Most drone designers choose propellers based on thrust or efficiency alone, but aerospace engineers use a very different set of metrics. In this video, Tyto Robotics explores how propeller performance is actually evaluated using dimensionless coefficients and advance ratio, and why these give a much clearer picture of real flight behavior.
Using a wind tunnel and a Flight Stand, we test two large propellers under controlled airflow to simulate real flight conditions. By analyzing thrust, efficiency, and normalized aerodynamic coefficients, we uncover how propeller size impacts performance, including in high-speed and windmilling regimes.
