The Final Information to FPV Drone Propellers: Select the Finest Props for Your Quadcopter

Propellers are the important element of any FPV drone as they decide the ability, smoothness and responsiveness of the plane. These specialised airfoils connect to the motor hub and are available a wide range of shapes, sizes, and blade counts. Understanding the fundamentals of propellers is essential for optimizing the efficiency of your quadcopter.

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Suggestions

Propellers are designed for various functions, the pitch, form and materials all play a component in efficiency and flight traits. Right here I’ll share what I believe are the most effective propellers that it’s best to get.

I’ve tried all main propeller manufacturers and located HQ props to be one of many smoothest and best to tune. They appear to be extra balanced and trigger much less vibration than others. I’ve additionally had higher luck with triblades than twinblades with regards to attaining smoothness.

Finest 5″ Props

Finest 5″ Props for Sub250

Gemfan LR5126 2-Blade

Versatile Choice with First rate Efficiency

Designed for sub250 5″ lengthy vary, nicely matched to 2004 motors. Helps each T-mount and commonplace 5mm prop nuts.

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Finest 7″ Props

Finest 3″ Props for Freestyle

Finest 3″ Props for Cinewhoops

Finest 3.5″ Props for Freestyle

Finest 3.5″ Props for Cinewhoops

What’s A Propeller?

Propellers, often known as props, are the unsung heroes of an FPV drone. They play a vital function in producing thrust that lifts the quad off the bottom and permits it to maneuver in several instructions. Nevertheless, many drone pilots typically overlook the significance of choosing the proper propellers, resulting in points resembling elevated noise, lowered flight time, and even motor failure.

On this tutorial, we offer a complete information to the various factors that have an effect on the efficiency of FPV drone propellers, together with pitch, form, and the variety of blades. Whether or not you’re a newbie or an skilled pilot, this information will provide help to perceive how to decide on the proper propellers in your quadcopter, enhancing your flying expertise. Study the whole lot you’ll want to find out about propellers and take your FPV drone flying to new heights.

Propeller Instructions

Propeller Course: CW and CCW

Propellers are designed to spin in both a clockwise (CW) or counter-clockwise (CCW) course. In a quadcopter, two motors spin CW and the opposite two spin CCW, so it’s necessary to match the propellers to the motors based mostly on their supposed course of rotation.

On an FPV drone, the off-center placement of the propellers produces each thrust and rotation across the heart of the drone. To counteract this rotation, it’s obligatory to make use of two CW and two CCW props.

When buying propellers, they normally are available pairs of CW and CCW.

To generate downward thrust for the drone to take off, the propellers ought to spin in a manner that permits the forefront to chop by way of the air first, with the air then escaping by way of the trailing edge. You may simply decide the course of a prop by figuring out its forefront, which is commonly labelled as both CW or CCW on the blade.”

Mount Propellers?

By default, Betaflight expects the motors to spin as proven within the diagram beneath. Which means that it’s best to set up the CW prop on the motors on the prime left and backside proper.

Professional tip: To make it simpler to recollect, simply be aware that each one entrance props spin into the FPV digital camera, whereas the rear props spin into the rear of the quadcopter.

There are three sorts of propeller mounting in FPV drone motors: M5 threaded shaft, T-mount, and press match.

M5 threaded shaft (5mm) is the most typical in 5″ FPV drones (and bigger rigs). The propeller is connected to a shaft with an M5 thread on the finish and screwed tight with a self-locking nut (often known as a “nylon nut”). There are sometimes spikes on the motor bell, which dig into the propeller and maintain it in place.

Within the T-Mount, the propeller is connected to a 1mm or 1.5mm thick motor shaft, secured by two M2 screws onto the highest of the motor bell. This mounting is in style in much less highly effective 2″, 3″, and 4″ FPV drones.

Press-fit (or friction match) is in style in small FPV drones resembling tiny whoops and toothpicks as a result of this mounting is extraordinarily mild weight. These drones are comparatively low-powered, so the props are unlikely to fly off even in crashes.

Propeller Dimension

The totally different propeller sizes

Propeller measurement is given in imperial inches (1″ = 2.54 cm).

When describing propellers, there are two sorts of codecs:

L – size, P – pitch, B – variety of blades:

For instance, 6×4.5×2 (often known as 6045×2) propellers are 6 inches lengthy 2-blade propeller and have a pitch of 4.5 inches. One other instance is 5x4x3 (often known as 5040×3), a 3-blade 5″ propeller with a pitch of 4 inches.

