RE: Help me understand static thrust
Static thrust is often maligned as not being meaningful once the model leaves the ground. And on a sliding scale this is correct.
For models that are hovering or are climbing slowly on the prop such as 3D models in hover or during harrier style maneuvers static thrust is exactly what is at work on those models. On slower climbing powered sailplanes again the props are operating in a mode very near to the static thrust results.
But as the prop pitch gets higher and the speed of the model is higher than the value of doing static thrust measurements dwindles quickly. In fact once the prop pitch is high enough that the blades are stalled during the static run then static thrust results are pretty much meaningless. The added drag due to the stall consumes power that would have gone to producing thrust and will once in the air and the model's forward speed allows the angle of attack of the blades to reduce to an unstalled value. Until then the prop will be slower to accellerate and not produce as much thrust as the power consumption would indicate.