Propellors

• Propellers are the essential component of any drone as they determine the
aircraft's power, smoothness and responsiveness.
• These specialised airfoils attach to the motor hub and come in
various shapes, sizes, and blade counts.
• Understanding the basics of propellers is crucial for optimising
the performance of your quadcopter.
Propellors -
Directions
• Propellers are designed to spin in either a clockwise
(CW) or counter-clockwise (CCW) direction.
• In a quadcopter, two motors spin CW and the other two
spin CCW, so it’s essential to match the propellers to the
motors based on their intended direction of rotation.
• On a multi-rotor, the off-centre placement of the
propellers produces both thrust and rotation around the
centre of the drone.
• To counteract this rotation, it’s necessary to use two CW
and two CCW props.
Propellors -
Directions
• To generate downward thrust for the
drone to take off, the propellers should
spin in a way that allows the leading edge
to cut through the air first, with the air
then escaping through the trailing edge.
• You can easily determine the direction of
a prop by identifying its leading edge,
which is often labelled as either CW or
CCW on the blade.
Propellors - Size
• Propeller size is given in imperial inches (1ʺ = 2.54 cm)
• When describing propellers, there are two types of formats:
LxPxB
LLPP x B
• L – length, P – pitch, B – number of blades:
• For example, 6×4.5×2 (also known as 6045×2) propellers are 6-inch-long 2-blade
propellers with a pitch of 4.5 inches.
• Another example is 5x4x3 (also known as 5040×3), a 3-blade 5ʺ propeller with a
pitch of 4 inches.
Propellors - Pitch
• Propeller Pitch refers to the distance a propeller travels during one revolution,
measured in inches. Essentially, it’s how far the propeller would move forward if
it were moving through a solid medium instead of air.
• A propeller with a higher pitch moves more air with each revolution, which can
create more thrust when the aircraft is travelling at high speeds. However, it
also means that the propeller generates less thrust when the aircraft is not
moving.
• A higher-pitch propeller can also create turbulence and prop wash, affecting the
aircraft's performance. It also spins slower, which can make the aircraft less
responsive. On the other hand, a lower-pitch propeller is more responsive and
can spin up and down faster, making it better for manoeuvrability.
Propellors - Pitch
Propellors -
Length
• The length of a propeller refers to the size of the disc it creates when it spins (or
the distance from one tip of a two-blade prop to the other).
• Propellers generate thrust by spinning and moving air. The faster the propeller
spins, the more air it can move, which generates more thrust.
• When the propeller pitch and blade count are the same, a longer propeller can
generate more thrust because it increases the surface area.
• This means you can accelerate faster but also require more power from the same
motor.
• However, longer propellers don’t necessarily mean faster flight – pitch is a more
important factor.
• Shorter propellers can spin up and slow down faster due to lower drag
and momentum, which makes the drone more agile and responsive.
Propellors -
Blades
• Adding blades increases the surface area and hence creates more thrust.
• This is similar to making the propeller longer, except you can fit it in a smaller disk
area.
• Increasing blade count improves grip in the air, but it also makes it less efficient
and puts more strain on the motor.
• Both two and three-blade propellers are popular for racing and freestyle flying.
• Most pilots prefer three-blade propellers as they strike a great balance between
efficiency and power; they provide more grip in the air due to the extra surface
area compared to two-blade propellers.
• On the other hand, two-blade is more efficient as it creates less drag and draws
less current, hence great for long-range flying.
Propellors -
Blades
Propellors -
Weight
• When it comes to propellers, weight is an important factor to consider.
• In general, lighter propellers tend to perform better.
• Heavier propellers have more mass on each blade and require a more powerful motor to
spin them. This can lead to higher torque loading, making the motor work harder and
possibly decreasing overall performance.
• Lighter propellers have less moment of inertia and can change RPM faster, making your
drone feel more responsive. They also work better with a wider range of motors because
they require less torque to spin up.
• The weight distribution of the blades also makes a difference. Propellers with the blade’s
center of mass closer to the hub are better. However, this means the tip of the prop gets
thinner and easier to break. If the center of mass is further away from the hub, there is
more drag and the propeller is harder to speed up and slow down.
Propellors -
Thrust
• Thrust is measured in grams.
• For a drone to hover, the propeller must produce at least 1 gram of thrust for
every gram that your drone weighs.
• To perform stunts, or even just to take off or fly forward, your drone needs more
than 1 gram of thrust per gram of weight.
• Propellers produce more thrust when they spin faster and less when they spin
slower.
• The speed of the drone also affects the amount of thrust produced.
• Some props perform well when the drone is stationary but not so well during a
cruise, while others perform well at high speeds but poorly when hovering.
Propellors -
Speed
• A propeller that creates lots of thrust with a high pitch doesn’t necessarily make a
drone faster than a lower-pitch propeller that generates less thrust.
• As the propeller’s speed increases (which is measured in rotation per minute –
RPM), so does the drag, requiring more torque from the motor to turn.
• The theoretical maximum speed of an aircraft can be calculated using
the equation:
Max Speed (in inch per second) = Max RPM * Propeller's Pitch / 60

• In real life, factors such as air resistance, headwind, angle of attack, etc, can all
affect a drone’s speed.