Jump to content

[Stock Helicopters & Turboprops] Non DLC Will Always Be More Fun!

Azimech

By Azimech
in KSP1 The Spacecraft Exchange

 Share

Recommended Posts

Azimech

Azimech

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  On 8/3/2016 at 9:25 AM, Gman_builder said:

Very nice! Great functionality as well as performance! I am genuinely impressed!

When did you make that engine? I would have remembered you posting it here.

Expand  

It's just an evolution of the v2, first time I'm really showing it. I don't keep a personal changelog (too many projects and revisions, my SPH folder usually has 100+ craft, per save folder, per KSP install) so can't really tell you when.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Azimech

Azimech

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  On 8/3/2016 at 11:46 PM, The Optimist said:

They aren't that slow, right?

Expand  

No, but not as challenging as turboprops from an engineering point of view.

But my personal preference is there as well ... I love piston engines the most, then come jet engines/turboshafts ... can't find anything remotely exciting about electric motors. I'm a fossil :-P

Link to comment
Share on other sites
The Optimist

The Optimist

Posted
Posted
  On 8/3/2016 at 11:54 PM, Azimech said:

No, but not as challenging as turboprops from an engineering point of view.

But my personal preference is there as well ... I love piston engines the most, then come jet engines/turboshafts ... can't find anything remotely exciting about electric motors. I'm a fossil :-P

Expand  

Electric engines are the way of the future, I tell you. Just look at Elon Musk and those weird Solar Impulse guys :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gman_builder

Gman_builder

Posted
Posted
  On 8/4/2016 at 1:37 AM, The Optimist said:

Electric engines are the way of the future, I tell you. Just look at Elon Musk and those weird Solar Impulse guys :P

Expand  

YA Solar Impulse 2 flew around the world but it took 18 different stops, had a max speed of 56 mph, could only fly 1000 miles,(dunno why, cause it's solar powered) and had a max altitude of only 27,000 feet.

Now compare that to a jet powered aircraft  with the same wingspan.

I.E. a Boeing 747-400ER      O_O

Max speed: 608 mph

Max range: 7,670 miles

Max altitude: 41,000 feet

Plus it would probably only take somewhere around 5 stops to circumnavigate the world.

1st generation jets still had better performance of these 2nd or whatever generation electric planes. Another downside of electric aircraft is that electric motors are very heavy, SUPER inefficient, and don't produce nearly as much thrust as a jet engine of comparable weight and size.

A electric aircraft would require solar panels covering the wings and fuselage to achieve any sort of range that could be useful. But then all those solar panels mean you need massive wings and a fuselage which increases drag and decreases speed. Which essentially cancels out all benefits of electric travel.

Solar Impulse 1 & 2 are a experiment and wont lead to any development that could make electric air travel feasible. After all it took Impulse 2 72 HOURS to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

You can say similar things about electric cars. They have lower range and speed. But obviously those two things don't matter as much in land based travel.

Emissions are also hardly relevant.

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gman_builder

Gman_builder

Posted
Posted
  On 8/4/2016 at 5:20 AM, Azimech said:

I've got an idea ... I'll build a turboprop with an ISRU and drill and try to fly around Kerbin. Optimist does the same, we'll see who gets back at KSC first :-)

Expand  

Based on the reliability of current turboprops, be it electric or LF powered. I think that is impossible. It's hard to land a turboprop once let alone 20 times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Azimech

Azimech

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
  On 8/4/2016 at 5:25 AM, Gman_builder said:

Based on the reliability of current turboprops, be it electric or LF powered. I think that is impossible. It's hard to land a turboprop once let alone 20 times.

Expand  

I don't think I'll need 20 times ... Chakora v3 almost reached the south pole on it's internal tanks the first time I tried.

Here's a first test flight. It's running the ISRU while flying converting ore to fuel. Stupid thing is: I've lost control due to electricity consumption being higher than the Juno's are delivering at the moment ... so while I was browsing the batteries went flat and I've lost control.

LjuJ8tB.png

And then suddenly I got control back because the ISRU started to overheat and shut down. Funny.

 

Edited by Azimech
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Azimech

Azimech

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  On 8/4/2016 at 8:05 AM, Gman_builder said:

huh. cool. You could just cover the wings in PV cells so it has infinite EC pretty much.

There's also a mod out there that adds a part that scoops ore from the atmosphere(dunno how that works) but I forgot what it's called. :P 

 

Expand  

Yeah but both cases would be cheating ;-)

Anyway, I've discovered the whole ISRU/drill thing to be too cumbersome, so I'm just gonna fly and drop off some tank trucks at a few spots around kerbin.

Test flying a cargo plane & tank truck right now.

cr4QJbP.png

 

jGvmKEl.png

 

PfPaJPU.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Azimech

Azimech

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  On 8/4/2016 at 8:22 AM, Gman_builder said:

@AzimechHow is having PV to power the ISRU cheating? Its not adding any mod parts.

Expand  

True, but the whole thing is about electricity vs fossil fuel. Alas, using blowers or the APU to generate electricity would do it barely, both the drill and ISRU consume huge amounts of electricity, even with an engineer on board. And it just takes a lot of time ... drilling takes days, too much when racing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gman_builder

Gman_builder

Posted
Posted
  On 8/4/2016 at 8:28 AM, Azimech said:

True, but the whole thing is about electricity vs fossil fuel. Alas, using blowers or the APU to generate electricity would do it barely, both the drill and ISRU consume huge amounts of electricity, even with an engineer on board. And it just takes a lot of time ... drilling takes days, too much when racing.

Expand  

Ya, that makes sense.

You know, instead of setting up a bunch of refueling points you could just make a plane that can fly around the world. :P

That may be a challenge but you know whatevs. I'm sure it can be done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Azimech

Azimech

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  On 8/4/2016 at 8:40 AM, Gman_builder said:

Ya, that makes sense.

You know, instead of setting up a bunch of refueling points you could just make a plane that can fly around the world. :P

That may be a challenge but you know whatevs. I'm sure it can be done.

Expand  

Should be possible but as it is now, the plane has only 260 parts and that means it can fly at real time instead of the simulation slowing down. We can't use time acceleration with turboprops. Adding more fuel means I need more power, means more Juno's running ... and they heavily tax the CPU. I use 40 Juno's for liftoff, only 20 in economy mode --> green time display.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gman_builder

Gman_builder

Posted
Posted
  On 8/4/2016 at 9:25 AM, Azimech said:

Should be possible but as it is now, the plane has only 260 parts and that means it can fly at real time instead of the simulation slowing down. We can't use time acceleration with turboprops. Adding more fuel means I need more power, means more Juno's running ... and they heavily tax the CPU. I use 40 Juno's for liftoff, only 20 in economy mode --> green time display.

Expand  

Hmm. I like this economy mode. Seems quite efficient.

I modified my Gremlin Mk3 by adding some more fuel tanks, and for whatever reason the engine cannot get over 33 rad/s. No clue why. I tried again after I restarted my computer but nothing. This crap seems to happen to me a lot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Azimech

Azimech

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  On 8/4/2016 at 9:46 AM, Gman_builder said:

Hmm. I like this economy mode. Seems quite efficient.

I modified my Gremlin Mk3 by adding some more fuel tanks, and for whatever reason the engine cannot get over 33 rad/s. No clue why. I tried again after I restarted my computer but nothing. This crap seems to happen to me a lot.

Expand  

I hope you'll figure it out, would be nice to have some more planes in the air doing long distance runs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...