Is Master Airscrew worth the extra coin?

[Jagerbomb52]

Autel is Chinese. They just happen to have an American office too.

Chinese components, and assembled in China. For the most part.

Also when Maxwell Lee (Owners son) took over as the general manager from Randall Warnas how much do you think the American office is not controlled by China?

 

[BigAl07]

What's sad?
Master Airscrew make good props, but so does the maker of the drone.
The issue is whether there's any real advantage in paying for their props when the original equipment does the job perfectly well.

With a model plane, getting the right prop is important and changing props could make a significant difference.
For a drone where the flight controller handles everything, there are minimal gains to be made by tweaking propeller parameters.

^^^^^^ THIS!

I still have a plethora of different props assigned to each and every airplane I own. Changing the props could completely change the performance of the airplane in the blink of an eye. It was like changing the gear in your car/truck. Going from quick launch and lower low high speed to a sluggish launch but higher top speeds with changing a single item (and it took only seconds to do).

Now with the advent of an on board Flight Controller which monitors flight parameters and adjusts outputs to keep everything still within "Designed" parameters means you have almost no control on performance except within that narrow set of "Designed/Programmed" parameters.

Augstine I still have many Master Airscrew props but I switched over to APC for most of my high performance aircraft as they out performed MAS but at a much higher cost. I think I still have one of my "modular" 18" APC props from a large project I loved.

 

[eaglesurfing]

Bottom line is..... I like mine.

 

[Vic Moss]

Also when Maxwell Lee (Owners son) took over as the general manager from Randall Warnas how much do you think the American office is not controlled by China?

Nothing Max does is seperate from why China tells him to do.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Nothing Max does is seperate from why China tells him to do.

Yup
Daddy bought him a job. Thats all that was about.

 

[CorralesDan]

Nothing new to add. Just another vote for preferring the lower pitch which is clearly different to my old ears.

 

[Greatbonsai]

It never hurts to have an extra pair of props, so why not?

 

[spamgnome]

Its really to bad the RC community has come this. Master Airscrew props were the go to props of every modeler back in the day. They were rated as number one. If your flew RC planes you wanted those props. Now we put our trust into China props just because they are OEM props.
Pretty sad

Yes we (ok, I) do. There are I'm sure dozens of engineers at DJI and only 1 or 2 at MAS. Someone else pointed out above that if DJI thought they could do a better job, they would. I have yet to see s REAL comparison of the OEM props versus the MAS ones. I know, I know. There are dozen of YouTube videos about them, but let's remember that most of those reviewers got the MAS props for free. Do I hear the slight change in pitch? Sure. Is it significant? Heck no.

 

[Arnold LeVine]

I bought a set about a year ago. they would not fit on my P4P. I could not get anyone at MAS to answer a phone or email about the problem. I read later they were having manufacturing problems and personnel problems so I just gave up.
I guess those problems are behind them, but to me, it just isn't worth pursuing a DJI substitute, so I have stuck with OEM ever since.

 

[spamgnome]

It never hurts to have an extra pair of props, so why not?

Because DJI designed the system as a whole with the OEM props. It amazes me why people are so doubtful about an engineered system that works just fine.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Because DJI designed the system as a whole with the OEM props. It amazes me why people are so doubtful about an engineered system that works just fine.

Thats like saying your car will not run right with a different set of tires that it came with. Give me a break. DJI did not invent propellers and are not the only ones who make them.

 

[hiflyer201]

increase the pitch you drop the RPM's ...drop the RPM's you drop the noise. It's the increase of performance claims that turn me off. I plain don't believe them.

 

[spamgnome]

Thats like saying your car will not run right with a different set of tires that it came with. Give me a break. DJI did not invent propellers and are not the only ones who make them.

