How much leeway do I have putting engines on Rotors?

[stephensmat]

I'm playing around with the idea of a 'mothership' that can land. Duna and Eve both have low-gravity moons that I can harvest for refuelling, but the amount of fuel I would get for ore in a lander means it could be easier to land the whole thing than carry ore up to the ship.

My problem is, how to get a ship that size that can control decent-ascent vertically?

So far, my (untested) idea is to put the engines on a rotor and work it like a Harrier Jump Jet. I just don't know if I can still run them if they rotate. Do I need a fuel line somehow? Is there a range on how far they can turn before they get cut off from the fuel tank?

[jimmymcgoochie]

Gilly’s gravity is so weak, anything can land on it. Ike is one of the smaller moons and while it has more gravity than Gilly, it’s still not much. Put some landing legs on the back of your mothership, surrounding the engines but positioned so they deploy further and you don’t bonk the engines on the ground.

Alternatively, use some small vernier thrusters (e.g. Twitch) for the last stretch of landing if you want to do a belly landing design, the high gimbal will help to control a large vessel and you can tuck the mining gubbins inside a cargo bay. Upward-facing probe core recommended to make landings easier.

[swjr-swis]

6 hours ago, stephensmat said:

I just don't know if I can still run them if they rotate. Do I need a fuel line somehow? Is there a range on how far they can turn before they get cut off from the fuel tank?

@jimmymcgoochie already offered alternative suggestions, worth noting.

to still answer your questions directly:

• Yes, engines attached to rotors will keep running when or after rotating.
• No, no fuel line is needed - as long as a part doesn't explicitly mention 'no fuel crossfeed', KSP considers all parts to include invisible internal fuel conducts.
• Fuel lines stretch pretty far, usually more than is practical. They also don't care about stuff being in the way.