PROPELLERS WITHOUT DRONES: How far can a Mavic Pro propeller fly without the drone attached?

[BrucenYvette]

Some time ago I posted an explanation of the difference between "dumb" and "stupid". Yesterday I gave a personal demonstration of BOTH definitions.

It actual begins with WISE (wisdom). During my pre-flight inspection (very wise of me), I discovered a chip in one of my props.

I quickly removed the damaged prop and replaced it with a brand new OEM prop. (still being very wise).

Being an expert (and incredibly humble) flyer, I assumed that I'd properly installed the prop. (That was dumb!)

Then, even though the thought crossed my mind to do so, I powered up the controller and the bird without checking things over, and took off (That was STUPID!)

The bird launched and I hovered in place at about 10 feet for 15 seconds or so as is my normal pre-flight routine (back to wise).

Everything appeared clean and green, so I hit the left stick to show off a rapid climb to a friend I was trying to impress....

...and all hell broke loose! My bird climbed to about 15 feet, then went into a violent, spinning crash!

The new propeller I'd installed was GONE! I was very lucky in that the only damage to my bird was a small repair to the gimbal and a cracked from leg.

QUESTION FOR ONE OF THE "ENGINEER-TYPES" ON THIS FORUM: At 600 RPMs, how far away from the take-off point might a propeller fly without the drone connected to it? LOL!

 

[THE CYBORG]

At a guess far enough to never be seen again.

 

[old man mavic]

a lot further than the drone managed and probably down wind of where it crashed the drone i mean

 

[razoraerial]

My luck, just past my face about 15 ft at warp speed

 

[mikemoose55]

Most likely it went mostly straight up a bunch and then helicoptered off until the altitude was gone.
I have seen props come off fixed wing planes in horizontal flight and the prop just continues on the same path untill all the energy is gone. Usually the prop is never seen again.
mikemoose55

 

[MavicFT1P]

 

[BrucenYvette]

View attachment 70226

WOW!!! Really THAT far? Thanks MavicFT1P. ROFL!

 

[Simmo]

View attachment 70226

You know.... the scary part is..... @sar104 prolly understands this formula!! And, could more than likely give you GPS co-ordinates to your lost prop.....

 

[BrucenYvette]

You know.... the scary part is..... @sar104 prolly understands this formula!! And, could more than likely give you GPS co-ordinates to your lost prop.....

Son of a GUN! Y'all are GENIUSES! I checked out that formula and, sure 'nuff, GPS coordinates pointed to Amazon.com: DJI 8330 CP.PT.000578 Quick Release Folding Propellers for DJI Mavic Drone (2 Sets): Gateway

 

[sar104]

You know.... the scary part is..... @sar104 prolly understands this formula!! And, could more than likely give you GPS co-ordinates to your lost prop.....

Unfortunately the @mikemoose55 is correct - a spinning propeller has quite a lot of angular momentum and energy for its mass and can fly relatively far. The equations above are for ballistic flight, and don't apply at all in this case. That said, relatively far for something as small as a Mavic propeller is not that far. I did some tests a couple of years ago on exactly this with Phantom 4 propellers - they would continue to climb around 30 ft or so and then descend. Where they ended up obviously depended on tilt angle at release, release height and wind speed, but it was always within 50 ft or so when lost near the ground.

 

[MavicFT1P]

Son of a GUN! Y'all are GENIUSES! I checked out that formula and, sure 'nuff, GPS coordinates pointed to Amazon.com: DJI 8330 CP.PT.000578 Quick Release Folding Propellers for DJI Mavic Drone (2 Sets): Gateway

Your welcome. I made sure the Math sent you to 8330's not the gimmicky noise reducing ones

 

[Joe4flight]

Some time ago I posted an explanation of the difference between "dumb" and "stupid". Yesterday I gave a personal demonstration of BOTH definitions.

It actual begins with WISE (wisdom). During my pre-flight inspection (very wise of me), I discovered a chip in one of my props.

I quickly removed the damaged prop and replaced it with a brand new OEM prop. (still being very wise).

