Carbon Fiber or Wood prop?

[caurimare]

I was just wondering what is the advantage from one over the other for 3D flying
I Have never had a CF before and I am just curious because of the looks but of course if I do the change from wood , performance has to be the same or better.
This would be for a AM yak 30% with da-50 and currently with a menz 23/8.
I just want to know what you guys think before I invest in a cf prop.

[Matchless]

I recently went through the same question/quandry with a DA100 powered bird.

I was flying a 27-10 PT carbon prop. Unfortunately, pullout was sluggish and spool up was very poor. It spooled up more like a turbine than a Gasser. I talked with some experts, and they suggested going to a Menz wood prop. I also dropped an inch in diameter.

With the new wooden Menz 26-10, throttle response is very impressive, and I have much stronger pullout from a hover. The throttle response is strong enough now that I can 'blip' the airplane around while in high alpha. With the heavier carbon prop, I could not.....

All that being said, for IMAC type flying, the 27-10 is not nearly as loud as the 26-10 while at higher throttle settings, and pulls strongly through 'big' maneuvers.

I built my bird primarily for 3D freestyle stuff, so the wooden Menz will stay on for the time being.....

From my limited experience, I'd suggest staying with the woody.

[TheTank]

On that airplane, engine combo, the two best props I ran were a 22x8 Menz, and a 22x8 Prince P-Tip Carbon. The P-Tips are real hard to find now a days, but was by far the better performer. The Menz out performed the mejzlik and the bolly on this particular application for me.

[airriley]

In my experience with a Brisson 3.2 I did not get any noticable increase or decrease in spool up time or thrust, but downline braking was significant with a Mejzlik. Wood I've tried NX and BME. All 22x10

[sweetpea]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Matchless
	I recently went through the same question/quandry with a DA100 powered bird. I was flying a 27-10 PT carbon prop. Unfortunately, pullout was sluggish and spool up was very poor. It spooled up more like a turbine than a Gasser. I talked with some experts, and they suggested going to a Menz wood prop. I also dropped an inch in diameter. With the new wooden Menz 26-10, throttle response is very impressive, and I have much stronger pullout from a hover. The throttle response is strong enough now that I can 'blip' the airplane around while in high alpha. With the heavier carbon prop, I could not..... All that being said, for IMAC type flying, the 27-10 is not nearly as loud as the 26-10 while at higher throttle settings, and pulls strongly through 'big' maneuvers. I built my bird primarily for 3D freestyle stuff, so the wooden Menz will stay on for the time being..... From my limited experience, I'd suggest staying with the woody.

Sorry but your post makes no comparison for CF to Wood.

If you started with a 27-10 CF you CANNOT compare the spool up and speed to a 26x10 wood.
A 26x10 is going to be faster whether wood or not compared to a 27x10. I suggest trying a 27x10 3W wood prop or menz to really see the difference.

[Fudman]

Woods cheaper to replace but WE don’t ever need to replace them now do we

Go carbon if doing Imac or if you have a noise problem. Other wise IMO stay with wood.

I know that’s not really a comparison but it is a good point (at least to me)

[adrian]

well over time and many tests - 3D is wood and imac is CF - now on the DA50 i always get back to 22 x 8 bolly wood as it gives me good allround performance. lots of guys use 23 x 8 but i find response sluggish and for 3D you need spool up and good rpm. whats was interesting is that on my Chip double vision i once use a zinger 22 x 8 and was surprized at the performance as i could throw the plane around with ample power to spare - interesting?? but out of principle i have not done it again - LOL

[Matchless]

Sweetpea, I'll admit my example is not the best, as I've introduced another variable (diameter) into the system. However the laws of physics are what they are. If all other things are equal, the heavier prop will not spool up as fast as the lighter one. Fast spoolup is preferable (IMO) for good 3D performance. I don't think the differing diameter of the props totally invalidates what I posted.

I did a little math on this one too.....

26" prop - Disc area = 530.9 sqin
27" prop - Disc area = 572.5 sqin
Diff in Disc areas - 7.8% (41.6 sqin)

26" wood prop --> 6.2 ozs (these weights are estimates and data from the TBM website)
27" carbon prop --> 7.0ozs
Diff in weights --> 12.9% (.8ozs)

I am about to get my hands on a wood 27-10 prop in the next few weeks. When I get it, I'll compare the two 27dia props and see if the same difference is there (I think it will be...)

[sweetpea]

That would be nice to hear a real comparison.

Also try to weigh your props........I think the PT CF prop is very light, maybe even the same as a wood prop of the same size.

[SleepyC]

The difference between wood and CF...

When wood hits a BONE it shatters and usually will not cut through...

A CF prop will slice right through a bone...



Thats my input!

[sweetpea]

I tried that on a wood one.......that cheap prop broke and didn't even cut me.

[excelpoint]

I think for all out 3D stick with the wood props. My suggestion would be to try a Vess prop in the "A" or "B" pitch range, great spool up and quiet.