rye

My Feedback: (10)

hi
we are flying the gaint rv-4 with a satio 100 which is better, wood or plastic prop ? we just had a wood blade break in the air and i told my partner see, as we bought are flying the same planes and engines

LargeScale88

It depends. Plastic you can usually get more RPMs out of. On my saito 100, I get alot more RPM with a APC 14x8 than a zinger 14x8. Personal preferance. The plastic ones usually last longer because they won't chip as bad as wood either.

oldvet70

My Feedback: (10)

If where you fly has pavement or petromat I'd go with wood but if flying off of grass or dirt then wood will not last as well. Wood has been considered the superior material for model propellers for a long time. While all the nylon and glass filled props have their place only carbon fiber seems to be superior to wood.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I have been using APC props on the Saito 100 but in wood props I use Xoar. This weekend we were prop testing on a Magnum 1.20. Big surprise was we got better performance with a Master Airscrew. Testing allows you to find out what works best for you. In this odd case the MAS was what the engine liked and flew the plane the best for the pilot. I have seen APCs break in the air too. After any ground strike you MUST check the prop for chips or cracks or it can get ugly.

ChuckW

It is really tough to say which is better. You'll find that performance can vary between propeller model, manufacturer and material. I do like the heavier props like APC or Graupner on 4-strokes though since the seem to help with a slower idle. I've ran Xoar wood props on 4-strokes with great success too though.

I would experiment and decide what you personally like best for the application.

da Rock

The type that's better is whatever type the prop that works best is. (jeez, what bad English....)

Some engines work better turning light props. Some cast props are heavy as lead. Some are lighter than wood. Some applications like 3D benefit from a light prop the engine can speed up and slow down faster. Some engines run smoother with heavier props.

All engines work best with the best prop of as many as you will test to see which specific prop works best on that engine on that airplane, flown the way you fly it, where you live.

A couple of buddies and I just compared a handful of props. They were all the same diameter and pitch and were wood and cast. The range of performance was way wider than you'd expect from "identical" dia/pitch props.

There ain't no magic props, and darn near every make and type will work best on some model.

BTW, we were working with a 60 size model that'd been converted to electric. All props the same dia/pitch, right? A couple caused the motor to pull higher amps than the ESC and motor were rated for. Some of the spectators didn't think that could happen. If I remember correctly, at least one of those guys had burned up a motor and one had some swollen batteries he'd gotten rid of. And a couple of props spun at the motor's design rpm but didn't pull in the air worth spit. And that's comparing them to others of the same dia/pitch.

There ain't no magic props, but there are some that don't work on your engine/model worth using.

LesUyeda

"we just had a wood blade break in the air"

Sounds to me like the cutout in the spinner, or the spinner rotation, was such that the spinner cone was making contact with the prop, and causing fatigue in that spot.

Les

We used to pick the spinner to match the airframe, and prop to match the engine, and make both fit properly.

jaka

Hi!
Yeah!
A wood prop can not break "just like that" in the air!
Must have been a misfit spinner or a crack or some other thing!
Most of the time the APC, Graupner Cam prop or RAM are the best props!

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Jaka, here in the states we have some different suppliers and some of the items you are able to find we have never heard of or only read about. APC and MAS are the most common props we see. Graupner is one we find once in a while and they are great props. I usually find them in three blades at one hobby shop. Never found a CAM or RAM. Wood props, most all shops have Zingers and some of the better shops are stocking Xoar. Once in a while we find some of the other brands but most shops don't stock them. One shop is stocking a few Vess. Due to shipping costs mail ordering small items like props isn't something done very often. Most shops don't stock Tettra tanks either but you can always find Du-Bro. Some items you find the best we never see here and I'm sure it's the same thing for you.

jaka

Hi!
Sorry! But over here in Europe we can get everything ...The internet world you know!