There has been a few days since I last wrote. To that, I can only say: laptop + morning coffee = less blogging and even less field testing of quad.
Today was however the first time since the resurrection that I've done some serious testing. I wanted to try out the RTL (return to launch) function that went AWOL last time I tried.
The first thing that happened today once I fired up the quad and was lifting off was that after 30 meters or so, one of the blades of the front left propeller broke off. I didn't realize this at first but what happened was that I heard a ill sounding noise as if something broke followed by a ill sounding motor engine. The quad then slowly started banking towards left and at that point, I couldn't stop it from flying further to the left. I made a controlled crash landing as I couldn't stabilize the quad. Once I located it again I quickly realized why it behaved as it did; it had close to no lifting power on the left side and therefore, I couldn't stop the motion towards left.
This is one of the 8x45 propellers I recently bought and from the breaking point it looks like it might had been delivered with a defect. I am no expert in this field but you can examine the picture for your self. Anyhow, these are cheap propellers and I guess I buy more as they may break. The positive outcome from this accident is that I now know that a failing propeller isn't an instant fatal crash but very recoverable.
I've considered buying these carbon fiber propellers instead of the plastic propellers I've been using until now but they are fairly pricy and I think I need more practice and less close calls to fund these. Carbon fiber propellers won't take any small nudges without splintering into pieces nor will the plastic once but the plastic once are six times cheaper..
