Have you lost a prop mid air?

[Howcroft22]

Seems like just about every day someone On one of these forums or one of the Mavic Facebook pages is posting that they had their Mavic fall out of the sky because it lost a prop. I’ve seen quite a few lately where it happened over water and they lost their drone. Some people are new and some people have been doing Flying for a while. I’m curious how many people on here actually have had it happen? It’s happened to me a couple times. Once right after I switch props. And the second time I had been flying for about half a battery after switching props. And when I do switch Props I always double and triple check that they are locked in place. I feel like sometimes they don’t lock in but they feel like it and they don’t move but when you start flying they can fly off. It’s pretty scary and I’m terrified to fly over water now. This is one of those things that I feel the phantom beats the Mavic in. You don’t have to worry about that with a phantom. If I had it to do over I would get a phantom four but that’s just me.

 

[mickydd]

Never had this happen, regularly fly over water. Prior to every flight I do a full check of all the usual areas to check all looks ok. It almost sounds like a faulty spring on the propellor mount.
Quite worrying the number of fails reported.

 

[BD0G]

NEVER!


I dont change props unless they need it which is only after showing damage. So this reduces the chance of them coming off in flight. Less on and off will help them stay secure. I always hover at a very low altitude after take off so that if the props were going to fly off they would do so at a low altitude.

I also have full coverage for the Mavic Pro including water dunks so I dont worry myself sick.

 

[LivinLarge]

I have lost props on earlier quads that had self tightening props. They just fell out of the sky. My Typhoon H hexcopter flies just fine without one of the props. You get a warning on the screen saying it is in 5 rotor mode, but you can bring it home and land it.

 

[joshmentele]

Seems like just about every day someone On one of these forums or one of the Mavic Facebook pages is posting that they had their Mavic fall out of the sky because it lost a prop. I’ve seen quite a few lately where it happened over water and they lost their drone. Some people are new and some people have been doing Flying for a while. I’m curious how many people on here actually have had it happen? It’s happened to me a couple times. Once right after I switch props. And the second time I had been flying for about half a battery after switching props. And when I do switch Props I always double and triple check that they are locked in place. I feel like sometimes they don’t lock in but they feel like it and they don’t move but when you start flying they can fly off. It’s pretty scary and I’m terrified to fly over water now. This is one of those things that I feel the phantom beats the Mavic in. You don’t have to worry about that with a phantom. If I had it to do over I would get a phantom four but that’s just me.

I think the props are stuck on pretty good. Someone sold me a Mavic that he obviously crashed; there were cracks and scratches all over it. Not to mention the gimbal didn't work. I managed to fix the gimbal and then the drone flew fine. I flew it 10-15 times and then I removed the props and noticed that one of the three pieces of plastic that stick out and hold the prop to the motor was broken off! I am surprised that the prop didn't fly off during flight.

 

[JustViewerFun]

Really?! Sounds like user error.

I have never lost a prop in the air. I've even had several collisions and the props still stayed on. In my worst collision, the props were completely shattered and one of the locking studs cracked, but the props were still attached. I actually had a hard time removing one of the broken props.

 

[FatherXmas]

I always do a preflight on my quads before taking off that includes a close inspection of the props. Any cracks or nicks, I replace them. So, I've never had a prop fall off during flight.

 

[Howcroft22]

Never had this happen, regularly fly over water. Prior to every flight I do a full check of all the usual areas to check all looks ok. It almost sounds like a faulty spring on the propellor mount.
Quite worrying the number of fails reported.

I think the same thing. Probably a spring. Because they always seem like they’re locked they won’t move in either direction and then all of a sudden the prop flies off during flight

 

[Howcroft22]

NEVER!


I dont change props unless they need it which is only after showing damage. So this reduces the chance of them coming off in flight. Less on and off will help them stay secure. I always hover at a very low altitude after take off so that if the props were going to fly off they would do so at a low altitude.

I also have full coverage for the Mavic Pro including water dunks so I dont worry myself sick.

I do the same thing. I try to never take my props off unless they have to be done. Last time it was because my Mavic was drifting when hovering and I had to change them. I hovered low for a while and just flew around 5 feet above the ground. And gradually went further and further away in a wide open area. I flew for a while and met battery one came off. I also noticed there was a piece of one of The locking tabs stuck inside of the motor housing. I had to gently pull it out with tweezers. I don’t know if it was a faulty prop or something else. But scary either way considering it didn’t happen when I first started flying with that prop on. It took a little while.

 

[Howcroft22]

NEVER!


I dont change props unless they need it which is only after showing damage. So this reduces the chance of them coming off in flight. Less on and off will help them stay secure. I always hover at a very low altitude after take off so that if the props were going to fly off they would do so at a low altitude.

I also have full coverage for the Mavic Pro including water dunks so I dont worry myself sick.

Also I have dji refresh. but if it falls into water and you can’t find it you’re in deep Doo Doo.

 

[Howcroft22]

I always do a preflight on my quads before taking off that includes a close inspection of the props. Any cracks or nicks, I replace them. So, I've never had a prop fall off during flight.