You would possibly generally see “BN” on the finish of the numbers, which suggests “Bullnose.”

You may additionally see “R” or “C” after the dimensions numbers, resembling 5x3R. “R” signifies the rotation of the propeller, which stands for “reversed.” It must be mounted on a motor that spins clockwise. “C” is the other and must be used with motors that spin counter-clockwise, however normally, the letter “C” is ignored.

A propeller is claimed to be “heavier” whenever you improve the diameter, pitch, the variety of blades, or all. It takes extra torque to spin a heavier prop than a lighter prop.

Propeller Size

The size of a propeller refers back to the measurement of the disc that it creates when it spins (or the gap from one tip of a two-blade prop to the opposite).

Propellers generate thrust by spinning and shifting air. The quicker the propeller spins, the extra air it might probably transfer, which generates extra thrust.

Do you know? FPV drones can’t fly in area as a result of there isn’t any air for propellers to maneuver.

When the propeller pitch (defined beneath) and blade depend are the identical, an extended propeller can generate extra thrust as a result of it will increase the floor space. This implies you possibly can speed up quicker, nevertheless it additionally requires extra energy from the identical motor. Nevertheless, longer propellers don’t essentially imply quicker flight – pitch is a extra necessary issue (as defined beneath). Shorter propellers can spin up and decelerate quicker as a consequence of decrease drag and momentum, which makes the drone extra agile and responsive.

Propeller Pitch

Propeller Pitch refers back to the distance a propeller travels throughout one revolution, and it’s measured in inches. Basically, it’s how far the propeller would transfer ahead if it had been shifting by way of a stable medium as an alternative of air.

A propeller with a better pitch strikes extra air with every revolution, which might create extra thrust when the plane is touring at excessive speeds. Nevertheless, it additionally implies that the propeller generates much less thrust when the plane isn’t shifting.

A better pitch propeller may also create turbulence and prop wash, which might have an effect on the efficiency of the plane. It additionally spins slower, which might make the plane much less responsive. Alternatively, a decrease pitch propeller is extra responsive and might spin up and down quicker, making it higher for manoeuvrability.

Blade Depend

Including blades will increase the floor space and therefore creates extra thrust. That is much like making the propeller longer, besides you possibly can match it in a smaller disk space. By growing blade depend improves grip within the air, nevertheless it additionally makes it much less environment friendly and places extra pressure on the motor.

For FPV drone pilots, each two and three-blade propellers are in style for racing and freestyle flying. Most pilots choose three-blade propellers as they’re an excellent stability between effectivity and energy, they supply extra grip within the air because of the further floor space in comparison with two-blade. Alternatively, two-blade is normally extra environment friendly as they creates much less drag and draw much less present, therefore nice for lengthy vary flying.

You also needs to contemplate the sound these propellers create – when there’re extra blades, it lowers the RPM at a given energy so it’s normally quieter nevertheless it additionally will depend on the design.

There are propellers with much more blades, resembling quad-blade and hex-blade propellers. Quad-blade propellers are mentioned to be nice for indoor tracks and cornering, however they’re much less environment friendly than tri-blade and spin at a decrease RPM at a given energy. Hex-blade propellers usually are not really helpful for regular flight as a consequence of its excessive inefficiency, however micro cinewhoops generally use these to enhance their energy because of the lack of area to make use of bigger propellers.

Weight

In the case of propellers, weight is a vital issue to think about. Typically, lighter propellers are likely to carry out higher. Heavier propellers have extra mass on every blade and require a extra highly effective motor to spin them. This will result in larger torque loading, making the motor work more durable and probably reducing general efficiency.

Lighter propellers have much less second of inertia and might change RPM quicker, making your drone really feel extra responsive. In addition they work higher with a wider vary of motors as a result of they require much less torque to spin up.

The load distribution of the blades additionally makes a distinction. Propellers with the blade’s heart of mass nearer to the hub are higher. Nevertheless, this implies the tip of the prop will get thinner and simpler to interrupt. If the middle of mass is additional away from the hub, there may be extra drag and the propeller is more durable to hurry up and decelerate.

What Propellers To Use on an FPV Drone

Here’s a desk that reveals which measurement propeller to make use of with totally different motors and voltages..

It’s necessary to decide on your propeller measurement first as a result of it determines the dimensions of the body you should use.

The propeller measurement you select additionally will depend on the kind of flying you need to do. The 5-inch propeller is the most well-liked as a result of it’s versatile and can be utilized for racing, freestyle, and even carrying a full-size GoPro digital camera. The 7-inch propeller is healthier for long-range flights as a result of it might probably carry a a lot bigger battery. You may study all of the totally different drone sizes on this submit, I gained’t repeat it right here.

