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

[Pds314]

Building a new 56-blower ~4-meter outer diameter turbine. It's annoyingly like 350 parts. but as long as I disable smoke, it should be fine. So far, a standard 8-blade prop yields like 1.2M Newtons of thrust and is stable facing horizontally or vertically and with up to ~2500 deg/s.

Gahh! Flywheel explosions are getting worse and worse. 1.4 MN and ~2400 deg/s and the entire engine housing is launched 70 meters in every direction.

Edited April 25, 2016 by Pds314

[Azimech]

10 hours ago, Pds314 said:

Building a new 56-blower ~4-meter outer diameter turbine. It's annoyingly like 350 parts. but as long as I disable smoke, it should be fine. So far, a standard 8-blade prop yields like 1.2M Newtons of thrust and is stable facing horizontally or vertically and with up to ~2500 deg/s.

Gahh! Flywheel explosions are getting worse and worse. 1.4 MN and ~2400 deg/s and the entire engine housing is launched 70 meters in every direction.

Great fun, isn't it!

[Azimech]

@erasmusguy has created a turboprop without landing wheels! Very promising design!

https://kerbalx.com/erasmusguy/TUBS-2A

This could very well be a new evolution in bearing design!

[Gman_builder]

My first stock Turboshaft aircraft. Actually performs well and has a low part count of only 306

The engine has 36 Juno blowers and only 8 blades attached to the shaft. The fuel delivery system is one Mk3 liquid fuel fuselage filled with 500 units of fuel and a direct fuel line connection to the engines. There are also 8 intakes mounted directly to the frame of the engine. It comes equipped with Azimech's variable pitch prop with six blades. The Airframe is a length of cubic octagonal struts for the fuselage and LOTS of overlapping wing pieces for maximum lift. You can download from KerbalX.com

On ‎4‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 5:15 PM, Pds314 said:

Building a new 56-blower ~4-meter outer diameter turbine. It's annoyingly like 350 parts. but as long as I disable smoke, it should be fine. So far, a standard 8-blade prop yields like 1.2M Newtons of thrust and is stable facing horizontally or vertically and with up to ~2500 deg/s.

Gahh! Flywheel explosions are getting worse and worse. 1.4 MN and ~2400 deg/s and the entire engine housing is launched 70 meters in every direction.

Will it be in a airplane or helicopter?

[Azimech]

With KSP 1.1.1 I've beaten my old record made with the Azi8 Howling Harpy, during the last days of 0.90!
That plane had a top speed of 155m/s.

KSP 1.1.1 has enabled me to improve the engine, raising it's redline speed to 38rad/s. Personally I try no to go higher than 37.5rad/s

New record at this moment in time: 165.9m/s ... 597 km/h! And ... with a damaged engine! One turbine blade decided to crash due to overrevving.

I'll try to upload the improved version tonight.

Edited April 29, 2016 by Azimech

[Redshift OTF]

Perhaps you could do a little video? I would love to see it working!

[Azimech]

10 minutes ago, Redshift OTF said:

Perhaps you could do a little video? I would love to see it working!

Good idea ... but I'd like a faster CPU first. 72 Juno's is really slowing the sim down

[Redshift OTF]

Oh I see. Yeah, 72 parts for just the thrust producing parts is ambitious! I read that 1.1.1 has improved some of the properties of fixed wheels, maybe making them stronger. That is encouraging.

[Gman_builder]

1.1.1 has more bugs right now than fixes. The small wheels have a weird problem where they revert back to their pre-1.1 texture and don't fix until you launch once. There have also been a few bugs with the editor tools in the top left and the suspension is screwed up beyond belief on all wheels.

 

Edited April 29, 2016 by Gman_builder

[Planetfall]

On February 10, 2015 at 8:19 AM, Azimech said:

My current experiment. 

~snip~

Weeeeee! 

*barff*

Weeeeee!

These craft are so amazing. They feel real rickety and steampunk, I love it!

Edited April 29, 2016 by Planetfall

[lgsolaris]

Is there any tutorials/guides on how to build these amazing engines?

[Gman_builder]

10 minutes ago, lgsolaris said:

Is there any tutorials/guides on how to build these amazing engines?

The easiest way is to download someone elses and reverse engineer it. But the essentials are, blowers, a driveshaft with fins, a prop, and a smooth bearing.

[Azimech]

New speed record, 173m/s, 623km/h!

Engine max speed increased to 43rad/s, 410 RPM!

[Planetfall]

Hmmm... I've been trying to make a terbo prop that fits into the hollow plane fuselage but the axle bangs around too much so it can't stay at top speed for more than a few seconds. It speeds up hits the fuselage, stops than speeds up again. I'm definitely getting somewhere though!

[Azimech]

34 minutes ago, Planetfall said:

Hmmm... I've been trying to make a terbo prop that fits into the hollow plane fuselage but the axle bangs around too much so it can't stay at top speed for more than a few seconds. It speeds up hits the fuselage, stops than speeds up again. I'm definitely getting somewhere though!