Being an expert (and incredibly humble) flyer, I assumed that I'd properly installed the prop. (That was dumb!)

Then, even though the thought crossed my mind to do so, I powered up the controller and the bird without checking things over, and took off (That was STUPID!)

The bird launched and I hovered in place at about 10 feet for 15 seconds or so as is my normal pre-flight routine (back to wise).

Everything appeared clean and green, so I hit the left stick to show off a rapid climb to a friend I was trying to impress....

...and all **** broke loose! My bird climbed to about 15 feet, then went into a violent, spinning crash!

The new propeller I'd installed was GONE! I was very lucky in that the only damage to my bird was a small repair to the gimbal and a cracked from leg.

QUESTION FOR ONE OF THE "ENGINEER-TYPES" ON THIS FORUM: At 600 RPMs, how far away from the take-off point might a propeller fly without the drone connected to it? LOL!

I love this forum. Nobody is too important or too busy to chime in with their expertise. After reading this post, I immediately recalled those natural propeller appendages coming off of trees in the fall. We’ve had the answer to this question (kinda) all along. ?

 

[FlyDupa]

according to my calculations and personal experience...about 35 feet off to your left!

 

[Rftechfly]

Some time ago I posted an explanation of the difference between "dumb" and "stupid". Yesterday I gave a personal demonstration of BOTH definitions.

It actual begins with WISE (wisdom). During my pre-flight inspection (very wise of me), I discovered a chip in one of my props.

I quickly removed the damaged prop and replaced it with a brand new OEM prop. (still being very wise).

Being an expert (and incredibly humble) flyer, I assumed that I'd properly installed the prop. (That was dumb!)

Then, even though the thought crossed my mind to do so, I powered up the controller and the bird without checking things over, and took off (That was STUPID!)

The bird launched and I hovered in place at about 10 feet for 15 seconds or so as is my normal pre-flight routine (back to wise).

Everything appeared clean and green, so I hit the left stick to show off a rapid climb to a friend I was trying to impress....

...and all **** broke loose! My bird climbed to about 15 feet, then went into a violent, spinning crash!

The new propeller I'd installed was GONE! I was very lucky in that the only damage to my bird was a small repair to the gimbal and a cracked from leg.

QUESTION FOR ONE OF THE "ENGINEER-TYPES" ON THIS FORUM: At 600 RPMs, how far away from the take-off point might a propeller fly without the drone connected to it? LOL!

In regards to your wise/stupid/and dumb items: it has been my experience that the fact that you were trying to impress someone was the main cause of all bad decisions.

 

[MavicMikeK]

Some wise old geezer once said:

"A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying... that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. Many times what we perceive as an error or failure is actually a gift."

 

[Thomas B]

Some wise old geezer once said:

"A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying... that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. Many times what we perceive as an error or failure is actually a gift."

So true. I also learned the hard way that checking prop attachment is an important element of preflight.every preflight

 

[Ralph thompson]

An FAA safety newsletter used to have a little sage advice to pilots “a pilot will never live long enough to learn from his/her mistakes”. Suggest u create a detailed check list and tell yourself “I will never fly without competing my checklist, no exceptions”. And another pilot adage “a good pilot never has to use his skills to get out of difficulty”.......because he never gets himself into a difficult situation

 

[Drone on]

Well, at least it's a new subject. I think

 

[MavicFT1P]

Some wise old geezer once said:

"A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying... that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. Many times what we perceive as an error or failure is actually a gift."

Quint: Gamin' fish eh? Marlin? Stingray? Bit through this piano wire? Don't you tell me my business again! Now you get up on the bridge...
Hooper: Quint, that doesn't prove a **** thing!
Quint: Well it proves one thing Mr. Hooper. It proves that you wealthy college boys don't have the education enough to admit when you're wrong.

 

[dannybgoode]

QUESTION FOR ONE OF THE "ENGINEER-TYPES" ON THIS FORUM: At 600 RPMs, how far away from the take-off point might a propeller fly without the drone connected to it? LOL!

Remember that it’s 6000 rpm not 600. The controller clearly shows the rpm # and the x10.