Use your damaged props to make storage/display clubs

I have been getting a few engines from my teenage years in the '70s running, and one issue I have been running into is missing prop retention hardware and drivers. Another issue is that a few were stored with nylon props, which now have bent blades due to sitting at odd angles in a box for decades. The wooden props got broken rather than bent.

When you see aircraft engines displayed, either full-scale or model engines, they are frequently shown with a stubby prop often referred to as a "club" ...a full size prop is expensive, bulky and distracts from the engine. Yet when I see the glamour engine pictures on this forum, they are usually propless. Often such display props are made to provide enough airflow to cool the engine for demonstration runs. (like this, for example) Lacking a throttle to limit RPM, and needing the flywheel, that is probably not a good idea for our little engines, but I still think airplane engines look more business like with a prop on them. A display club is sort of like when stores display clothes on one of those white or clear mannequins with no head or arms...it sort of says "person (or prop) goes here" and leaves your mind to complete the picture.

If you trim down a ruined prop to leave an inch or so of blade on each end, they will still clear the shelf if the engine is on a display stand, and doesn't take much room in a storage box. Just the hub is enough to keep the spinner/prop screw/nut/prop-driver from getting lost, and show spinners etc. in correct location, but leaving a little blade gives leverage for tightening and loosening the hardware. Most of us have an unfortunately large number of ruined propellers so the cost is only a few minutes with a razor saw and a sanding block to round things nicely.

If you are just a collector, not a pilot (I won't tell) you can probably find more than a few broken props in the trashcan at your local RC field. Most won't be 1/2 A sized, but for this purpose it matters little. Even electric props can serve as a fine display and hardware keeper.

If you sell an engine, a stub prop keeps the hardware from getting lost or bent in shipping.