RE: prop balancing
This is a subject that comes up quite a bit here, and it always turns into a huge discussion. I'm not going to say that people are wrong for balancing their props, if they want to do that then by all means I encourage them to do it. But in my experience it's really a waste of time. Minnflyer and I have had long discussions about this and we both say the same thing. I check a prop when I first get it, and as long as it's not GROSSLY out of balance it gets used as is. If it is WAY out of balance then I simply toss it, or return it to where I bought it if possible. So why don't I balance?? I used to do it. I wound spend great time and effort to make sure that the prop was just "perfect" and would sit there perfectly level on the prop balancer. Then I would put it on the plane and the first trip to the field a prop strike, a rock hitting the prop, and even the green from running it through grass can throw them out of balance. What I'm trying to say is that they get out of that perfect balance pretty quickly. So I pretty much gave up, I have better things to do with my time than balance props. And I have engines that have hundreds of flights on them that haven't been damaged from running an unbalanced prop. In fact, my GP Slow Poke has over 500 flights on it and it's still got the same prop that it started with. It's been dinged and nicked many times but then engine, prop, and plane are still going strong.
Now I'm not saying that everybody needs to not worry about balancing. There are some that compete that NEED to balance to be competitive, as well as others that need to do it. But for those of us that are just "sport flyers" it's not worth the effort for minimal gains. I equate it to an Indy Racer. They will spend millions of dollars to can fractions of seconds in time, and it's worth it to them to be competitive. But for the rest of us that drive to work every day that kind of money and effort would be totally wasted.
And as I said, I'm not arguing with those that do balance their props. And I'm not saying they are wrong. I've been in the hobby long enough and seen this discussion often enough to know that I would be silly for saying that. I am simply passing on what I do and my reasons for it.
Hope this helps.
Ken