Just wanting to share my experience. Another example of why we inspect our propellers. (with pics)

[svfdfireman]

I know I'm not telling anyone anything new... But just wanting to share another example of why we inspect our props. Decent weather today so I took my Mav 2 Pro out for some test flying after updating to latest firmware last night. After my third battery I brought it back in and landed to start packing up. As I was getting ready to put my Mav2 back in my hard case I gave it another visual check. Lo and Behold I saw this...



So I get home and take off the prop for a closer look and find this also on same prop.... The broken piece was still in the motor housing and I almost wasn't able to remove it....



I have had my Mav 2 since October last year and have not had any crashes. (I just jinxed myself). So I'm still a little confused about how it broke. Maybe it was just fatigue. One thing I thought was strange about the crack on the actual prop is that it is on the trailing edge. If I had hit something (which I know I didn't unless some type of a hard shelled insect tangled with it while flying LOL!) ) seems to me the leading edge of prop would show damage. Maybe not. I don't have any idea about flight hours on this particular set of props. but they are the original ones that came with my Mav 2. I do inspect them before flying (because, as we all do, I have a fair chunk of money invested). I know there is a lot of info regarding propeller life expectancy and when we should just replace them outright regardless of damage at some point. Anyway, all new props onboard and am heading back out to fly some more.

Just wanted to share...

Fly Safe

 

[jwt873]

First thing I did after reading your post was to unfold and check the props on my M2 I've been lax in that respect. The props have 23 hrs on them. Fortunately they're still OK.

Considering the broken blade and mounting tab, it looks like you might have clipped something. Perhaps a small branch?

 

[THE CYBORG]

. If I had hit something (which I know I didn't unless some type of a hard shelled insect tangled with it while flying LOL!) )
Fly Safe

THE PROP BUSTER

 

[GregD]

Thanks for sharing the photos. I am glad your Mavis made it home safely.

 

[svfdfireman]

THE PROP BUSTER

View attachment 70746

LMAO!! That's the culprit....

Went back out with the new props onboard and all is well. I honestly learned something today. I realized that even though I inspect my props before flight, I'm not doing a complete job of inspecting. I'm only looking at the actual blades and TOP of mounting hub and I confirm they are locked in. I've never thought about inspecting the bottom of mounting hub and tabs.

Well I hope this helps someone down the road...

Cheers!?

 

[kilomikebravo]

svfd: That crack looks like a stress fracture to me but you are correct, the initial crack started at the trailing edge (where it's much thinner than the leading edge.) It's possible that the stress occurred in flight but it could also have been during handling and transport. I'd look in that direction but very glad you got her back with a crack so large. Good karma.

 

[JAW]

From the old days:

"Nuttin' a little super glue and scotch tape can't fix."

 

[djrd]

I've used the low noise props on mavic pro and noticed a very slight vibration which got me worried I though what happened to you could happen to me so now I only use the standard props.

 

[John MacAulay]

That's a little dis-concerting. Especially the prop with the broken tab. I remove my props after every flight and hopefully would catch something like that. Since I fly mostly over salt water, a broken or missing prop would be a total failure for me, DJI refresh or not. Recovery is not an option for most of my flights.

 

[FoxhallGH]

Like John above, I remove my prop's to pack my Mavic Pro into it's case for transport. I could leave the prop's on - but - I find that a) they don't get bent or stressed by the foam packing in the transport case, and b) they get 'inspected' when they are put on and taken off at the beginning and end of each flying day.

 

[Thomas B]

Like John above, I remove my prop's to pack my Mavic Pro into it's case for transport. I could leave the prop's on - but - I find that a) they don't get bent or stressed by the foam packing in the transport case, and b) they get 'inspected' when they are put on and taken off at the beginning and end of each flying day.

Me 2. Early on had a minimal prop encounter with a tree branch. Landed, changed prop, flew again... packed up and the home. On my next flying day just happened to notice that new prop did not spin freely when setting up. On close inspection found just what the OP showed... and getting that small clip out of the motor was challenging... so now props come off and get inspected before I pack up the drone, and I’m carefully inspecting any prop and it’s motor pre and post every flight.

 

[Drbobk]

From the old days:

"Nuttin' a little super glue and scotch tape can't fix."

Duct tape will fix that...

 

[Agis]

I always inspect the props prior to take off, both the blades and the hub. However, I have never inspected them between consecutive flights. Reading your post made me realise that prop inspection should be done at all times before every flight.

Thanks for sharing

 

[Heijst]

Unto now I only broke one prop, which I replaced.
But from now on I'll go with two fingers (tw sides) to feel if can discover if they are smooth over the whole blade.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[TedS]

I know I'm not telling anyone anything new... But just wanting to share another example of why we inspect our props. Decent weather today so I took my Mav 2 Pro out for some test flying after updating to latest firmware last night. After my third battery I brought it back in and landed to start packing up. As I was getting ready to put my Mav2 back in my hard case I gave it another visual check. Lo and Behold I saw this...

View attachment 70737

So I get home and take off the prop for a closer look and find this also on same prop.... The broken piece was still in the motor housing and I almost wasn't able to remove it....

View attachment 70738

I have had my Mav 2 since October last year and have not had any crashes. (I just jinxed myself). So I'm still a little confused about how it broke. Maybe it was just fatigue. One thing I thought was strange about the crack on the actual prop is that it is on the trailing edge. If I had hit something (which I know I didn't unless some type of a hard shelled insect tangled with it while flying LOL!) ) seems to me the leading edge of prop would show damage. Maybe not. I don't have any idea about flight hours on this particular set of props. but they are the original ones that came with my Mav 2. I do inspect them before flying (because, as we all do, I have a fair chunk of money invested). I know there is a lot of info regarding propeller life expectancy and when we should just replace them outright regardless of damage at some point. Anyway, all new props onboard and am heading back out to fly some more.

Just wanted to share...

Fly Safe

I recently had an encounter with some tree branches (my fault), two props were obviously damaged, the other two looked fine. However, I removed the "good" ones to inspect the tabs and both had broken tabs! The props externally looked fine, nevertheless, both had unseen broken tabs.

You're right, you cannot just look at the prop blades to inspect for damage, sometimes damage is hidden. In my case, the branch encounter resulted in damage leading to a more indepth inspection. I have not always been so thorough with inspections and could have easily missed a fatal flaw.

Lesson learned!

 

[ff22]

Heading down now to remove and inspect the props.

 

[Bigbird48]

I don't know for sure but I would think that repeated removing and putting on props would cause a lot of stress on those tabs, make them more likely to break. Just a thought .

 

[Bigbird48]

going out to fly BBL

 

[Thomas B]

I don't know for sure but I would think that repeated removing and putting on props would cause a lot of stress on those tabs, make them more likely to break. Just a thought .

But you can’t see a broken one unless you do. Also allows the spring loading part to uncoil and may help the tensioner spring last longer.

 

[twoheadlines]

Mig welding...! A definite permanent solution

I have had a policy, from day 1, to replace props on my Inspire 1 after 40 hours of flying. The M2P props have been replaced after 20 hours because of the potential for stress cracking around the pivot joints between hub and blade. Overkill! Maybe. But I'm happy to spend that small amount of money ahead of loosing an aircraft that cost me a lot of $$$ more and which could cause damage or injury to someone else if it did crash because of prop failure. I keep the older props through one service cycle as back ups and then discarded them.