Prop Hangers

18 January 2024

Make the propeller shaft from a piece of string! It would be light. Use only one bearing surface: the propeller's hub or spar. Possibly a solution for tail pusher where the weight has to be light or where the propeller is a long distance away, such as the "Acme Aircraft Co (Sierradyne Inc) S-1 Sierra (Sue)".

2 bladed propeller with one common spar, the string is made into a loop, hitched to the propeller shaft, separated by a glass bead, rubbing against a plastic tube with the looped string running inside and terminated with a hitch knot so that a loop is formed to engage a S-hook which in turn is hooked to the rubber band.

To cut 2 'O' rings from soft plastic tube and tie/hitch the rubber motor to them. Then the motor can be wound and transfer to the model.

16 January 2024

How to have the blades glued at the same angle of attack?

Relying on the hub's slots or beveled edges seems too coarse.

A template to gauge against something longer is better.

A jig would be the best.

10 January 2024

Make your own propeller hangers

• plastic or metal tubing, typically on spacer
• drilled thick aluminum sheet, bent. The rear can be dove-tailed so that the shaft can be snapped in.
• rolled thin aluminum sheet tubing, with center tube removed to save weight or rolled but don't close the gap for slotting in the shaft.
• wire with two loops or one loop and rear pigtail, or two wire with 1 loop each.
• eyelets 

Make your own propellers

• 1/8" square hard balsa for thin shaft, or from harder wood and wider for hand-winding at the propeller
• paper propeller with rolled hub and balsa discs (not for hand-winding at the propeller).
• plastic tubing but hand-winding at the tubing will cause it to deform.
• blades of paper, card, plastic, foam, 1/32" balsa, 1/16" balsa (for hand winding on blades)

Minimum diameter of propeller is perhaps 4.5". The pitch/diameter ratio of rubber powered propellers is not 1:1.

If a 1/32" balsa sheet (or laminated sheet) or card is twisted, wetted and left to dry, wouldn't the blades that are cut from this sheet balsa has the same twist and be (almost) identical? No, the sheet will buckle, try using a card. So if I use balsa strips to avoid the buckling? No, that won't work either, because the center of twist means only the centre portion of the sheet is usable. If balsa or card blades are cut, stacked and twisted, that might work?