Do thorough checks after any crashes!

[KiterTodd]

I had a crash a few weeks ago with my M2P. All in all it was pretty gentle. I had it on Active Track, and it flew into the upper branches of a small tree while it was rotating around me sidewise. It landed in soft snow on top of grass after tumbling through thin branches...

...one prop was missing in the snow and another was broken. I did a quick look, everything else seemed fine, so I replaced the two props and did a cautious test flight. All normal so I flew a subsequent longer flight and have had it out a few times since then.... some of them far and high flights where it would have been troublesome should I have had to recover the craft.

So, today I'm packing for a trip and decided to do an inventory, check over the Mavic, make sure all the props were good, etc. I found out that one of the props had a significant crack in it (running halfway across and then down the center). I'm not sure if I missed it on initial inspection, or it was weakened and had continued to grow. But in any case I removed the prop from the motor and two of the three tabs had broken off and fell out with it. So, that prop was held in there by luck and the darn thing could have tumbled out of the sky.

Lesson learned... if you have a crash, even if everything seems to be behaving properly. Give it a careful look and I'd recommend removing and re-installing all the props.

I know this is common practice for the old pros, and some of you may do this before every flight, but was certainly a wake up call for me, who thought I had already checked it over well.

Safe flying, everyone!

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Great tip and thanks for sharing it. When we train commercial pilots for any type of work, we have them go through a checklist (much like manned aircraft flying) each flight. Close inspection tends to help find issues like you described above and prevent in flight failures.

We are very glad to hear you found the bad prop before flying again and I am sure many pilots can benefit from your advice.

 

[Point Zero]

Yeah, extremely valid post. Good one and thanks for sharing

 

[ZooCougar]

I had one “interaction” with some branches while bringing it home one night. I kept my cool and was able to get it out of the tree without crashing.

Gimbal went limp, and every prop sustained damage. Replaced the props, recalibrated the IMU and the gimbal and everything was fine.

Not that I advocate crashing but I was glad it happened because I learned something.

 

[JohnC]

After any occurrence where the props have come into contact with a thing other than air, it’s well worth removing them all and carry out a full check.

Look for minor cracks in the trailing edge of the blade and any chips or nicks in the tip or leading edges.

Finally check the pegs on the hubs for cracks, if any are missing check the motors very carefully, it has been known for the end of the peg to remain in the motor and then jam it later.

These are the link between a successful flight and a working prop! For the cost of them, any doubt at all, change them.

 

[KiterTodd]

...Look for minor cracks in the trailing edge of the blade and any chips or nicks in the tip or leading edges.

Finally check the pegs on the hubs for cracks, if any are missing check the motors very carefully, it has been known for the end of the peg to remain in the motor and then jam it later.
''...

That is a good tip. Thank you. I noticed it was hard to get some of the broken pegs out, while others just dropped out on their own.

 

[DCGOO]

Personally, I would just replace them even if they look okay. Damage to the props can be completely invisible. They are pretty cheap.