You're talking about the MK1 hollow structural? Yes I've been looking at it as well, primarily for a tail rotor for my helicopter (for show). The whole business with the colliders is pretty tricky. @erasmusguy is the only one with a real wheelless bearing and has some success with it. Maybe he knows the answer.

[Azimech]

I've updated Azi-11 to version 2!

https://kerbalx.com/Azimech/77I-Azi11-Curious-Chakora-v2

[Planetfall]

Well I fixed most of the collision issues but the prop just doesn't have a good enough thrust to weight ratio to power any of the planes I've built around it.  :/ 

i think I'm going to take a break from this for a bit. Making Props shire requires patience!

Edited April 30, 2016 by Planetfall

[Majorjim!]

 

On 04/26/2016 at 1:15 PM, Azimech said:

 

This could very well be a new evolution in bearing design!

Quote

@erasmusguy is the only one with a real wheelless bearing

 

I just had a look at the picture and it's shape is I think, based on/inspired by my ant engine 360 degree bearing cage shape as my first one was the only one of its kind ever posted here. And the first non wheeled 360 degree cage bearing. 

 

Edited April 30, 2016 by Majorjim

[Azimech]

3 hours ago, Majorjim said:

 

 

I just had a look at the picture and it's shape is I think, based on/inspired by my ant engine 360 degree bearing cage shape as my first one was the only one of its kind ever posted here. And the first non wheeled 360 degree cage bearing. 

 

Yes, I acknowledge you and your bearing but as you said yourself it's meant for light loads only, in this case we're talking about hundreds to thousands of kilonewtons of torque converted into thrust. I am amazed @erasmusguy actually made a plane out of it, hours of experimenting already in 0.90 left me with a bad feeling and when I got back to it a few days ago it resulted in the same so I went back to wheeled designs ... just too much friction on an already extremely inefficient concept. Once the wheel problems are solved with a new version of Unity, even my 1.25m turboshaft will get wheels.

I did get a wheelless design to run at almost 50rad/s, which is a new record. Unable to handle thrust though, Unity/KSP colliders are from a different universe ... much to my chagrin.

Edited May 1, 2016 by Azimech

[Azimech]

4 hours ago, Planetfall said:

Well I fixed most of the collision issues but the prop just doesn't have a good enough thrust to weight ratio to power any of the planes I've built around it.  :/ 

i think I'm going to take a break from this for a bit. Making Props shire requires patience!

True ... A  good engine design can take a few hours to build and days to tune. The experience and knowledge you acquire are worth it though!

Send me your design, I'll tell you where and how to improve it.

[Rath]

Azimech, have you played from the deapths?  It is quite fun and has really damn complicated engines.

[Majorjim!]

7 hours ago, Azimech said:

Yes, I acknowledge you and your bearing but as you said yourself it's meant for light loads only, in this case we're talking about hundreds to thousands of kilonewtons of torque converted into thrust. I am amazed @erasmusguy actually made a plane out of it, hours of experimenting already in 0.90 left me with a bad feeling and when I got back to it a few days ago it resulted in the same so I went back to wheeled designs ... just too much friction on an already extremely inefficient concept. Once the wheel problems are solved with a new version of Unity, even my 1.25m turboshaft will get wheels.

I did get a wheelless design to run at almost 50rad/s, which is a new record. Unable to handle thrust though, Unity/KSP colliders are from a different universe ... much to my chagrin.

Agreed matey. My little bearing was made for tiny ness and just as a door hinge primarily. 

 The thing that jumped out to me in erasmusguys turbo prop was the shape of the cage. It's just a larger version of my ant engine, now antenna hinge. I am tempted to try a micro turbo but it might not be possible given the low breaking strength of that hinge. 

[V7 Aerospace]

Hopefully the new 1.1.2 sliders for wheel spring strength and dampener strength will make turboprop technology even better!

[Azimech]

5 hours ago, V7 Aerospace said:

Hopefully the new 1.1.2 sliders for wheel spring strength and dampener strength will make turboprop technology even better!

Actually compared to 1.1.1 it made them worse. Finding the correct spring/damper ratio so the wheels don't blow up ... is a crime & punishment.

It's still worth the effort though.

12 hours ago, Majorjim said:

Agreed matey. My little bearing was made for tiny ness and just as a door hinge primarily. 

 The thing that jumped out to me in erasmusguys turbo prop was the shape of the cage. It's just a larger version of my ant engine, now antenna hinge. I am tempted to try a micro turbo but it might not be possible given the low breaking strength of that hinge. 

There's nothing that beats the crash tolerance of the steel beams. Too bad collider friction is of a different universe, I hope this can be addressed one day.

[Majorjim!]

Just now, Azimech said:

Actually compared to 1.1.1 it made them worse. Finding the correct spring/damper ratio so the wheels don't blow up ... is a crime & punishment.

It's still worth the effort though.

There's nothing that beats the crash tolerance of the steel beams. Too bad collider friction is of a different universe, I hope this can be addressed one day.

I have an idea I will test on my next day off. Could be great!