As indicated by Alan, we did indeed make our way out to the flying field to test the new (purple) 12" pusher.
Weather during the testing was cool @ 46F and light wind, but quite choppy. Neither Alan or I have flown since getting home from the Golden State Stunt Championships, so we figured we should first fly the green 11 x5.5 pusher for a base line. Despite my rather rusty flying, the prop performed well, just as I remembered it. RPM was 10,304 giving a lap time of 5.3 seconds. Next we installed the purple 12 x 5.5 (more like 5.75 according to Alan). We anticipated the airplane would be quicker due to the added area, and we were right, 4.8 second laps (no change in RPM). Luckily we had set the air time for only 1:30. We stepped the RPM down to around 9550 RPM and the next flight yielded a 5.1 second lap. Next setting was 9340 giving a 5.3 second lap. Perfect. I did a vertical eight, hourglass and overhead eight in the 1:30 time frame, and liked what I saw/felt! Time to fly a full 5:30 flight!
Did I mention above it was cool? Well, with the wind coming on a little stronger, it was now feeling fricking cold! Anyhow, we reset the timer to 5:30 and launched. Take-off tracked great from the time it left Alan's hand. Still a steady 5.3 lap (why wouldn't it be, it is electric after all). Wing over felt strong with good corner. The loops were round with very little correction, and no wind up due to the wind that was stronger and choppy than before. Inverted flight was solid, and other than some altitude variation due to changing wind, the airplane felt very stable inverted. Corners in the squares were very hard with a clean exit, very similar to the 11" props. My first hint that this may now be my new favourite prop was the square eight. The last outside corner where the 11" prop seems to be loosing a little poop was now very strong. Seems the larger diameter was providing the added thrust my slightly obese (64 ounces) Crossfire needed! The vertical eight felt strong throughout, and the third corner of the hourglass was solid, despite the wind. I purposely flew my overhead eight loops on the small side just to see if it would hang up there - no problem! Finally the four leaf clover, and the first loop that can sometimes feel a little loose, felt absolutely fine. In fact, all four loops in the clover felt the same in tension and controllability.
I was really pleased with the prop and although cold out, I had one more charged battery left and figured better to fly than go home with a charged battery. Happy to report the prop performed equally well on the second flight! Even though I felt I was going to freeze to death, I was really having fun.
The next test was the one Both Alan and I were a little worried about, and that was how much current the new propeller required vs. the smaller 11" prop. I charged the first pack (Thunder Power 5s 25C 2700) which we used for the 11" prop. The pack only took 1989 mah, which I found a little surprising due to the cold. I expected more. Pretty darn good. Next up was the pack we flew the full 5:30 on the 12" prop. Wow, this was surprising, it took only 2152 mah, which is acceptable for a 2700 battery pack. Too be sure, I charged the last battery, and it took 2169 mah. Wonderful! Our fears of needing to fly a bigger/heavier pack was unwarranted. Current demands should be less when weather warms up!
So, I am happy to report Alan and I now have four very nice props available. Two tractors and two pushers. They all work great, although I personally prefer the pushers for the electric set-ups. I suspect t the 12" will be more popular for those flying more stout (read "heavy") airplanes, as it provides a little more thrust when loaded than the 11". As mentioned in a post somewhere above, the 12" will also permit a little experimentation with diameter than the 11".
The 12" purple is my favourite for the time being!
Time to go downstairs a mold another prop!