5 1/2 inch rubber band prop drilled to fit the T Hawk and it also fits the aero bird challenger, would not get up in the air, to much pitch, cut the blades off each end with scissors a 1/2 inch off each end, flew but about half the speed but flew good and slow like a park flyer, went and got four more props at 1.29 each, Shaped one to the same size and shape ( this wasn't even close , I just eyed the blade) of my original one since the rubber band ones have a lot more pitch and are about 1/16 wider on both side or 1/8 inch wider over all, I ground the edges off on my bench belt sander and left it full length and sanded the edges with 100 sand paper to sharpen them and get the rough off them from the belt sander, flew faster but about 85 percent of the speed of the original prop, took the scissors out and cut 1/4 inch off each end, this was just right, flew perfect, flew fast and would fly at half speed great once it was up high. and they don't break like the hard ones that come with the plane, slammed into the ground hit this and that and not one broken with the rubberband props . I have a tight fit, A prop fell off after about 5 minutes of flight, I should have held the motor shaft with needle nose pliers and tapped it with some thing to lock it tight, I just pushed it on lightly, the other flights when I hit tree or building the prop would fall off but I just pushed it right back on, also it seems there is less damage to the wings from the prop when it crashes because the rubber band props are more flexible, TRy this its better than waiting for a shipment plus it is almost one thrid the price and it does work.
The next day I tried triming by using a piece of 100 grit sand paper laying on the table holding the prop in my hand, I counted the strokes , I would do 5 on one side and then 5 on the other, it if more even than a belt sander and more accurate. it was eaiser to round the ends lightly this way also