Just a tip from a relatively new flyer. I went through my 10 slow stick props I bought with my new plane. Broke 'em mainly from bad landings.

Got stuck one day with no props and perfect conditions. So, what the heck, I decided to CA the broken 11*8 prop piece back onto its plastic hub (they ALL break in the same spot).

Took it out to fly, I figured, what the heck, what's the worst that can happen? I have a bad crash. I'll risk it.

Well it flew perfectly for 2 flights that included loops and lots of stressful climb outs. It finally broke again on an easy landing where the prop grazed the grass. They're VERY fragile on touching anything besides air while they're spinning.

So I started gluing all my old broken props and after 15 more flights I have yet to break one mid-air. Saving me lots of $$$ and shipping costs, you can't buy them locally. Also I have begun RE-gluing them and they STILL fly fine.

Gotta love those folks at GWS.

Robert Newton

I must caution you against doing this because the % of injury greatly increases. What would happen if you had a glued on prop, and your inspecting something on the plane and your radio glitches (electrics are on) and the piece that you glued flys off and sticks in your eyeball? Not a pretty sight (no pun intended)!
Saving a few $$$ isn't worth the safety factor being diminished.


Dave...

The best way I've found to avoid breaking GWS props is to not use GWS props. APC for me. It's nice to just wipe off the mud and grass stains from the tips after a nose-over.

Karl

That's a good suggestion. I'd like to try some APC props. Which ones and where do I get them for a stock slowstick?

Robert Newton

My friend tried to glue a GWS prop on this moth once. It seemed to fly ok until it broke in mid flight. I was at the controls at the time and I was luckily able to dead stick it in. I highly advise not to glue them and fly them. As posted before, you don't know when that thing might decide to let go and fly off... possibly causing injury.

Instead, concentrate on why you keep losing props. I, too had a problem with losing props. Sometimes when I land, the plane has a tendancy to try to nose over. Previously, I would still have the prop running. I would snap a prop right away!

When you come in for a landing, do you have the throttle still up? Instead, try cutting the throttle entirely just before you land.. maybe a foot or so off the ground. This way, your prop isn't spinning and it is less likely to break if it makes contact with the ground. I learned that from here and I haven't broken one since! (Although I do keep a few extras in the glove box just in case). I am now working on my landing skills to try to eliminate the chance of nosing over (I understand some up elevator as I make contact with the ground keeps the tail from wanting to go up). Thats also something to think about. Best of luck and throw those broken props out!

You know, I hadn't thought about that. I only fly in empty parks anyway so there's no danger to others. Could the prop fly off and hit me in the eye? Well, I guess it could. It would probably hurt pretty bad no matter where it hit me.

Robert


>>I must caution you against doing this because the % of injury greatly increases. What would happen if you had a glued on prop, and your inspecting something on the plane and your radio glitches (electrics are on) and the piece that you glued flys off and sticks in your eyeball? Not a pretty sight (no pun intended)!
Saving a few $$$ isn't worth the safety factor being diminished. <<

The best thing you can do for yourself is invest a nickel and make a propsaver!

took me all of 3 minutes to do this and has saved me lots of dollars and frustration in broken props. I was breaking a prop on each landing, and the last time without this I took a 15 minute drive to fly with no replacement prop, flew for about 30 seconds, brang it down and broke the prop when it nosed over!! needless to say I was slightly upset with myself for not bringing an extra prop along.

anyways heres the link to this miraculous device, someone pointed me to it a few months ago

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...&postid=153984

also if ya do a search for prop saver you will get many more results

I havent broken a prop since

Almost forgot to add... GWS makes a prop saver that some people swear by.. also another thing to look into.

I primarily broke them landing in wind. Same thing over and over. Get close to the ground just ready to land, gust of wind forced the nose up and stall right above the ground, it noses in hard and the prop breaks.

I'm MUCH better now. Rarely ever crash that way anymore. Honestly, I didn't consider the safety side of it. Probably because I haven't had one fly off nearby. It would only take once though.

Robert

Originally posted by james1787
My friend tried to glue a GWS prop on this moth once. It seemed to fly ok until it broke in mid flight. I was at the controls at the time and I was luckily able to dead stick it in. I highly advise not to glue them and fly them. As posted before, you don't know when that thing might decide to let go and fly off... possibly causing injury.

Instead, concentrate on why you keep losing props. I, too had a problem with losing props. Sometimes when I land, the plane has a tendancy to try to nose over. Previously, I would still have the prop running. I would snap a prop right away!

When you come in for a landing, do you have the throttle still up? Instead, try cutting the throttle entirely just before you land.. maybe a foot or so off the ground. This way, your prop isn't spinning and it is less likely to break if it makes contact with the ground. I learned that from here and I haven't broken one since! (Although I do keep a few extras in the glove box just in case). I am now working on my landing skills to try to eliminate the chance of nosing over (I understand some up elevator as I make contact with the ground keeps the tail from wanting to go up). Thats also something to think about. Best of luck and throw those broken props out!

