Tornado Plasticote Props

Does anyone here have experience with the old Tornado Plasticote props? I have several new ones I would like to run, but since getting hit with a shed prop blade, I'm a bit concerned. I'm not sure they would survive being run on todays engines.

"SAVE ALL THE PIECES"-Phil Brown

I have a few and they ought to be ok on old (contemporary) engines of that era. When I was a kid I used them on OK cubs with success. Just make sure they are in decent shape as you would with any prop. Steve

I have some 10-4s that I use from time to time on my Fox35 powered Zilch-X. Since they are not one-piece wood but some type of plastic coated wood compound, they will crush at the hub very easily ( as they did back in the day) I drill the center out to 3/8", fill with J.B.Weld,sand and redrill. Sounds like a lot of trouble for a 50 year old prop but they have a very good airfoil, blade shape, and are very light (well, not Sparky light but light). They are period correct and my Zilch flys really well with them.

LAST EDITED ON Jul-29-04 AT 08:13 PM (CDT)
 
When I was at Brodak this year John had a lot of them in stock on the shelf with all the other props. He didn't have any 10/6's but he had lot of other sizes. I bought all the new old stock Tornado three blades he had.
Ed

Many years ago (they were already long out of production when I was starting to fly contests in the early '60's), I was told that Plasticotes were molded/compressed of balsa and some sort of resin. I don't think they're made from chips or anything, just smashed out of a chunk of balsa soaked in resin. Neat idea. If anybody has more information, it would be interesting to hear about it. When did they stop making them, exactly how did they make them, etc. Price?

I ran a few on a ST G.15 speed model, with no problems, but when Top Flite came out with their line of speed props, that was the best prop for me, in the early to middle '60's. If you like Plasticotes, why not make a mold, and make copies from carbon, with a balsa core? Steve

>Sounds like a lot of trouble for a 50 year old prop but they
>have a very good airfoil, blade shape, and are very light
>(well, not Sparky light but light).

HMMMMM,, tell me, please, how much lighter than "very light" is "Sparky light" Would that be rather more so than some what??

Just wonderin'

LAST EDITED ON Jul-30-04 AT 03:41 PM (CDT)
 
This is for 9-4 props:

Tornado Plasticote - 7.3 grams
Zinger Wood - 11.4 g
Master Airscrew (black) - 18.6 g
APC (Gray Plastic) - 23.6 g

The only way I'd use a Plasticote would be to be "period-correct" for Old-Timer events, and even then I'd prefer one of my original Y&O props.

Actually, they might be safer on a smooth-running engine like an OS FP or LA than on a 4-2-4 "thumper". (No particular evidence to back this up). I remember Plasticotes shedding blades sometimes just from over-enthusiastic flipping.

Ron B.
F4Fguy

I ran a lot of these when I was flying speed in the early fifties.I still have a bunch of 6-9,6-10,7-9,7-10 and 9-10,9-11,and 9-13s.They were very good props ,and very stiff compared to ordinary wood props of the time,even the wood Tornados.My recollection is that they were hardwood,pressure treated with resorcinol plastic.Whatever it was it went all the way through,as you could modify them without worrying about weakening them.(At least I never had one fail).I wouldn't hesitate to run one on any engine that would be suitable for the size and pitch of that particular prop,although I might have some concern about the shelf life of the plastic.We ran them consistently at 17K to 20K RPM on Doolings and McCoys.

I have used the Plasticote props from time to time on 50s vintage motors, such as Fox and McCoy, and experienced no problems.

We used Plasticote props back in the early days of combat. A 9X7 was perfect for a Black Head Combat Special. The Johnsons seemed to run better on a 9X8. They were expensive and fragile, but I never had one fail except on impact with the ground (or another airplane).
Steve
The older I get, the better I used to fly!