Propeller tips - hard or soft for EU regulations

[YRauste]

On the DJI forum, I have been involved in discussions on Mavic Air 2 and it's potential for the C1 class marking in Europe. The strongest counter-argument against it has been that the propellers of Mavic Air 2 have no soft tips, so Air 2 would not fulfill the requirement: "the UA shall be designed in such a way as to limit any injury that may be inflicted by the propeller blades". My view on this is that Air 2 is compliant because it has folding propellers.
EASA lists C-marked drones on their web pages. DJI seems to be the only manufacturer of C-marked multi-copters. The list of C-marked drones includes the following models: Mini 2 SE, Mini 3, Mini 3 Pro, Mini 4 Pro Fly More Combo, Air 3, Mavic 3 V 2.0, Mavic 3 Cine V 2.0, Mavic 3 Classic, M30 EU, M30T EU, Mavic 3{E,T,M} EU, and Matrice 350 RTK. My question is: have all these DJI drone models the so called soft propeller tips ?

 

[DJ Wes]

My view on this is that Air 2 is compliant because it has folding propellers.

If anyone thinks that folding propellers would make any difference in limiting injury, fire up your folding propeller drone then stick your finger into the spinning propellers. Let us know if your injury was limited.

 

[StevenBrodsky]

If anyone things that folding propellers would make any difference in limiting injury, fire up your folding propeller drone then stick your finger into the spinning propellers. Let us know if your injury was limited.

Try a piece of paper first. It's safer. I doubt soft tips will change the results.

 

[YRauste]

If anyone thinks that folding propellers would make any difference in limiting injury, fire up your folding propeller drone then stick your finger into the spinning propellers. Let us know if your injury was limited.

I think your experimental setup is a bit flawed here. A more appropriate setup would include two tests: one with folding propellers and the other with a corresponding fixed propellers. I think the injury of folding propellers would be limited compared to the fixed propellers (the inertia of the other blade(s) contributes to the impact energy of a fixed propeller unlike in the case of folding propeller).

My question about soft-tip propellers in the C-marked DJI drones remains unanswered.

 

[StevenBrodsky]

I think your experimental setup is a bit flawed here. A more appropriate setup would include two tests: one with folding propellers and the other with a corresponding fixed propellers. I think the injury of folding propellers would be limited compared to the fixed propellers (the inertia of the other blade(s) contributes to the impact energy of a fixed propeller unlike in the case of folding propeller).

My question about soft-tip propellers in the C-marked DJI drones remains unanswered.

Just my opinion, but I don't think soft tip props play a part in how a UAV is labelled.

 

[YRauste]

Just my opinion, but I don't think soft tip props play a part in how a UAV is labelled.

I agree with you. On the DJI forum, there were a couple people who insisted that Air 2 cannot be made compliant with EU regulations because Air 2 does not have soft tips in the propellers.