Author Topic: Top Flight white nylon props (Read 3272 times)

Green River · « **on:** November 15, 2020, 05:38:23 PM »

What is everyone’s opinion on these props? I like the way they look but are they ok performance wise? I don’t have enough experience yet to know the difference.

De Hill · « **Reply #1 on:** November 15, 2020, 06:13:47 PM »

Their performance is lousy. Plus, they may throw a blade while they are running.

Phil Krankowski · « **Reply #2 on:** November 15, 2020, 06:20:25 PM »

The 6x3 was nice on a cox reed or td.

I got my hands on a box o' these a couple years ago. Every single one, close to 2 dozen, fragile as glass. I coulda cried.

Phil

Dave_Trible · « **Reply #3 on:** November 15, 2020, 07:40:19 PM »

They aren't too bad for sport flying or training but aren't high performance. Old nylon can get brittle. I have a few for nostalgia projects but I boil them for a few minutes to try to renew the nylon. Seems to work OK. I wouldn't put them on any real modern Schnerle engine that revs in high gear. Use them on the Fox or McCoy classic stuff.

Dave

john e. holliday · « **Reply #4 on:** November 15, 2020, 09:28:00 PM »

Yellow or white, even after boiling don't trust them on any engine that will turn over 10,000 RPM. Use for display only . I have several dozen if not more that will stay in the storage bin.

jim gilmore · « **Reply #5 on:** November 15, 2020, 10:47:31 PM »

2 questions. what are the best props for half-a we have today and are there any decent 3 blades props ?

Peter Grabenstein · « **Reply #6 on:** November 16, 2020, 12:13:22 AM »

Master Airscrew

https://www.masterairscrew.com/collections/gf-series

and APC Propellers

https://www.apcprop.com/product-category/internal-combustion-engines/

would be a better choice for 1/2 A .

APC 4,75x4 I use for reed valve "COX Mouse Racing" Venom engine.

Stay away from too soft bending blades , just to dangerous @ 16k rpms + .

Peter

Dennis Toth · « **Reply #7 on:** November 16, 2020, 09:49:46 AM »

GR,
The old TF white nylon props are not the best chose for flying. As was stated they can get brittle and liberate a blade (Wind Turbine term for throwing a blade off). Second, they flex a lot in flight under turning load, when they do that they loss pulling power usually just a the point where you need it most.

Some time back De Hill and Joe Gilbert conducted a test was done on 34 different, 10x6 props using a Fox 35 on a Twister. It was published in Control Line World Jan 2009. Although not a scientific study it gave a reasonable look at the pulling power of some of the available props. Bottom line was that the RSM 10x6, Brodak BY&O 10x6 and RevUp 10x6EW along with the APC 10x5 were the best of the bunch. The old Top Flite spoon 10x6 was also pretty good. With the exception of the APC which is a composite the rest were wood. Can't go wrong with wood, they are light and stiff, you can heat re-pitch just like an APC with a heat gun and a pitch gauge.

All that said the most easily obtained would be the APC but they are a little heavy and the Brodak. The RSM's are great but there is a limited size range to pick from. Brodak has a large selection but you need to mail order (if you don't need it in a hurry and only getting a small order it is best to call them and ask them to ship via regular mail to save some$) If the ship is a little tail heavy go with the APC, if nose heavy go with the wood.

Best, DennisT

Gerald Arana · « **Reply #8 on:** November 16, 2020, 11:21:28 AM »

I use my TF nylon props (10X6) for stirring/spreading epoxy and to open up card board boxes for reshaping to sell on eBay.........

These props work great............for my purpose!

Jerry

Brett Buck · « **Reply #9 on:** November 16, 2020, 11:34:26 AM »

Quote from: Green River on November 15, 2020, 05:38:23 PM

What is everyone’s opinion on these props? I like the way they look but are they ok performance wise? I don’t have enough experience yet to know the difference.

I don't think it is worth the risk of them flying apart and either stabbing you or shaking the airplane to bits in seconds. The performance is pretty poor even if you get it to stay together.

Brett

GERALD WIMMER · « **Reply #10 on:** November 16, 2020, 01:01:24 PM »

Hello Even if died black they still throw blades! Had one send the tip into the wing last weekend. The story was I grabbed any old prop and thought it was a black Kavan which are normally safe and bolted it to an old OS25 Baffle engine on a Kawasaki Hien Ki61 (Tony) as the motor revved out it threw the blade tip, then the remaining spinner, prop and nut assembly came off and it went into a shaft run till I planted the model vertically . Motor still turns over fine but with a less compression now. I do run other Top Flite Nylons on other engines but make sure they are still supple/flexible and usually on slow vintage style engine or diesels. Failure seems to relate to age and rpm. For slow combat we like to use nylon props and the new Taipan Nylon props work best when you can find them.

