RE: effect of prop pitch on efficiency
Keep in mind that maximum efficiency means going the furtherst distance on the same fuel. So going slow on a lot of thust is not the way to go, unless it match's up to a draggy airframe that needs that thrust to go a MPH or two faster. That is to say a plane built like a parachute will just go so fast with a small high pitched prop and will need the extra thrust of a larger lower pitched prop to drag it around.