Turbo-prop based propeller plane - Bertha

[Redshift OTF]

This took ages to get right, lol. Thank you to Azimech for making the first Turbo-props I had seen and inspiring me to make this!

Bertha - It's got propellers!

And it flies!

Twin engines!

474 parts. 87.5 tons. Carries 3 Kerbals.

Simply press space to release the decouplers, throttle up and fly. Take off speed is about 50 m/s. SAS is recommended. Any explosions you see are probably the 2 decouplers. Hotkey 1 toggles the engines if you want the props to stop spinning faster during landing. Do not raise the landing gear at any time or you can wave goodbye to the propellers Full brakes can and should be used on landing, it doesn't stop quickly. Try pitching up on the ground to quicken the braking.

Don't expect to break the sound barrier or anything. She's a low altitude beast, but she is perfectly flyable. The engines are very reliable. I haven't seen a prop break or jam yet.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Download here.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Redshift OTF

[gGATORr]

wow, I've never seen any prop design like that. Very interesting...

Have you tried reaction wheel-driven props?

[Azimech]

Good job! When I have the time I'm gonna test it!

- - - Updated - - -

wow, I've never seen any prop design like that. Very interesting...

Have you tried reaction wheel-driven props?

It's the second design, the first was mine, look in my sig.

What's the deal with reaction wheel propellers? They've got nothing to do with real life, not by a long shot.

[gGATORr]

Good job! When I have the time I'm gonna test it!

- - - Updated - - -

It's the second design, the first was mine, look in my sig.

What's the deal with reaction wheel propellers? They've got nothing to do with real life, not by a long shot.

Ah yes, I saw that shortly after I commented. Very ingenious! Kudos for coming up with and fabricating the first engine of this kind!

The reason I mentioned reaction wheel props is because they offer a lower part count, more compact engine, and sleeker look (my opinion, obviously). But I realize now that these turboshafts offer a few advantages over reaction wheels such as the ability to throttle w/out switching craft and most likely less torque roll effect (although, on multi-engines, this is negligible). Again, ingenious!

As for real life, I think that, just like your design is analogous to a turboprop (but obviously not exactly how a turboprop works), the reaction wheel design is analogous to electric motors (but obviously not exactly how an electric motor works, either). And just remember, electricity is the way of the future:wink:

[Azimech]

Thank you :-)

Electric will become the way of the future, true. Until then, I'll enjoy the complexity, smell and noise of the ancients :-)

Even more interesting than a turbine, are the old radials. In the future I'll need someone to help me out with writing a kOS script ... I can build but can't code or script beyond the most simple things.

Here's a radial of mine, waiting for it's ignition system.

[Rithsom]

Very cool! Yours is much, much better than the one I made a while back!

Just remember to never press f3...

[Redshift OTF]

Thanks for the comments! There's possibly room for improvement but I'm pretty happy the way it turned out considering I didn't even know if it could work. Actually I'm sure performance can be increased by changing the propellers but they would look a bit un-realistic. I suspect there is a bit of infini-glide physics at work on the props.

I have tried reaction wheel props in the past but not to the scale you used in your warbird plane. I might have a look at it though is it could be useful for Eve. The trick is making a compact bearing that can handle either high speeds or high loads, (or both). I do prefer the Turbo-props though.

Yes, best not press F3 unless you want to see the examples of metal fatigue.