The more flexible the material, the more the prop will "self-adjust" its pitch as load increases. The old white nylon Top Flite brand props could flex enough after being boiled that they essentially functioned like constant speed props. The automatic variable pitch effect was an unintentional bennefit for some purposes.

Since some plastic/composite props are more flexible than wood, and some are MUCH stiffer than wood... you can't simply say composit will always do one thing and wood another. The blade shape and airfoil has more effect than the material, as long as you aren't significantly flexing the material.

Composite/plastic props tend to be heavier than the wood props. The added weight can help with breaking in some engines. The increased weight gives a better flywheel effect, helping with starting a cold engine and giving a smoother idle. (the weight differences can be useful for minor CG adjustments too. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] ) After the engine is broken in... the flywheel effect of the heavier props usually isn't significant enough to be the reason for choosng composite over wood.

Bolly Clubman props are more flexible than most wood props. Master Airscrew's black nylon is more flexible than the wood, but the thicker material tends to compensate. APC's grey props are stiffer and lighter than the Master Airscrew and Bolly Clubman props (generally...). The carbon fiber composite props are the stiffest (and most expesive...) And then there's the CF stiffened wood props....

Wood props tend to have a better scale appearance on some models. (especially planes like the Piper Cub.) The Master Airscrew "Classic" series is intended for scale appearance on planes that had metal props.

You'll find through experimentation that there IS a performance difference with the wood prop vs the Master Airscrew or the APC.... Fly with each type to make the determination of which you like better. (My O.S. .91 4-stroke seems to work better with the APC 14X6 than with the Zinger wood or the Master Airscrew black nylon. Your Magnum may do better with the wood... or the black nylon.) I'd start out with the black nyln if the engine has low operatng time.