Triple blade prop for hex?

ArduCopter
1

Recently had a blow-over landing with my home built hexacopter that damaged several props. I use Master Airscrew MR 10 X 4.5 props. Back when I flew my 3DR Solo I had a set of MR tri-props that were the same size/pitch as what I use now. IIRC it seemed like the Solo flew a little quieter with the triples, but don’t know if anything else improved.

Since I need to order more spares anyway, would there be any advantage to switching to triple props? The Skydio sales rep claims they use tri-props on their X2 and X10 because the military wanted noise to be below ~110 dB, and a quieter drone is always nice to have. But the price difference seems steep if that’s the only thing I get with the change.

2

tri blade propellers are much quieter, basically the more blades you have the less pressure difference there is between the top and bottom of the blade so you get less noise, but you also lose efficiency with each blade you add.

3

Thanks. That’s what I expected. Otherwise everyone would be using tri-blades. What made me wonder is the use of them in cinewoops and other mini FPV drones. I was thinking I could trade off rotational speed for higher torque and maybe find a few more minutes of flight time.

4

If you’re using really powerful motors, then the extra blades can give you more thrust if you can’t make them any longer.

1 Like