Hi:

       I have a Zero and Hellcat that would look much better if they sported three bladed props.  What are the pros and cons of running a three bladed prop?

       Would a TF plastic 10-6  three blade work well on a .35-.40 engine? If not, what size of a three blade would work well with these engines


                                                                                               Tia,

                                                                                               Frank
       

Hi Frank,

Traditionally, using a prop with 1" less diameter is used for 3 blade props.  If you are talking engines like the Fox .35 then a 9-6 would be right for the 3 blade.  Some modern engines might go with a bit more prop in the 3 blade.  I like the 3 blade props and use them a lot on piped engines.

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM

I had a Brodak Zero for a few years with a tower 40. Ran lots of props on it and surprisingly the M/A 10/5 3 blade gave excellent performance. Most of these props are under pitched and mine was around 3.75 pitch which turned out to be a winning combination for the model. They are reasonably priced and really not excessively heavy for sport models. It gave me some of the most satisfying flying I had with a profile model

Don't worry about the weight of the prop. A 1/4 oz in the tail weight box will fix that. If the prop doesn't work, it doesn't matter how cute it looks, or how much less $ it cost for a MA than a CF prop.

One of our Dutch members reported that he used the Graupner 10-7 3-blade on a ST .46...which should also work on an Enya .45 #6001, since they are essentially copies (parts interchange?!). He did admit that the prop was reworked, which is not hard to do, by both scraping and sanding. I have one of these Graupner props, but no longer have a ST .46. The airfoil is sorta semi-symetrical. I'd expect it would be better flat bottom and thinner, but I have had good results with Graupner's props.  Steve

Pulling 10 ton on the old OS 35 Max's , the 9x6 didnt work but 10 x 4 Tornado 3 blades 9 the silver ones ) do fine , vertical and all around etc .

Youre on dangerous territory , as covetiusness & Tornado 10 x 6 3 blades are on the same page in my notebook .

I ve recovered brittle yellow Tornados by doseing them with Armour All . works good .

the 10 x 6 was a favoured prop for the ST 21 / 46 , so you could save the worry , & send the PROPs to ME 

On a strong schneurle , hard out , theyed be getting along fairly quickly .