Sizing Propellers
Always remove your props before working on your quadcopter.
Class is in session.
Sizing your props for your drone is very specific to the size of frame and motors.You need to determine how much space your copter arms will allow without chewing up your wires or smashing your camera. Each motor height and stator diameter will allow for different sized props. Most importantly though , the size of your propellers will affect your flight characteristics, how your craft responds and accelerates in the air. To go over every size of motor and their KV variations, well let’s face it, would just be to much to type, or even read through. So our goal in this class is to help you to understand what the numbers mean that is used in defining a quadcopter’s propeller.
What do the numbers mean?
Let’s start off with the two different ways a propeller can be referred to:
- 5045×3
- 5×4.5×3
So all though these look very different, they are actually the exact same in size and pitch. They both are five inch props with a forty five degree pitch, and the third number, if present, will represent how many actual blades there are. This example has three blades or also called a “tri-blade”. Another example would be:
- 5043×2
- 5×4.3×2
This is a five inch propeller with forty three degree pitch. Hopefully by now, you are starting to get the idea behind the naming schemes. This will vary depending on manufacturer and how they decided to name their prop and which layout style they wanted to use to display the props specs. So in review, a good template to use and remember is either LxPxB or LLPPxB: Length by Pitch by Blade count or Length and Pitch by Blade count.
How do I choose what propeller I want?
The shape of the prop will decide a lot about how your quadcopter flies. The bigger the prop, the more surface area it will cover creating more thrust. Does this mean the bigger the prop the faster it’ll go? Absolutely not! Pitch and Blade count are also important in the speed and control you have on your quad. Pitch also increases the speed of your quad, and you’ll learn more about these in a future lesson. Be mindful that the bigger the prop, or the steeper the pitch, the more power it will require for each spin. That means, more amperage and it will suck the juice right out of your battery.
The Bell is about to ring and this lesson can go on for some time. But to recap: we wanted to be sure that when you see a size and pitch of a propeller you know what it means for you and how to shop for your quadcopter. It’s not always about just speed, efficiency is very important! What good is it being the fastest pilot on the track, if your oversized, high pitch props will drain your battery before the finish line?
Safe Flying & Power Loop The World!
Buy Propellers for your FPV Racing or Freestyle Drone Here