Sky Power GmbH, a manufacturer of 2-stroke and Wankel engines for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), has announced a partnership with Mejzlik Propeller from the Czech Republic. The two firms aim to work together to develop propellers coordinated individually to UAS engines and to customer applications.
“In past projects we were approached again and again by our customers for propeller recommendations. Since we develop complete drive units for our customers that are coordinated to the customer application, the requests on the part of the customers were understandable. Since we didn’t want to set up our own propeller development department, we looked around for a partner who had the same understanding of quality as us”, declared Karl Schudt, Managing Partner of Sky Power GmbH. “We had already worked well together in the past and were convinced of the quality of carbon fiber propellers.”
Mejzlik’s propellers are manufactured from carbon fiber and can be adapted for a variety of features, forms and designs of customer applications and according to desired outcomes. Besides the size and the pitch, the number of blades, the weight, the carbon fiber material as well as the surface can also be adapted. “The propeller must perfectly match the engine, as only this way can an efficient utilization of the entire drive unit be ensured,” explained Jan Hruška, Business Development Manager at Mejzlik Propeller.
“Our customers sometimes move sums running into millions in the air, if one counts the UAS and the payload together. Apart from this, in future flying over groups of people will become routine. Flying must therefore be absolutely safe. For this reason, the quality of the propeller must be given special attention, in order to ensure safe flying,” stressed Hruška. For this reason, various propeller tests are carried out before delivery. Balance tests, an inner structure test, an optional RPM test and a visual quality inspection are performed.
For Sky Power there was a further incentive for the cooperation. Since every engine is coordinated to the customer specifications, so-called propeller curves are required. “Very few propeller manufacturers can provide these, as the tests are complex”, stated Schudt. The velocity, the flight altitude, the rotational speed as well as the environmental conditions influence the performance of a propeller and consequently also that of the entire propulsion unit. “Based on these details and the computation models, we can calculate and develop the right propeller for every application”.
“To design an appropriate propeller, we also consider the data that we already have from the propellers previously designed and measured. Based on these measurements and our experience, we can adapt the design to your requirements and give you a basic idea, how the respective propeller behaves,” confirmed Hruška. Schudt added: “This experience is important for us, in order to provide our customers with a perfectly coordinated drive unit.”
Both companies will in future work more closely together on customer projects. “In individual projects, we will fall back on the experience of our Czech colleagues very early on, if our customers also want to adopt this approach,” stated Schudt.
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