Drone Propellers

A drone propeller is like a wing of the drone where the propellers create the airflow that lifts your drone into the air. Drone propellers come in many different shapes and sizes – they all serve the same overall purpose, but the flight characteristics of each can be dramatically different. When the propeller rotates it creates a low air pressure underneath it, resulting in the lifting of the drone. The angle of the propellers is such that they drive the air downward.

The basic concept of a fixed blade propeller is that the faster the motor runs, the faster your propeller spins and more lift is created. Basically, more power = more speed.

Size of the Propeller

Size is one of the first things to consider when looking for a propeller for your drone. Propeller size is directly linked to thrust, responsiveness, and the amount of ‘grip’ the multirotor will have in the air. When you have a drone propeller with a small size then it is much easier to control the overall speed of your device during flights as it reacts faster to the inputs and requires less power to change their speed. This facility is not available with larger propellers.

A larger propeller sweeps through more air and therefore takes more energy to get spinning and will respond slower to inputs from the motors and consume more power. But the benefits of a larger propeller are increased thrust, and because it is working over a larger area, it will have a better ‘hold/grip’ in the air and more authority when making direction changes. Also, they take a longer time to fall which can be frustrating at times when you want to instantly change the altitude of your drone or get under any branch or shelter.

Thus the important thing is that the size of the propeller must match with the rest of the components of your drone. For example, putting 3” props on a motor designed for 5” propellers will result in extremely high RPM and power draw and will create very little thrust. Likewise, putting large props on a small motor will likely be too much for the motor to spin, this will create very little thrust, lots of heat and excessive current draw. Extreme mismatches can damage motors and ESCs.

In case you want to fly your drones with an additional payload like a camera or a gimbal then it is advisable to buy a larger prop with a slower turning motor unit.

Drone Propeller Pitch

Pitch can be defined as the total distance traveled by your drone with a single rotation of the propeller. For example, in case if we take 8x3value then it means the overall length is 8 whereas pitch is 3. Generally, propellers that offer lower pitches are able to produce more torque hence their motor naturally works with the lesser current. The high pitch will usually result in more overall thrust and top-end speed, but less low-end torque. A high pitch propeller will respond to inputs slowly, use more power, and will only be efficient when the multirotor is moving quickly.

Determining the pitch of the propeller for your specific application should match with the rest of your components. If you have chosen large powerful motors and plan to fly fast in large open areas then a high pitch propeller will be suitable, if you have smaller motors or are planning to use the multirotor in more confined spaces and make lots of direction changes then a lower pitch propeller will be suitable as it will be more responsive and the low-end torque will help it change direction quickly.

Number of Blades

There is no doubt to say that you add more blades to your drone then its props will naturally have more thrust and they actually become less efficient. The result is almost the same as that of installing a longer propeller. Increasing the number of blades will increase the amount of thrust and grip in the air, but it will be less responsive and increased power consumption will be seen. If you are planning to fly somewhere where you will be making lots of turns and need lots of grip in the corners, then more blades will be suitable. Fewer blades are preferable where the faster motor response is needed and thrust is not as critical.

Drone Propeller Material

The material of a propeller has a significant effect on its attributes including efficiency and sound. One aspect of prop configuration that is often overlooked is durability. If you are just beginning to get into FPV you will be crashing A LOT!

Propellers are been made in many materials like wood, fiberglass, polycarbonate, carbon fiber, etc. Most of these materials have good stiffness but Polycarbonate or PC is generally considered the best they can bend rather than break you crash your blade.

Another factor to consider is the climate that you are going to fly your drone. The properties of the propellers may change depending upon temperature. If you are flying your drone in a very cold climate you might want to use an ABS prop, as PC can become brittle and break more often. If you are flying somewhere very hot you may need to use a glass fiber reinforced propeller as both ABS and PC can become very soft and less efficient/durable.

Thus after discussing the above factors I hope you might have understood the importance of drone propellers and why a little more attention is required on the above factors while choosing a drone propeller. Thus finding a propeller is important that suits your flying needs.

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