Was expecting news of new drones by now -- what happened?

[John Locke]

Guess you've never owned an iPhone.

I prefer Android for my phone, but I do have two iPads, and those have always worked fine for me when flying with Pilot, Litchi, AutoPilot, Go and Go4. My wife has owned iPhones for years, and just bought the X. Overall she's been happy with iPhones, and she certainly hasn't had the number of severe issues with her phones as I have with DJI craft. I just smiled when she dropped $1000 on the X, and glad I have my LG-G5 (I'm fond of the replaceable battery). We'll see how she does with her new phone, she gets it tomorrow. That said, the quality consistency of Apple products are leaps and bounds ahead of DJIs, and Apple's customer support is also in a different league, so much better than DJI.

 

[Raptorman0909]

Actually there is a way, which I've already suggested to DJI. Notice the props diagonal from each other are far enough away to use larger props, hence a larger prop could lift the weight of the phantom with a slower RPM. If the right front and left rear motors were raised 3/4", this would allow an overlap of the props to allow larger 10 or 11" props (I forget the exact max size). Staggered motor heights is a way to keep the 350mm Phantom size while using larger props, slower RPM for better flight efficiency, potentially more flight time, and less noise.

View attachment 91475

Staggering the props so the tips spin above and below each other would work if the difference in height were great enough, but they would have to be enough different in height to account for differential deflection. If, in your example, the front motors were higher than the back so they cleared each other you'd have to also account for what happens when the pilot pushed the right stick full forward and the front props slow while the year ones speed up. The deflection of the front ones would decrease while the rear ones would increase. Another problem and one that would be most annoying is the prop tips will interact in a way to dramatically increase noise -- not desirable.

And, as I mentioned before, you do not need to increase the prop diameter to increase lift and slow the props. An increase in the prop cord length or pitch or both would increase lift though that increase might not result in quieter operation and may reduce flight time by increasing drag faster than lift.


Brian

 

[John Locke]

If, in your example, the front motors were higher than the back

The diagonal props would need to be staggered height-wise, adequately of course, like you explained. Front props being higher doesn't allow overlapping with the rears props, it must be a diagonal height stagger, to support longer props than the current 9" props.

More efficiency could be produced with longer props, yielding longer flights, more payload, less noise.

If you ever get a chance to listen to a Yuneec Q500 fly, it's half the noise of a Phantom, more quiet than Mavic. The Q500 flies with 11" props. They claim it was designed for quiet flight.