Regards Gerald

Steve Helmick · « **Reply #11 on:** November 16, 2020, 06:35:48 PM »

Nope!

Steve

Peter Nevai · « **Reply #12 on:** November 18, 2020, 04:13:30 PM »

Not that I would use them these days I recall that it was common practice to boil the white nylon props back in the day which seemed to help relieve internal stresses. In any case they were pretty good at slicing your fingers at the earliest opportunity. Do not use them on modern motors. Back in the day of iron liner Mcoy and fox engines that turned under 10K rpms they were marginally safe.

Gary Mondry · « **Reply #13 on:** November 18, 2020, 04:20:56 PM »

As I recall, only the yellow Tornados were nylon. The white ones were polyester and came with the "do not boil" admonition.

Air Ministry . · « **Reply #14 on:** November 18, 2020, 09:12:33 PM »

The late wobbly Tornados were polyethelene .

Were ancient hard white nylon , plenty about .

The boiling delema, parently its the MOISTURE CONTENT . So I threw some props in a plastic bag , and sprayed em with ARMOURALL . Leftem for a week . seems effective .

Some yellow Tornados snp if you belt them , on a Diesel . Some ont , so maybe the armourall works .

The Top Flites wernt a bad prop. But decjked twenty times in combat , they got a bit bent and'd break .
When the rossis & X 15s came out , on a hot day , theyed stretch &b shread , at 20.000 + .

But a unbutchered one at 16.000 or less is a good prop. Same planform as that era timber T/Fs .

Same as yellowe Tornados are like the old wood plasticotes .

John Park · « **Reply #15 on:** November 19, 2020, 05:50:57 AM »

The only nylon props I'd trust are the translucent white ones we used to get in England under the KeilKraft Trade Mark. They were very flexible, and the ones I've still got remain so (unlike a Tornado yellow 9x4, which snapped like a carrot when I flexed it). I've never known one to fail in any way, and I still use them on .049s and small diesels up to 1.5cc for fun flying: but they flex so much that I'm sure they must be horribly inefficient.

Dick Tyndall · « **Reply #16 on:** November 23, 2020, 02:13:42 PM »

Back in the early-mid '60's we used the yellow Tornado 9 X 7 nylon props on our 35's for Fast Combat. Use to boil them and throw in some red RIT dye. Don't remember breaking any but they would bend in a hard crash. In the early '80's I was using Top Flite nylon 5 1/4 X 4 props on my Cox reed valve engines flying 1/2 A Scale Racers. About this time the Top Flite nylon props started coming with black markings instead of the earlier red markings. With the RPM'S we were turning the props with the black markings were stretching the blades at the hub. The props with the red markings would not do this. I called Top Flite one day ( I believe I talked with Scott Christensen ) and told him what was going on. When I told him the RPM'S we were turning he freaked out! Obviously they changed the material that they made the props with. Long story short I found a stash of the older props and managed a second place finish to Vic Garner in Mouse 1 at the 1983 Nats with the Scale racer.

Dick Tyndall

ray copeland · « **Reply #17 on:** November 24, 2020, 05:57:17 PM »

I found a couple at a swap meet that are still flexible, work great on my fox 35 Bi- Slob.

Mike Greb · « **Reply #18 on:** November 24, 2020, 06:09:23 PM »

Every once and a while at our field a couple of old men will come out with an old airplane with a white top flite 10x6. Invariably they will bounce on takeoff and shatter the prop into hundreds of pieces.

Myron Firmin · « **Reply #19 on:** November 25, 2020, 01:05:11 PM »

I have heard of boiling the props but never understood the reason for it.

john e. holliday · « **Reply #20 on:** November 25, 2020, 01:39:41 PM »

As old as these props are I would not use them even after boiling them.

Scott Richlen · « **Reply #21 on:** November 27, 2020, 04:50:42 PM »

When we were kids we used to use them on our Cox 049s and they had razor-sharp trailing edges. We were too dumb to use chicken-sticks (and, of course, wouldn't have used them even if available back then because then we'd be .... like .... chicken!) so always came back from our flying sessions with broken airplanes and bloody fingers.