Listed below are my suggestions for 5-inch propellers..

Thrust

Thrust is measured in grams. On your drone to hover, the propeller wants to supply not less than 1 gram of thrust for each gram that your drone weighs. To carry out stunts, and even simply to take off or fly ahead, your drone wants greater than 1 gram of thrust per gram of weight.

Propellers produce extra thrust once they spin quicker and fewer once they spin slower. The velocity of the drone additionally impacts the quantity of thrust produced. Some props carry out nicely when the drone is stationary, however not so nicely throughout a cruise, whereas others carry out nicely at excessive speeds however poorly when hovering. You desire a prop that balances these elements and might create a superb quantity of thrust at totally different speeds.

To search out the most effective prop in your drone, lookup motor thrust exams to see what prop measurement work greatest along with your motor. Understand that props carry out wildly otherwise when strapped to a thrust stand in a static setting in comparison with once they’re truly flying by way of shifting air. Props can produce 20-30% much less thrust within the air than on the bottom.

To precisely assess prop efficiency, it must be examined on the velocity your drone usually flies at. Nevertheless, few individuals have entry to wind tunnels for any such testing. So, take efficiency exams with a grain of salt as they might not be an correct illustration of real-world use.

Smoothness

Within the interest, individuals typically use the time period “smoothness” to explain the standard of a motor or propeller. It’s not one thing that may be measured quantitatively, however extra of a sense that pilots have. In my expertise, decrease pitch props are typically smoother as a result of the motor can change RPM extra simply and rapidly. This permits the drone to reply quicker to appropriate errors and reduces one thing known as “prop wash”.

Velocity

A propeller that creates a lot of thrust with excessive pitch doesn’t essentially make a drone quicker than a decrease pitch propeller that generates much less thrust. Because the propeller’s velocity will increase (which is measured in rotation per minute – RPM), so does the drag, requiring extra torque from the motor to show.

The theoretical most velocity of an plane could be calculated utilizing the equation:

Max Velocity (in inch per second) = Max RPM * Propeller's Pitch / 60

In actual life, elements resembling air resistance, head wind, and angle of assault and many others can all have an effect on a drone’s velocity.

Thrust impacts acceleration and angle of assault, whereas RPM impacts prime velocity. To realize the most effective velocity in your FPV drone, you want a stability between thrust and RPM.

Are Bigger Props Higher?

1. Responsiveness: A bigger prop means a better second of inertia, resulting in lowered responsiveness. That is notably noticeable when utilizing motors that usually drive 5-inch props just like the 2207 measurement. On these motors, a 7-inch and even 6-inch prop will probably be much less agile in responding to fast, sharp management inputs in comparison with a 5-inch prop. You will have an even bigger motors to compensate however it can add weights and requires extra highly effective battery and electronics.

2. Thrust and Effectivity: Bigger props generate extra thrust, making them extra environment friendly – they’ll carry extra weight, even with the identical motor. The elevated effectivity means you get extra thrust for a similar energy or the identical thrust at a decrease energy requirement.

3. Vibration: As you improve prop measurement, anticipate extra vibration. That is amplified by bigger, much less stiff frames.

4. Prime Velocity and Prop Wash Dealing with: Bigger props are likely to have a decrease prime velocity however higher prop wash dealing with. Nevertheless, they’re typically extra environment friendly, able to sustaining larger speeds over longer durations.

Climate and Temperature

Chilly climate poses important challenges for drones. As defined in our information “ fly FPV within the winter“, not solely does it negatively impression battery efficiency, however it might probably additionally have an effect on propellers. Relying on their materials, propellers could stiffen and turn into brittle in chilly temperatures, growing the probability of breaking upon collision.

Impression of Altitude

Altitude can drastically have an effect on air density and, consequently, the efficiency of your FPV drone. In areas of decrease air density, resembling excessive altitudes, you’ll expertise much less thrust from the identical motor RPM. This leads to the drone feeling extra sluggish and fewer highly effective, much like the impact of utilizing lower-pitch propellers. Subsequently, when flying at excessive altitudes, it’s advisable to make use of higher-pitch propellers to compensate for the lowered air density.

Edit Historical past

• 2017 – tutorial created.
• 2023 – article up to date, URL shortened, up to date product hyperlinks.
• Jun 2024 – Added suggestions for extra propeller sizes.