I'm sorry, I have never heard of a prop saver. I looked at those pictures. How exactly would that save a prop on a hard nose-in?
I'm trying to learn this stuff as fast as I can.


Robert

Originally posted by monti
The best thing you can do for yourself is invest a nickel and make a propsaver!

took me all of 3 minutes to do this and has saved me lots of dollars and frustration in broken props. I was breaking a prop on each landing, and the last time without this I took a 15 minute drive to fly with no replacement prop, flew for about 30 seconds, brang it down and broke the prop when it nosed over!! needless to say I was slightly upset with myself for not bringing an extra prop along.

anyways heres the link to this miraculous device, someone pointed me to it a few months ago

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...&postid=153984

also if ya do a search for prop saver you will get many more results

I havent broken a prop since

APC props: I use APC slow-flyer electric props from the local hobby store. They're glass-reinforced plastic, so they're stronger than the non-reinforced GWS props.

GWS size is usually four digits, such as XXYY. XX is the diameter in inches, and YY is the pitch in tenths of an inch. For example, a GWS 1180 is 11" diameter by 8.0" pitch. APC and most other props will be noted by XX x YY, or 11 x 8.0 (not sure if APC makes that exact size, BTW). There's some thought that the exact same size APC will give more thrust and draw more current (hotter motor, less duration) due to being less flexible than the GWS.

They're also a bit more expensive, maybe $3 vs. $2, though if they survive where a GWS would break, you're money ahead. They won't mount directly to a GWS shaft, though. Prop adapters are available to fit the GWS shaft, though some have successfully used silicone fuel tubing as a bushing to center the wider APC mounting hole. I wouldn't do that though, as it could cause an unbalanced, wobbling prop that robs power.

Karl

APC..once you use an APC prop..you will never go back to GWS...

APC props take a beating and do not break..I can`t remember the last time I broke an APC prop on a landing, even with planes that do not have landing gear

Mike

As I've said a million zillion times, if you want to glue a GWS prop, do it before it breaks. Use GOOP or epoxy and make a fillet in that thin area where the prop usually breaks. That plus a prop saver should minimize the problem. You got to wonder why GWS has not fixed this problem.
hoppy

Gluing a prop back together sounds like a highly unsafe thing to do. Once you have an accident with one of these props you start to treat them with a lot more respect - in my case, perhaps even paranoia. It is amazing the damage that they can do to people, or just your house if they fall off or apart while spinning at the relatively low rpm that they usually are on a Slow Stick - leaving aside what they do when they are reving twice that on a lower gearing.

I had a 9x7 APC prop fly off of a speed 400 geared 2:1 due to a loose hex nut (I couldn't find the right size hex wrench so I used a smaller one and couldn't tighten it a lot)... not sure what rpm that is, but it's probably in the 7k range. It flew just inches past me, across the room and slammed into the ceiling and stuck there like a shuriken. It was buried about 3/4" deep in the wallboard. It all happened so fast too. And I have also seen the photos of people on here who have been hit by props.

Gluing sounds like a time bomb to me.... but I freely admit that I'm paranoid over these things after my incident.


I like APC props better, and they are certainly tougher. But in my experience they are also harder to find - especially in a wide variety of sizes. I pick up a couple every time that I make an order from Hobby Lobby online, but other than that I use GWS props from the LHS. Probably the best reason to buy an APC slowfly prop for your GWS plane, and one that I'm shocked no one has mentioned, is that they come in a more serious looking grey color rather than neon orange. Make sure you buy the slow fly ones for your slow stick and not the easier to find high rpm ones.

I think the advice about throttling down right before touchdown is the best advice though. I broke at least a dozen GWS props when I was learning, but at some point I stopped breaking them. I'm not sure what I'm doing differently, but I still nose over about every 3rd landing and the GWS props stay intact. I know that I come in under power and then just before touchdown - when the plane is 6 inches or less off the ground, I turn off the motor completely.

As you have discovered, gluing props back together isn't a great idea. Fly APC props if you can until you have a bit more experience with landing technique. The APC SF props do have a larger mounting hole, but they work on the GWS motors just fine with no modification. The GWS prop shaft comes with 2 nuts and 2 washers. Put on the first nut and bottom it against the unthreaded portion of the shaft. Next, put on the first washer. It is the same size as the recess in the back of the APC prop. Install the prop. You should be able to read the lettering on the prop from the front of the plane. Now put on the second washer followed by the second nut. Tighten everything down and the prop is nicely centered on the prop shaft. Even though I have a collection of prop adapters, I never use them on the GWS prop shaft unless I'm cutting the prop shaft for a better fit inside a cowling or some other special application. Again, assuming you have both the nuts and washers that came with the motor/gearbox the APC props will fit without adaptation. If you can't find the APC SF props locally, there are many internet sources that advertise on Ezone that can help you out.

JT