Fredvon4 · « **Reply #22 on:** November 28, 2020, 11:02:48 AM »

I would like to find 5 ~ 10 small 5 x ?? White TF props for my Cox custom engines collection displays

Also the small 5 x ?? Black with white lettering Tornado props

Dick Tyndall · « **Reply #23 on:** November 28, 2020, 06:49:19 PM »

Fred,
I have a bunch of Tornado nylon props ( white with the black lettering ). I have 5 X 3's and 5 X 4's. Send me a PM with your address and I'll work with you on any payment.

Dick Tyndall

Dick Tyndall · « **Reply #24 on:** December 01, 2020, 06:18:13 PM »

I have new Tornado props in the bag. You pay postage for 6 FREE props. Guess you're not interested.......

Dick Tyndall

Peter Grabenstein · « **Reply #25 on:** December 02, 2020, 06:17:41 AM »

Quote from: Scott Richlen on November 27, 2020, 04:50:42 PM

When we were kids we used to use them on our Cox 049s and they had razor-sharp trailing edges. We were too dumb to use chicken-sticks (and, of course, wouldn't have used them even if available back then because then we'd be .... like .... chicken!) so always came back from our flying sessions with broken airplanes and bloody fingers.

bloody fingers from (Diesel) engines was a common sign for a tough modeller .
It was a shame to use chicken sticks or others like rubber finger.
What a shame.....puss. .
If it´s too strong,.......you are too weak.
Practice.

Peter

Fredvon4 · « **Reply #26 on:** December 02, 2020, 11:42:56 AM »

Dick...still very interested..Just in Hospital for Gall bladder and apendix surgery...too drugged up most days to try and follow my forums ona dinky cell phone screen

Do you do PayPal? if not I prefer snail mail personal check to you...this time of year I wont ask wife to stand in a 2 hour long line for a postal MO.

Name a fair price and assume about 5 to 8 bucks for shipping...

GallopingGhostler · « **Reply #27 on:** December 02, 2020, 08:53:01 PM »

Quote from: Myron Firmin on November 25, 2020, 01:05:11 PM

I have heard of boiling the props but never understood the reason for it.

The nylon used in the old Top Flite props naturally have water content. One boiled them to restore the water. However, in the late 1980's, early 1990's when they were still being sold, came with a gummed paper label attached to them explaining the boiling method to keep them pliable.

Problem with them was if old, can't tell you what age is old, I guess 10 years old or more, the oils in the plastic dry out and they become brittle. No boiling with help that, they should be tossed.

I never used anything larger than 7 inch diameter, (yellow Tornadoes on sport cross scavenge .10 engine), so can't advise on larger ones used on .15's and up. Flew mostly Cox .049 reed valves and some .020 Pee Wee's 40 - 50 years ago. Then, reason why I bought the T/F white nylons was price. I could buy a 5.25x3 to 6x4 for around $0.35 each. (Best price was the military exchanges and hobby shops.) The Cox competition props were over a dollar. That was a lot more money back then. Even though those the T/F's were notoriously out of balance, I'd sand the back side of the heavier blade to bring into balance. The sport reed valve RPM's aren't as aggressive as Tee Dee's, so probably explains why never had problems with the T/F.

Plus, the T/F's could stand a reasonable amount of punishment, whereas the Cox hard gray were one shot, because I flew over grass. Something as simple as a nose over on landing would break the prop.

I heard for the half-A's, some are experimenting with the more sturdy Chinese electric Bull Nose props for quad small drones. One may want to research in Cox Engine Forums and half-A sections of RCG and RCU for what and where. YMMV (your mileage may vary).

Dick Tyndall · « **Reply #28 on:** December 03, 2020, 10:33:33 AM »

Quote from: Fredvon4 on December 02, 2020, 11:42:56 AM

Dick...still very interested..Just in Hospital for Gall bladder and apendix surgery...too drugged up most days to try and follow my forums ona dinky cell phone screen

Do you do PayPal? if not I prefer snail mail personal check to you...this time of year I wont ask wife to stand in a 2 hour long line for a postal MO.

Name a fair price and assume about 5 to 8 bucks for shipping...

Fred,
Only found 3 new Tornado 5 X 4 nylon props. I mailed them this morning. Look for them Monday. You can't beat the price ( free ). Hope you are feeling better from your surgeries.

Dick Tyndall

Larry Renger · « **Reply #29 on:** December 03, 2020, 05:11:41 PM »

The last one I used flew apart as soon as the engine started.Be afraid, be very afraid!

Similarly the latest run of Cox black nylon props are suspect. If you have one flex it and look for surface cracking especially on the back side.

Back when at Cox, we specified virgin 6-6 NYLON, and our guys knew how to run mold machines. Heaven only knows who and what is producing the latest ones. Sorry Bernie. Safety uber allies!