Comparison of Isolated and Installed Thrust of Propellers Used on Small Quadrotors

The performance difference between isolated and installed propellers was investigated for a small quadrotor (Mavic Air 2). Using a static testing rig and in-flight RPM measurements from a handheld tachometer, thrust losses during hover were quantified for two different propellers under various weight conditions. A thrust correction based on the propeller rotational rate was used to account for the center of gravity location. Results indicate that installed propellers produce less thrust at a given RPM compared to isolated propellers, with an observed maximum loss of approximately 0.01 in the thrust coefficient (C_T).