For light weight fun-flyers (PBF's for example), which is the best prop......the yellow nylon Kavan or the white Tornado Tempest?

I'll consider any other white (or bright colored) nylon prop if you know of any.

I've been having good luck with the Grish 10x4 props on PBFs. But now I can't find any Grish 10x4 props anywhere.

So I ordered some Kavan 10x4 Softprops to see how they would work on a PBF. Hobby Lobby's ad says, "Well, maybe you can break them but it’s not likely." Hmmmmm........I broke three the first day, three the second day, and two more within the week. My buddy broke both of his Kavan 10x4 Soft Props on the first day......one of them on a deadstick into tall grass.

Maybe boiling the Kavan props will fix the problem. But if not, then I'd sure like to find some Grish 10x4 props. Anybody know of a source that has them in stock?

DANGIT!! I just drove 50 miles (one-way) to buy those things.

Dave,

I agree! I hate buying junk! Yes I said Junk! I bought 3 of these unbreakable props. 4 flights later I went back to the cheap black props.

Why, THEY BROKE.

Kavan 10x4 props are JUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WILL NEVER BUY A Kavan PROP FOR MY PFB!!!!!!!

What do you guys do to these things? I've had a Kavan 10x4 on my Simple Ultimate for a year, and this things been flipped over a bunch of times landing in long grass. Maybe Kavan's improve with age?

Mike

PS I've had an online order in directly with Grish for six months. No props. Think Grish is finished.

Mikerjf,
I'm using the Kavan 10x4 Softprops in a PBF, which is a nearly indestructible handlaunch flying wing that I'm using for low level slow flight and 3D maneuvering. Therefore, it hits the ground quite often. But these Kavan 10x4 Softprops are breaking more like wood props than flexible nylon props. The Master Airscrew and APC props have proven to be FAR more durable than these Kavan 10x4 Softprops. It should be the other way around.

And just for the record, Crash99 and myself got our Kavan 10x4 Softprops from the exact same shipment that Hobby Lobby sent to our local hobby dealer.

The Kavan 9x4 Softprops around here seem to be living up to their claim of nearly unbreakable, even though they are also being flown in these same PBF planes, and in the exact same manner. Although I've broken a couple of the Kavan 9x4 Softprops, they seem to have a very similar survival rate to the Grish 9x4 and 10x4 Tornado props....which is good!

Based on the longevity of your Kavan 10x4 Softprops, and my own 9x4 Kavan Softprops, I'm now more hopeful that this problem may be isolated to this particular production run.

I sure hope that the Kavan Softprops will prove themselves to be as tough as the old Grish Tornado props, because like you, we haven't had any luck at all getting a response from Grish themselves for several months now.

Although I got these 10x4 Softprops indirectly from Hobby Lobby, tomorrow I'll give them a call to see if they will stand behind these props, and post the results here.

Dave,

You may have already tried this, but it sure looks like you can order the 10x4 Tornado Tempest on-line directly from Grish at this link:

http://www.grishproducts.com/Merchan...gory_Code=2btt

Hi Andy!
Unfortunately, Grish won't answer their emails, their phone number gets you an answering machine, and Mikerjf has been waiting six months for his online order to be filled.

At this point, it appears that the Kavan flexible props are our last resort.

Hey, does Carl have his PBF ready to fly yet?

Dave: That's too bad about Grish! Those are pretty cool props.

Carl is lurking here someplace, but hasn't posted yet. Must be "skeert". His PBF hasn't flown yet... but it is very nearly complete. We ran up the engine (40LA) last weekend. Runs great, and way more power than necessary. Should be ready to fly soon.

I just called Hobby Lobby. Because I bought these Kavan 10x4 Softprops from my local hobby dealer instead of directly from Hobby Lobby, they aren't willing to replace or refund without going through my local hobby dealer. It's not what I was hoping for, but I'll admit that it makes perfect business sense.

The next step is to have my local hobby dealer contact Hobby Lobby to find out if they can get the props replaced or the money refunded.

In the mean time, I have boiled the remaining 10x4 Softprops for 30 minutes to see if that will help soften them up.

UPDATE: Boiling didn't help. I broke yet another 10x4 Softprop.

Dave,

You asked, "Hey, does Carl have his PBF ready to fly yet?" What is up with that? Don't pick on poor Carl just due to he had over a month to build a 2 hour Pizza Box

Carl,

As long as you have it done for the Oct. 8th Fun Fly down here. But If you don't come down with your Pizza Box, Well Dave might think ...................... Well You know. You will never live it down.

Crash99

Alright, Alright.... So I ain't the fastest builder in town. :tired: Would ya believe yet another furniture store went out of business up here, so I was torn for days / weeks trying to decide between final signage to use??... Yea, that's it.......

