The Magical Space Turbine!

[xeranes]

I have found an interesting way to get to low orbit... by strapping a huge number of winglets to a cylinder and rotating like mad you create a sort of 'turbine' that sucks you skyward, quite fast as well! So far my max speed is over 630 m/s 876.3m/s with only a 3 second boost to get the turbine started!

video of the phenomenon here: http://youtu.be/kBbqX_NYSHg

To use it you need to put the engine on about 75% power while the turbine warms up (hold q or e)!

Pics:

[CarolRawley]

lol we knew that we could make aerofoils, but a magical turbine? Also, the video link is incorrect or something.

Also also, maybe an upload? I couldn\'t be stuffed making one.

[xeranes]

still uploading... stupid bandwidth... When it is done you will see it in all of it\'s epicness!

[CarolRawley]

love your pic.

[xeranes]

Uploaded .craft for everyone to crash their computer with (the winglets murder your CPU, you might need to shorten the ship if it gets too slideshow-y!)

video is still about 7 mins out, 1.2GB file for some reason...

[CarolRawley]

Ummm.. The file is not working.

That reminds me of...

'Spinning up the FTL Drive, commander.'

[xeranes]

Gah! I\'m using the 13.3x release with the new C7 update. that might be the problem!

EDIT: the experimental KSP patch seems to have issues with loading .crafts from earlier versions!

EDIT2: VIDEO IS LIVE!

[Polecat Industries]

I made it to the Mun. With nothing but this ship, and no orbits. Yay free time warps, they mean direct Mun shots.

I got into orbit. It might not be the most circular, but it is an orbit nontheless. Going to attempt a landing...

[xeranes]

I made it to the Mun. With nothing but this ship, and no orbits. Yay free time warps, they mean direct Mun shots.

I got into orbit. It might not be the most circular, but it is an orbit nontheless. Going to attempt a landing...

So much win! glad you like it!!!

[SteevyT]

I\'ve been trying to build it, but it doesn\'t seem to work with stock parts.

[Tim_Barrett]

'-hmm... seems legit. Commence the testing..'

[NovaSilisko]

'-hmm... seems legit. Commence the testing..'

'That WAS the testing!'

[xeranes]

I\'ve been trying to build it, but it doesn\'t seem to work with stock parts.

That is very likely, this was built with C7 parts. Stock winglets likely don\'t have enough lift for the turbine effect to work!

[xeranes]

Updated personal best turbine-only speed: 876.3m/s!

[SteevyT]

I made some super winglets, my stock turbine now completely rips itself apart. It\'s actually really cool looking. (deflection lift 5)

[xeranes]

I made some super winglets, my stock turbine now completely rips itself apart. It\'s actually really cool looking. (deflection lift 5)

Nice, I\'ve managed to fly my original turbine 1/4 of the way around Kerbin with no fuel usage other than takeoff! An excellent option for atmospheric flight!

[Spoot Knight]

Some modifications for added speed and maneuverability.

This video however shows a little more gliding and flight rather than the straight-up launch, and a forced crash at the end.

The description links to the video on the OP.

Edit: About 13 - 14 minutes of hopping the stratosphere can get this thing across the border into the dark side of Kerbin.

[xeranes]

Awesome video! I was just experimenting with a similar design that could float upward to infinity! =P

I hope they don\'t modify the winglet code!

[Spoot Knight]

No video at the moment unless I decide to make one, but it was possible to make the turbine with Mk.2 parts of C7Flight.

Oddly enough, this model has a higher speed than the one I displayed on my own video, possibly because of the lack of ASAS.

Another modification led to the ultimate Magic Turbine.

Placing a decoupler between the engine and tanks, the turbine can hover in a small area while very slowly gaining altitude. With a lot of fighting the controls it can be forced to its side where you can spin it to another location, then slow it back down to allow it to hover again.

The engine can be decoupled then to basically free the turbine of any 'limiters,' allowing it to reach even higher speeds - while the first turbine went 850m/s, this Mk.2 turbine can reach speeds of 1,070m/s (1,180m/s while skipping the stratosphere).

As it stands the design of the Mk.2 fuselage and the canard blades lead to the loss of several canards (About five or six usually) during flight, while a high RPM is occuring. This however does not compromise the speed of the turbine.

The reason I made this Mk.2 was as a response to a new around-the-world challenge, as this turbine technically follows all the rules listed, but it\'s something I wouldn\'t use seriously.

Either way my experimenting is probably leading to a hijack, so I\'ll stop it at that.

[xeranes]

The engine can be decoupled then to basically free the turbine of any 'limiters,' allowing it to reach even higher speeds - while the first turbine went 850m/s, this Mk.2 turbine can reach speeds of 1,070m/s (1,180m/s while skipping the stratosphere).

Bah! Using an extremely small RCS based craft I got my max speed up to 1500m/s! Granted, it had no chute and once it leveled out it floated to its doom...

[Spoot Knight]

True, although in my method of testing I\'m relying on the craft\'s design and Kerbin itself entirely, without assistance from propulsion systems.

Edit:

Based on what I did with this Mk.2 variant, I tried applying this setup with the original design (No ASAS, decoupling engine) but it needed a sixth fuel tank to fit the last set of blades. There wasn\'t any change in speed though.

[comradephil]

You thought you were tough?

And now with return engine!

Unless you\'re very very careful, this design loses its engine on ascent, so tough poopoo. Also, it tends to like to explode if pushed slightly too far

[xeranes]

Nicely done! I have my own personal speed record with a craft of almost identical design, I call it the 'STARfish'! 8)