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Propeller-driven Warbird

gGATORr

By gGATORr
in KSP1 The Spacecraft Exchange

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gGATORr

gGATORr

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Hey guys/gals,

Here's a 100% stock warbird powered by a decoupled reaction wheel drive connected to a propeller.

ndkRH8Ml.png

It's not super maneuverable, and cruises at around 36 m/s. Not much else to say... Here's a video of it in action:

x

Part count: 278

Let me know what you think! Also, let me know if you'd like operating instructions. Enjoy!

GATOR

OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS

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After launching the craft:

1. Engage brakes

2. Decouple drive (spacebar)

3. It should automatically switch to the drive. If not, switch manually.

4. Set max roll trim to the left (this is done by holding mod+Q until the roll slider is all the way to the left)

5. Switch back to the actual aircraft

6. Engage SAS

7. Release brake

8. Steer manually to keep plane straight as speed increases (tailwheel should naturally lift off the runway)

9. At ~29 m/s, gradually pull up to take flight

10. Buzz the tower!

To stop the "engine", switch to the drive and either engage SAS or press mod+X.

Note: Reduce speed to below 30 m/s for landing (or the tires will pop).

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Edited by gGATORr
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SmartS=true

SmartS=true

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Posted

I would really like it if you posted the operating instructions, as well as some basic specifications (i.e. max altitude). Would you mind if I made bomber and science variants of this, and posted it on my "company" thread, if I gave you the credit for designing all the other parts of the plane?

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gGATORr

gGATORr

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The motor principle is simply awesome. Nice craft! It opens a lot of new thoughts on how to construct certain things. Thank you for sharing.

No problem! Thank YOU for the compliment! And to spark your imagination: I've used this for a couple other things besides propellers, such as rotating turrets for battleships. I made a really awesome AC-130 with an aim-able turret poking out the side that shot little decoupler-rockets using this technique, but alas, I can't find the .craft file;.; Let me know what you come up with!

How do you construct the de-coupled reaction wheel ??

2> Which aircraft is this ??

It needs five things:

On the drive, you need:

1. reaction wheels of course

2. a command module (I always just use a flat probe core of the same size as the reaction wheels I'm using)

3. a power source (the reaction wheels need power to spin. I use the nuclear generator things embedded radially at about the midpoint of the whole assembly)

4. conical adapters on each end

And on the actual craft, you need:

5. Two sets of wheels (at least three each, but more is better) attached radially at each end such that they hold the drive in place. These wheels are the most important part, as they act as bearings on which the drive turns.

Also, you need a decoupler of course to disconnect the drive from the actual craft. Once it's decoupled, the drive is it's own "craft". So then you switch to the drive, use max roll trim to make it spin (make sure SAS is not on), then switch back to your main craft.

Hope that helps!

Also, it's not meant to be a replica of any specific plane. Just a generic warbird-style aircraft.

Wow... just wow.... you are one of the few here that know how to make stock motors and hinges. How do you keep them decoupled?!

It's really not that hard to do either. Just takes a little patience. I'm assuming that by "keep them decoupled", you're talking about holding the drive in place once it's decoupled? This is accomplished by capping each end of the drive with conical adapters, and having two sets of radially attached wheels on the main craft acting as bearings for the drive to spin on. These wheels should be positioned so that they just touch the adapters at around their midpoint. These wheels also prevent the drive from moving forward or backward.

I would really like it if you posted the operating instructions, as well as some basic specifications (i.e. max altitude). Would you mind if I made bomber and science variants of this, and posted it on my "company" thread, if I gave you the credit for designing all the other parts of the plane?

No problem, I'll put operating instructions in the original post here shortly. As for the max altitude, I'll leave it up to you to find out. I have not the patience for it. I enjoy building and inventing much more than actually piloting the craft I make, so I generally test it enough to ensure that 1. it's reliable and 2. it flies well, then leave the rest up to you all, as I begin working on my next project.

And please, by all means, take this design and use it. That's the reason why I share my creations. So that they inspire others to take them and make them better and create things I would have never thought of. If you want to credit me, go ahead, I appreciate it. If not, that's fine with me too. I'm just glad you like it!

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gGATORr

gGATORr

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While it's not the first, it's certainly one of the best (if not the best) executed.

Awesome job gGATORr!

Thanks man! And yea, I was trying to remember the who it was that I first saw using the adapter end cap method... it was a good while ago

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  • 5 weeks later...
gGATORr

gGATORr

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This thing is awesome. I keep having a feeling that if you just look at it wrong the whole thing would just break apart from the way it is constructed. But it flies!

It does seem like that, doesn't it? But I guarantee you, it flies 100% perfectly 50% of the time!:P

Great plane gGATORr, stickied for February :D

Why thank you! What an honor

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  • 2 weeks later...
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