I read an article the other day stating stock props (plastic) should not be flown more than 10-12 hours. Can anyone confirm or repudiate this statement? Any data on the life of carbon fiber props?
Prop life
- Thread starter CraigD
- Start date
Hmmm, two years on my stock props. Even painted them silver in color and re-balanced them because of the paint job and they still perform as normal.
Guess someone has stock in the prop industry in that article you read.
Guess someone has stock in the prop industry in that article you read.
Thanks, Agustine. I am right at 10 hrs and my props look fine. No "warping" as the article predicts as the precursor to failure.
As long as the lock on tight you should be good to go. When I install each prop, I hold the motor and try to rotate the prop back and forth to make sure there is no play. only issue I have had with the props is banging into trees when I was hot dogging around in my yard a foot off the ground, they last a long time but will break in a heart beat.
PatR
Premium Pilot
~25 or so hours on mine but I don't do many on-off cycles. I generally leave them on. They have been just fine as long as they didn't run into something. I've only hit one tree and rubbed the bottom of a stage light. Aside from those two events, no problems.
I have not read anything on this. I plan on inspecting them every dozen or so flights. If they lock on and feel sturdy with no damage should be good to go. I plan on replacing if I inspect any damage or wear.
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PatR
Premium Pilot
Personally, if there's no need to remove them and they haven't hit anything a simple check to assure they are secure is the most invasive you'll need to be. The rest is checking for nicks and cracks, which can be done with them installed. There's very little wear possible if they are left in place. It's those that remove them after every flying day that are inducing mount and lock wear. Every time the button is pushed and the prop rotated on or off the locks rub against their counterparts and wear a little bit.
For those that don't have extremely tight storage area constraints I cannot understand the reasoning behind performing a full breakdown to stuff the H back into the foam storage shell. The booms will fold and store standing on the gear just fine with the props left in place.
For those that don't have extremely tight storage area constraints I cannot understand the reasoning behind performing a full breakdown to stuff the H back into the foam storage shell. The booms will fold and store standing on the gear just fine with the props left in place.
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