Special Propellers for SOLO

david berlin · Jan 17, 2016

any place to buy special propellers for solo ? bigger than stock

Marich · Jan 17, 2016

Special for what, exactly? Stock props are just fine - you aren't going to get more flight time, speed, or distance with aftermarket props alone.

david berlin · Jan 17, 2016

I think with little bigger works better, speed and Airtime better

Maddog · Jan 17, 2016

Welcome to the forum david!

The issue of aftermarket props has been discussed in many threads here. Longer, shorter, more pitch, less pitch, 3 bladed, folding, firmer, softer, regular, mentholated, filtered, no-filter...

I don't think anything has been found that is definitively better than stock.

Try searching for "props", "propellers" and you will find lots to read about.

Changing the prop size will involve trade-offs in performance, battery life, noise, etc. Just depends what you are looking for.

david berlin · Jan 18, 2016

im sure like in hellicopters, ligther and stronger props and larger give more airtime and reduce noise

ajdelange · Jan 18, 2016

I'd be worried that lighter props with less rotational moment of inertia would result in poorer yaw control. Maybe the control laws are robust enough to compensate for this.

SteveReno · Jan 18, 2016

I would listen to @Maddog

Del · Jan 18, 2016

I would just love 3DR green propellers

Cheers

erikgraham · Jan 18, 2016

More flight time with bigger props.
Able to fly at higher altitudes with bigger props.
May strain the motors.

I used some aftermarket longer props on my Iris to allow me to fly at higher altitudes (extreme skiers in mountains). Bit of a hassle cause they aren't self tightening and need adapters.

Haven't experimented with Solo. Same basic principles should apply.

david berlin · Jan 19, 2016

erikgraham said:
More flight time with bigger props.
Able to fly at higher altitudes with bigger props.
May strain the motors.

I used some aftermarket longer props on my Iris to allow me to fly at higher altitudes (extreme skiers in mountains). Bit of a hassle cause they aren't self tightening and need adapters.

Haven't experimented with Solo. Same basic principles should apply.

where y can find larger props for solo ? 11" i wanna try

erikgraham · Jan 19, 2016

david berlin said:
where y can find larger props for solo ? 11" i wanna try

No idea, but if you find a source post back here.

Ggirf14 · Jan 23, 2016

Would be nice to have alternatives. Standard props i'M sure are great for as many application as possible but no single prop can be the best for all situations. Planning a trip to Peru with sites up to 12000 feet. My focus in the last week was on booking plane, passport etc. Will be looking next week in this. Just hate to re-discover what others already did.

rcglider · Jan 23, 2016

I've used APC props on the Solo.. You have to mod the hub a bit to get enough thread engagement. They worked quite well.

Maddog · Jan 23, 2016

Ggirf14 said:
Would be nice to have alternatives. Standard props i'M sure are great for as many application as possible but no single prop can be the best for all situations. Planning a trip to Peru with sites up to 12000 feet. My focus in the last week was on booking plane, passport etc. Will be looking next week in this. Just hate to re-discover what others already did.

I'm guessing Machu Picchu is on your list? Don't know much about high altitude performance but height above ground seems to be limited to about 1000' because of battery time to get back down.
(Post your videos please)

Somewhere here is a video from a Solo owner who flew his Solo up to about 1000' in Mexico. His battery died on the way back down when about 50' above the ground but his son did a nice hand catch to save Solo.

SkycamJoe · Jan 23, 2016

Howdy Erik,
Very interEstes in your higher altitude flying in the mountains about 10,000 ft. Have you tried it with Solo?

erikgraham said:
More flight time with bigger props.
Able to fly at higher altitudes with bigger props.
May strain the motors.

I used some aftermarket longer props on my Iris to allow me to fly at higher altitudes (extreme skiers in mountains). Bit of a hassle cause they aren't self tightening and need adapters.

Haven't experimented with Solo. Same basic principles should apply.

erikgraham · Jan 23, 2016

SkycamJoe said:
Howdy Erik,
Very interEstes in your higher altitude flying in the mountains about 10,000 ft. Have you tried it with Solo?

I have not. But the props are bigger on the Solo than the stock Iris+ I used. In fact, if memory serves, they are the same size and pitch that we used on the Iris at high altitude. So I'm optimistic that the Solo will perform well enough at 10,000 feet with the stock props. I'd really really like to know this for sure. Maybe someone here can do a hover test at 10,000 feet and report back.

If you can fit 11 inchers, that would be better - though the Solo won't be as responsive and I don't know how that would impact things like smart shots.

If you really really want to fly at high altitudes (like 17,000 feet, you have to use a custom built octocopter. I suspect it won't be long before someone tears down a Solo and uses the pixhawk2 in a DIY octo. I'm tempted to try myself, but my build skills are pretty weak (EDIT: more than "pretty" weak - extremely weak is more accurate, which is why I prefer RTFs like Solo. Repairs and mods I can handle).

The hexo+ (Hexo+ Your Self-Flying Camera - Auto Follow Gopro Drone) is getting a lot of attention from extreme skiers and boarders. They claim 17,000 feet. Haven't gotten my hand on one yet.

Ggirf14 · Jan 24, 2016

Yes erikgraham what I need is to take off from 12 000 and have sufficient spare bite in the air to cope with wind and gusts.
Amantaní - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I will be touring the fisrt two weeks Machu Picchu will be among the planned location. For the moment focussing on Amantaní, once I cover everything for this target I would plan for other site.

erikgraham · Jan 24, 2016

Ggirf14 said:
Yes erikgraham what I need is to take off from 12 000 and have sufficient spare bite in the air to cope with wind and gusts.
Amantaní - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I will be touring the fisrt two weeks Machu Picchu will be among the planned location. For the moment focussing on Amantaní, once I cover everything for this target I would plan for other site.

So are you saying you'll do some high altitude hover tests for us and report back? If so that would be super great.

Ggirf14 · Jan 24, 2016

I'm trying to avoid testing anything over there. I'm from Canada. Once I will be on this island I will not have access to anything but what I brought with me. If I can spare the time I could mesure basic performance lift data from solo and use Heliciel software to evaluate the performance diffference but I just hate to re-discover what others have learned.

Ggirf14 · Feb 6, 2016

erikgraham said:
More flight time with bigger props.
Able to fly at higher altitudes with bigger props.
May strain the motors.

If you account accuratly enough for the loss of air density and balance the load with larger prop the motors will end up with the same load. If you would keep those larger prop down near sea level air density will increse and your load on motors will increase. I'm not an engineer I would stay with the same load (don't use larger prop at low altitude).