Can anyone suggest a good beginer prop, I had an old top flight 6x3 that just worked great and could take a good hit but it finally broke.

I tried a couple of the new plastic ones off of e bay and they broke every time the plane crashed, I need a few bullet proof props... lol

Regards

Steve

Master Airscrew props are still available.

Very end of the page.

http://selecthobbies.com/accessoriesdata.htm

Check with Bernie; some of the Cox props are quite good at taking a hit and recovering. Heck, he has sent me a number of them free with orders, check his Cox site.

Avoid the grey Cox props. The ones to get are the black plastic Cox props.

I've found that both APC and Master Airscrew props are of medium brittleness due to their use of glass fiber filled nylon. So neither of them take a lot of punishment before they break.

If you can find any of the Grish/Tornado white nylon props in the sizes you want they are very crash resistant as well.

One point about either the black Cox or white Tornado nylon props. They will be more flexible and crash resistant if you boil them in water for about a hour. It doesn't need to be a hard rolling boil. Just bring it up to a bubble and turn it down to medium-low with a cover on the pot so that there's a slight but constant bubbling going on. Check a few times to make sure the pot doesn't boil dry or you'll be the week's Home Hero for sure...

There is a real soft one too, made by K&B? These can take anything and show up on the bay from time to time.

A recommended prop is our 6x3 black one. Fairly soft and takes lots of punishment.

Bernie
www.coxinternational.ca

Don't forget Grish Tornados!


As for Cox props, it's a real pain finding them online and knowing if they are going to break or not. It used to be that when you bought a Cox prop it was truly flexible. I don't know if it was a change in resin or just age affecting old stock, but they definitely aren't the Cox props I remember as a 'Ute.


....As cheap as they are, it's probably best to stock up while you can, when you can.

These ones need a bit of deburring but are virtually unbreakable; [link=http://cgi.ebay.com/Cox-049-Airplane-Engine-Prop-6x3-Propeller-K-B-/270729790401]ebay[/link]

From Bernie's site:

I always found that these worked really well for giving good flight performance yet were tough enough to withstand MOST crashes.
http://coxengines.ca/product.php?pro...5&cat=9&page=2

For training kids to fly a control line model these can "take a licking and keep on ticking".
http://coxengines.ca/product.php?pro...9&cat=9&page=2

Thanks very much for all of the kind replies, I purchased 6 props from Cox, my Grandsons go through through them......lol

Graupner props. They pull very well and rarely break upon abuse (I can REALLY testify to the abuse part). Despite their toughness, they're rigid and don't deform, which is why they pull so well. They're the only props I've used that perform as well as the old Top Flite Super M and Cox greys.

DEFINATLY BUY SOME BLACK COX PROPS BUT NOW THEY HAVE SOME HIGH PERFORMANCE YELLOW ONES BEING MADE FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE SO IT MIGHT BE WORTH PICKING UP A FEW OF THOSE.

I like the Graupner props too, just wish they had a few more options, like a 5.5x4 prop.

The yellow ones are soft, while the grey are the high perfomance ones as usual, unless I have misunderstood something. The blade shape is also quite tiny and only suited for low drag planes.

The grey ones are ultra-stiff.

Upside: Highest performabce
Downside: They shatter if you run them into the ground.

The yellow ones are quite flexible and, as a test, I bent one side of the prop completely in half; wheres the tip of the blade then faced the other tip. The prop did not break.

This is the one we recommend if you want the one least likely to break upon impact.

Although the surface area is smaller, your engine should run at higher RPM, making up for the difference. Here is a link to the product:

http://coxengines.ca/product.php?pro...t=9&page=2

Bernie
www.coxinternational.ca

Maybe the Graupners hold up well in small sizes, but my 10x3 Graupner snapped on a simple landing noseover and I stopped using them. But I have found MAs to be very durable.

Jim

I think the Graupners are great props aerodynamically but I am not of the opinion tey are particularly tough in comparison to some other choices. The Cox black 5-3 and 6-3 will take a lot more abuse IMHO.

I agree on the durability of graupner props, they are much more like the grey cox than the black.

I'm with Bernie. When I was flying 1/2A Combat (seriously over-competitive, going to the Nats and many contests each year) I ran the black Cox 5X3 (cut to 4.5 X 3) more than any other prop.

Sometimes we ran glass or carbon props, but usually the Cox.

We broke a few, but more often we just finally wore them out. They are soft rubber (plastic?) and if you run them into the ground enough times they will finally get too soft to hold the proper pitch.

I my mind it is an easy selection to go with the Black (or yellow) Cox in 6X3 or 5X3 for .049s.

If all you are interested in is unbreakability choose those soft props. I like performance from my planes. You get the most performance from props that don't de-pitch when in use. I did extensive thrust testing and I like the Graupner and the Cox grays the best. I wish Bolly was still making props; nothing I ever tried beat theirs.

have you thought about setting up the prop so it will not hit the ground when the engine stops? set it so that it windmills to the horizontal.

Thrust testing will tell you which prop is best to pull your workbench around the shop.
In real world duty, the rubber props will get the job done. The course record for 1/2A pylon at a local club that has been racing for over 25 years is held by a 5x3 rubber ducky Cox prop.
Every other commercially available prop [and a few others] that are known to man have been tried there and the lowly rubber 5x3 Cox prop rules the roost.

I agree that cox rubber duckies are much more durable than the stiff props. I agree that cox rubber duckies are more efficient than most offerings. A cox rubber duckie 5x3 would not even keep my J3 in the air. My Herr planes flew best with the 6x3 cox grays (.049) and 6x4 (.061) If speed were the criteria for plane performance a low drag small plane with a small prop spinning ultra high rpm would be optimum. For most BEGINNER planes lower speed and slower reaction with enough thrust to pull you out of problems is my idea of optimum. I agree that cox rubber duckies may be the best compromise. (btw..My thrust tests were done at speed not on a static bench)