That's not even close to a good comparison. Car manufacturers have specs for the tires that are "acceptable" to be used with every model car. Ditto for oil and the such. Does DJI publish specs for other manufacturers' props? No. In fact, they state that the warranty could be voided if non-DJI props are used. They state it could also cause issues. Now...is that just the usual position of a manufacturer that wants to sell their stuff and not compete? Maybe. But there's no proof of that. One has to assess the risk versus reward. I see "some" risk with MAS props just due to the "I don't know what I don't know" factor, but I also see also zero benefit.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

That's not even close to a good comparison. Car manufacturers have specs for the tires that are "acceptable" to be used with every model car. Ditto for oil and the such. Does DJI publish specs for other manufacturers' props? No. In fact, they state that the warranty could be voided if non-DJI props are used. They state it could also cause issues. Now...is that just the usual position of a manufacturer that wants to sell their stuff and not compete? Maybe. But there's no proof of that. One has to assess the risk versus reward. I see "some" risk with MAS props just due to the "I don't know what I don't know" factor, but I also see also zero benefit.

Well to each their own. I'm not here to convince you one way or the other. All I can offer is my experience of flying drones since 2015. In that time I have used OEM and 3rd party props. All that time flying with hundreds and hundreds of hours on different platforms I have had only one prop break. It was a OEM prop and it snapped at the hub. So it can happen to any prop at any time.
Enjoy your flights with what ever makes you happy.
MAS have been around since 1970 later venturing out in 1980, when they manufactured their first Glass Fiber Nylon propeller. So they have been around for some time. Not your average knock off prop company that you will find in China.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

For me OEM props from a Canadian Bestbuy for a set of 4 props cost $33.98 plus tax
Buying from MAS the price for 4 props is $32.60 plus tax.

Exactly what I found here in relative $ terms.

And, remember EVERY SINGLE US HOLIDAY, MAS have always got a discount for a few days or so around the day.
Generally -20% !!
I think that's how I got them down to slightly less than 2 pairs of DJI props.

 

[Mantrain]

what I was trying to decide though if one has a surplus of OEM propellers is it then not worth it to buy MA?

 

[Mantrain]

^^^^^^ THIS!

I still have a plethora of different props assigned to each and every airplane I own. Changing the props could completely change the performance of the airplane in the blink of an eye. It was like changing the gear in your car/truck. Going from quick launch and lower low high speed to a sluggish launch but higher top speeds with changing a single item (and it took only seconds to do).

Now with the advent of an on board Flight Controller which monitors flight parameters and adjusts outputs to keep everything still within "Designed" parameters means you have almost no control on performance except within that narrow set of "Designed/Programmed" parameters.

Augstine I still have many Master Airscrew props but I switched over to APC for most of my high performance aircraft as they out performed MAS but at a much higher cost. I think I still have one of my "modular" 18" APC props from a large project I loved.

How do you get an APC prop on Mavic? Some modding required?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

what I was trying to decide though if one has a surplus of OEM propellers is it then not worth it to buy MA?

Worth it is objective.
If you have no issues with noise and people around you, the lower pitch is probably not worth the cost if you have plenty on hand.
Technically, I like flying well away from people, but there is the odd time I might be flying near a beach etc and there are probably some folk nearby.
I'd like not to annoy others, and when that isn't a worry, I just like the way my drones fire up and seem so quiet

I still have EVERY prop I got with my M1P, the OEM fly more, AND I then got probably several sets of the MPP props, which themselves on the M1 are an improvement in lower pitch noise.
All are A1 like new and I keep them as back ups.

I bought 2 sets from MAS (and 2 for my Spark) 2 - 3 years ago, I only just changed mine over after noticing the M1 set had some marks and fine grazing, definitely touched something like light foliage, but for the life of me I keep well away form things in general and don't recall anything like that on previous flight(s).

Was hard to swap out and throw a set away, but you know the old saying, props (like batteries) are the main things keeping you bird in the air, better to be safe.

 

[orionshooter]

Its really to bad the RC community has come this. Master Airscrew props were the go to props of every modeler back in the day. They were rated as number one. If your flew RC planes you wanted those props. Now we put our trust into China props just because they are OEM props.
Pretty sad

Isn’t the entire line of DJI drones made in China….including the props?

 

[BigAl07]

How do you get an APC prop on Mavic? Some modding required?

Not on a Mavic... I said on my High Performance Aircraft (specifically R/C Airplanes). I don't fool with experimenting on props on factory build aircraft that are utilizing an onboard Flight Controller..... it's almost (key word almost) futile. The Flight Controller will prevent you from seeing any significant improvement in performance.