A propeller is a spinning wing.

Cut a prop blade in half and you see the same shape as an airplane wing.

The blade is tilted a little, so as it spins it pushes air down.

Push air down → the drone goes up. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Gentle and smooth. Easy to control, kind to the battery.

More bite and speed, and more current from the battery.

Pitch is how far a prop would move forward in one turn, like a screw going into wood.

In one turn the tip travels a much longer circle than the part near the hub, so it moves much faster. Fast air needs only a small angle. Slow air needs a steep one.

That’s also why a chip at the tip shakes the whole drone: it’s the fastest part of the blade.

Every spinning prop also twists the drone the other way. So a quad has two clockwise and two counter-clockwise props. Their twists cancel out. To turn (yaw), the flight controller speeds up one pair. That's why there are two kinds of props: on our B200, A and B.

Front blades swing in, towards the camera. Betaflight default, and our B200.

Front blades swing out. Grass, dirt and gates are pushed away from the camera. Popular in racing.

Leading edge first → air goes down → thrust.

Trailing edge first → air goes the wrong way → the drone flips or won’t lift.

A prop always spins towards its leading edge: the higher, rounder edge of the blade.

Most efficient: longest flights. Lighter, looser feel.
Long range, whoops, our B200.

More grip, feels locked in through turns and propwash.
The racing and freestyle standard.

Most thrust from a small prop. Smooth, but thirsty.
Cinewhoops and ducted frames.

More blades = more grip from the same size, but each extra blade flies in the swirl of the one before it, so you pay with battery.

Tiny props press onto a smooth 1–1.5 mm shaft (friction fit, like the B200). Bigger props bolt on with a nut or screws.

Soft PC bends in a crash and survives. Stiff, glass-filled props are sharper and more precise, but snap.

Toroidal props loop each blade back into the next, so there's no sharp tip. They sound softer, but are heavier and less efficient. Nice in a park, not for racing.

On the bench or in the pits a drone can start by itself: a bump on the switch, a wrong setting, a stuck radio. Spinning props cut. So: props off, then battery.

Never on the bench, never in the pits.

Fix it, set it up, test the motors. Always without props. Props go on only at the flying area, just before you fly.

Check it every time you change a prop.

Find the leading edge: the higher, rounder edge of the blade.

It goes first, in the direction of spin.

Right letter on the right motor: A and B.

More pitch or more blades = more grip, more battery.

Loose prop on a friction-fit shaft? Replace it.