Manually unfold props or spin out

[lissforester]

Oh No! We get everywhere, in every nation and on every continent, UK Rednecks Rule!

Apparently twice LOL

 

[MarkusAtHome]

After reading the comments on this post, I would like to give some considerations on drone maintenance.

Working in aircraft maintenance, continuing airworthiness, and flight operations for 30+ years, I probably treat my RC model aircraft and drones a bit different then others. For some it might even seem awkward and stupid. However, from an airworthiness point of view there is no difference between a Mavic Mini or an A380. Both can fall from the sky and create damage or hurt someone on the ground or collide with obstacles / terrain (CFIT) or other aircraft. Of course, the magnitude of damage is different, but from an airworthiness standpoint there is no difference; they shall not fall from the sky because of a malfunction.

So, what should be considered to keep an aircraft airworthy? In a nutshell this simply means to follow the OEMs maintenance recommendations and airworthiness limitations. That said, whatever maintenance is done shall be adopted to the aircraft, its mission profile, and environment (dust, sand, salt water etc.). Consumer drones do not come with a lot of continuing airworthiness / maintenance instructions (if any), so a drone owner / operator should spend a little time on the subject. After seeing a Mavic 2 Pro flying around with a substantial part of a prop missing or another one with a mixed propeller configuration (1 M2P prop and 3 MP props) I am convinced there are drone pilots out there (certified or not) which have absolutely no clue of what they are doing.

To follow the credo of doing the right thing for my drone I do the following:

Preflight check, duration < 1 min: this is to ensure, that the aircraft is fit for the intended flight / mission. This includes e.g. battery charge, battery seating, propeller inspection (of course unfolded) etc. and app settings (RTH etc.).

Postflight / intermediate check, duration < 1 min: This is to ensure, that damages are discovered and can be rectified before going to the next mission location.

After last flight of the day inspection, duration 5 min: This is an enhanced / extended postflight inspection which includes a damp cloth (just water, no solvent!) to clean the propellers, rotor arms and fuselage.

Battery maintenance: After 20 charging cycles I drain the battery to 0% (not 0 Volt!) and recharge it.

One might wonder, why do I perform a post and a preflight inspection. The answer is simple. During transportation or storage, a drone can suffer damage.

Don’t forget, the RC is part of all this ?

I have been following this philosophy since I bought my first Hirobo Shuttle RC helicopter in the early 90’s and never lost an aircraft because of a malfunction; it works for me ?

Safe flying to y’all

 

[Joethedrone]

(Hope that made sense! ?)

Totally.

 

[Daithi G]

One more thing since were talking about unfolding props I never fold my arms or legs because I use a seahorse case on all three DJI drone, I should’ve made a new post or thread to let everyone know that if your avid flyer and you want to protect your precious investment for a long time as I do folding in the legs overtime common sense would let us all know that the wires that pass through those joints Will eventually Fray so if you never fold in your legs only to do a imu calibration it will last five times as long as someone that keeps folding the legs in just my thoughts to all the flyers

The Seahorse Cases look good. However I can't see a pre-made one that accommodates an Air 2s with the legs extended.
Did you have to manually design your own?

Thanks