Actually, just need to lace the upolstery thread for the pull-pull, and replace out a faulty tank stopper, and we're good to go.... This thing is gonna be alot of fun!!

All up weight is about 2lb.,12oz. fueled. Is this about right?

I need to check the date for your fun-fly, and get back to you. A PBF combat sounds like a pretty good time! 'Specially if we can get Nutt mixed in the middle of it! :devious:

Hi Carl!
Welcome to RC Universe!

I'm glad to hear you're going for perfection on your PBF instead of settling for just another "going-out-of-business sign".

Your PBF's wet weight sounds just about right. About 2 1/2 pounds dry is pretty normal.

Hmmm......."Nutt in the middle of combat". Yep, I like the sound of that! Because if Nutt's in the middle, that means that his PBF would be surrounded by all those other PBFs that were out to get him!

Although the LORCS web site says that our Fall Fun Fly is scheduled for October 8th, that happens to be a Tuesday......so that can't be right. I'm guessing it's either going to be on Sunday, October 6th, or Sunday, October 13th. I'll check with Steve and Ben to find out for sure.

UPDATE: The LORCS Fall Fun Fly is scheduled for Sunday, October 6th.

That is a great Idea. Will Dave get extra points when he cuts off portions of coraplast?

I am glad you are getting you Pizza Box going. You might freak out some of those guys up there. Come on down any time and maybe we can make it up there if we ever get a date on your Columbia Fun Fly.

Thanks
Crash99

Dave,

We have been using just plain old Master airscrew props with pretty good luck. I have crashed on them a few times and not broke yet. Except that one time I hit the new asphalt runway But other than that good luck. I did buy four grish yellow 9X7's off ebay the other night for $5 though. I should have waited.

We can't find these yellow props anywhere around here.
KsFlyer

After letting a more experience pilot fly my PBF, and hearing about how it is not a 2nd airplane, I decided to try a solo anyway (after only 2 previous actual flights with a Duraplane trainer and a bunch of Realflight). I got it up and it was a hand-full until I slowed it down. The throws were a bit too far for me and I found myself using the elevons more than the rudder to turn (WRONG!).

Anyway, about a minute later I screwed up big time and yard darted the baby from about 20 feet at about 20mph. It dug about a 2" hole (from nose to carb) in the short grass topped football field. The only damage was bent throttle linkage. Throttled up, the carb arm is 3/8" behind the prop. The Kaven prop had to do some serious bending in that crash, but there is no sign of damage to the prop. I got one of the good ones. So far, that is.

gasrc,
Congratulations on flying your PBF!
Are you using the 10x4 Kavan?
Or a different size?

FYI, this evening I dorked my Norvel 25 PBF several times. The Kavan 9x4 Softprop once again survived with virtually no damage.....just as advertised.

Has anybody found these soft props changing pitch? I bought 4 off ebay, yellow grish 9X7 and 9X8 and found that they seem to have less pitch at high RPM's. When I had a 10X6 Master airscrew on it, increased RPM meant more thrust. When I hammer a 9X8 Grish, I can see the prop changing shape. Anybody else see this?

KsFLyer

that's a 10 4, good buddy
over and out

Sorry to dredge up an old thread... but I thought I'd give you an update:

Carl has flown his pizza box!



Put several flights on it this evening. There are some video clips of it at the club's website (http://www.mmrca.org/ or click on the picture above). Go into the Photo Gallery and select the August 24th link at the top. The PBF pic and clips are at the bottom of their sections on that page.

He's planning on bringing it to Taylor. Maybe we can get a gaggle of them flying together.

Well, The pizza box looks good. Come on down today to Eldon and all of us can fly togeather.

I need a good fly day / evening

Crash99

Don't know if you guys are still having problems with the Kavan props but I recently had my first nylon prop fail. It was a Grish 12x4, and the prop literally blew apart when I went to full throttle right after starting the engine (luckily nobody got hurt). Everybody (myself included) always got a kick out of the way these props wobbled around at idle and low speed and since all of my nylon props did it, I never paid any attention to it. Looking back, although I check balance on all my props I think maybe the nylon props may be more sensitive to proper balance as they do flex alot (Irvine specifically states not to use nylon props because of this).

Mike

**UPDATE: Boiling didn't help. I broke yet another 10x4 Softprop.

I didnt know Nylon props are still available. Not in my part of the world! I remember using them about 20 years ago as a kid doing control line flying with dad, and we used to boil them till their color changed. Never had a failure. Using them without boiling can be dangerous as a blade could just snap off a brittle prop and hurt someone real bad.