Propellers: How damaged is too damaged?

[Pilot Adam]

Any damage isn't good. They are supposed to be balanced, as unbalanced props cause sick vibration. This makes the gyros work overtime. Best of luck to you.

 

[Crouching Leopard]

River,
Any damage beyond a cosmetic scuff that you could probably remove with an eraser is always "too damaged" in my opinion (and the FAA's). Virtually any physical damage can set up virtually unnoticeable vibrations that are still hard on the motor and arm and may affect control in a way that the software isn't designed to cope with. These aren't airplanes where the propeller only provides propulsion. On a drone, the props are everything. You could put the same system on a lawn chair and it would fly nearly as well.

A flying lawn chair! There's an idea. Actually, in the UK many years ago a company did market a hovering lawnmower (Flymow I think) that was quite successful, although haven't seen one for years.

 

[cgmaxed]

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In this video Autel rep cuts all props in half with scissors. He cuts one, flies, then cuts the next, then flies, cuts the next etc.