I do the same. And I’m not worried about a prop that is cracked. If I half of the prop snaps off midflight chances are the drone is still going to stay in the air no problem. There have been videos of people cutting half a prop off and still flying. But when you lose the whole thing it’s going down quick.

 

[TerryJ]

If your not checking and double checking your prop condition before EVERY flight you will eventually have a problem. Murphy's law #63,987, WHATEVER can happen will eventually happen. I've also seen very hard to see cracks cause failure in flight. Run a finger tip across both edges of your propellers to feel a problem that may be very hard to see. A chip or crack will cause imbalance, excessive vibration and probable failure.

 

[Howcroft22]

If your not checking and double checking your prop condition before EVERY flight you will eventually have a problem. Murphy's law #63,987, WHATEVER can happen will eventually happen. I've also seen very hard to see cracks cause failure in flight. Run a finger tip across both edges of your propellers to feel a problem that may be very hard to see. A chip or crack will cause imbalance, excessive vibration and probable failure.

That’s a good habit. But both times this happened to me they were brand new props. I have much more faith in props that I’ve been using for a while and haven’t failed me. I’d rather fly over water with cracks or chips in my props than a new pair.

 

[Just_nick]

If your not checking and double checking your prop condition before EVERY flight you will eventually have a problem. Murphy's law #63,987, WHATEVER can happen will eventually happen. I've also seen very hard to see cracks cause failure in flight. Run a finger tip across both edges of your propellers to feel a problem that may be very hard to see. A chip or crack will cause imbalance, excessive vibration and probable failure.

Exactly, it's like doing your pre-flight inspection on your private aircraft: run you fingers across the blades, check that they're tight, make sure their integrity is still sound, inspect the chassis, verify that the battery is actually secure, make sure your gimbal is free, check that the arms are secure, etc.
If you do it every single time, and it really doesn't take that long, the chances of something happening are pretty slim. And you can purchase State Farm insurance or DJI Care for the times that a freak accident occurs.

 

[Howcroft22]

Exactly, it's like doing your pre-flight inspection on your private aircraft: run you fingers across the blades, check that they're tight, make sure their integrity is still sound, inspect the chassis, verify that the battery is actually secure, make sure your gimbal is free, check that the arms are secure, etc.
If you do it every single time, and it really doesn't take that long, the chances of something happening are pretty slim. And you can purchase State Farm insurance or DJI Care for the times that a freak accident occurs.

I do all that. Before every flight

 

[JamesA]

Seems like just about every day someone On one of these forums or one of the Mavic Facebook pages is posting that they had their Mavic fall out of the sky because it lost a prop.

You don’t have to worry about that with a phantom. If I had it to do over I would get a phantom four but that’s just me.

I hear more people loose props with Phantoms than with the Mavic. Basically because most people leave the props in tact with the Mavic.
I own a Mavic and a P3P in which the case I bought for the P3P is big enough to leave them attached for the very purpose you speak of.
I guess the order of the day is for pre-flight checks.

 

[FatherXmas]

I do the same. And I’m not worried about a prop that is cracked. If I half of the prop snaps off midflight chances are the drone is still going to stay in the air no problem. There have been videos of people cutting half a prop off and still flying. But when you lose the whole thing it’s going down quick.

I agree, I've seen YouTubes of that. However, for the cost of a $10 prop, I'm too chicken to risk a $1000 quad, that's just me.

 

[Howcroft22]

I agree, I've seen YouTubes of that. However, for the cost of a $10 prop, I'm too chicken to risk a $1000 quad, that's just me.

I have a bunch of spare props. Just too scared to change them out and have something go wrong.

 

[dbyantis]

Seems like just about every day someone On one of these forums or one of the Mavic Facebook pages is posting that they had their Mavic fall out of the sky because it lost a prop. I’ve seen quite a few lately where it happened over water and they lost their drone. Some people are new and some people have been doing Flying for a while. I’m curious how many people on here actually have had it happen? It’s happened to me a couple times. Once right after I switch props. And the second time I had been flying for about half a battery after switching props. And when I do switch Props I always double and triple check that they are locked in place. I feel like sometimes they don’t lock in but they feel like it and they don’t move but when you start flying they can fly off. It’s pretty scary and I’m terrified to fly over water now. This is one of those things that I feel the phantom beats the Mavic in. You don’t have to worry about that with a phantom. If I had it to do over I would get a phantom four but that’s just me.

No prop fly offs. Obviously, props are part of any pre-flight checklist, so I check them daily.

 

[TerryJ]

Exactly, it's like doing your pre-flight inspection on your private aircraft: run you fingers across the blades, check that they're tight, make sure their integrity is still sound, inspect the chassis, verify that the battery is actually secure, make sure your gimbal is free, check that the arms are secure, etc.
If you do it every single time, and it really doesn't take that long, the chances of something happening are pretty slim. And you can purchase State Farm insurance or DJI Care for the times that a freak accident occurs.

Sounds like overkill until you remember that you have $1500+ invested in precision aerial photography equipment. I personally can't afford to be anything less than **** about checking everything from the bird to the app settings, rth, expos, etc, etc. 2 years, 2 dji drones, zero crashes to date. A few close calls but I haven't damaged a drone yet.