[1.7.3 Design Notes - Propellers, Rotors and EC usage]

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This all required retuning.  Further, our initial pass for rotor power gave too much torque.  Rather than reducing the available torque, we’ve increased the resource usage and weight/cost requirements for a given motor power.   Be aware that you absolutely don’t need to always keep the motor size at 100% - for many applications, a lot less torque will be more than enough.

Overall, I like the new changes, with the massive exception that resource consumption should be based on actual RPM (not maximum RPM setting), and on actual applied torque, not the maximum setting.

Flying around with both set to max drains something like 0.4 LF per second from the 1.3m turboshaft engine, making it the most fuel hungry airbreathing engine. Most of the time that figure is 10x or higher than it needs to be if a player doesn't adjust the max torque and rpm settings manually.

On the other hand, if they do... it can lead to very low power consumption, and planes that easily fly on solar power alone

[1.7 Maneuvering Engine Balance Changes]

Can we expect further balance changes in 1.8? Personally I feel that the rapier's closed cycle vacuum Isp is too low, and the atmospheric Isp is too high. The rapier closed cycle mode is basically only used in vacuum and near vacuum conditions, the rapier in airbreathing mode is optimized for high altitude flight. Closed cycle mode is so bad that people use other engines for non-airbreathing thrust. It ends up as just a more fuel hungry, heavier, slightly faster and higher flying whiplash.