Phantom 4 Blades NOT FINISHED EFFICIENTLY

[LakeTravis]

OMG @David Cooke, Does your avatar show you hand catching? I'm going to have to add you to my list. ;-P

You can add me to that list, I hand catch virtually all the time. Actually, the ONLY time a prop bit me was ages ago when I first got my P2. I had landed in a clear(ish) area on a vacant piece of land and the ground was just uneven enough that the Phantom tipped over slightly--like an absolute moron, I grabbed for it and one of the blades whacked the crap out of a finger. You only need to have that happen ONCE to cure THAT reaction!!!

 

[LakeTravis]

Here is an interesting issue: Factory direct and third party purchased blades for Phantom 4 are not finished properly. The trailing edges are rough and have a definite "ridge" along the trailing edge on most of them . . some worse than others but you can feel it with your finger or thumb by running it over the surface in the direction of the normal airflow. I thought I was just imagining it at first but took some closeups and it's really there. . . more exaggerated on some but it's on every one I've purchased so far. This makes them less efficient, adds noise and wastes a bit battery energy. There are 8 turbulence generating surfaces like that on set of P4 blades.

So, I took some 400 sandpaper and just "brushed" them off in the direction of airflow gently along the trailing edge from root to tip. Does not take much . . go gently and feel it with the edge of your thumb after each pass. Drag in the direction of the airfoil till you cant feel it any more. It should only take 2-3 light passes. ( see comparison photos)

RESULT: quieter sound, and can't prove it but seems really quick and my fastest speed is logged as 56.38mph and before the best I saw was 47.73. Not a valid comparison really (just comparing 2 flights) . . but it does seems faster.

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I too use a Dubro prop balancer on almost all P3 Pro and P4 (getting a P4 Pro soon) and have noticed that it makes a difference (SOMETIMES) in stability and defeating jello in videos. Though I WILL say, the vast majority of DJI branded props are pretty darn consistently balanced from the box. It's after you've used and abused them for a while that it makes the most difference.