KerbalX

Description

A stock aircraft called Kronus T-1500 TurboProp. Built with 182 of the finest parts, its root part is Size3SmallTank.

Built in the SPH in KSP version 1.4.3.

Details

• Type: SPH
• Class: aircraft
• Part Count: 182
• Pure Stock

-Basic Description

This is a stock, variable pitch turboprop powered by 12 Wheeselys. This turboprop produces over 1500 kN of thrust, and along with the single Wheesley at the back the whole assembly produces close to 1700 kN of thrust. Real turboprops generate about 10% of their thrust from the engine exhaust so I thought that was fair. The engine has a specific impulse of over 11000s, making it more efficient than the Wheesleys on their own. This engine is a replacement for a turboprop I previously posted, the original had overheating problems, produced far less thrust, and had almost 4 times the fuel consumption rate. while the original was prettier and had a slightly lower part count, It simply wasn’t up to snuff for my purposes.

-Engine Characteristics

-Blade pitch has two settings, stationary thrust mode and in-flight thrust mode. These modes are toggled by Action Group 1, the blades are set to stationary thrust mode by default.
-Prop thrust: ≈ 1550 kN
-Blowers: 12 Wheesleys
-Blowers Thrust: 1440 kN
-Assembly thrust: ≈ 1670 kN
-Assembly ISP: ≈ 11200s

-Development Issues

As this turboprop is relatively compact overheating was a major issue. Even now the engine comes extremely close to overheating. However, after running the engine for 45 minutes in game time it didn’t explode. Even if it does eventually overheat I doubt you’d ever need to run it for the hours that would likely be required.

-Alt Version Available

There is an alternate version of the engine available at the link below. This version features many improvements as well as it’s own problems. This version now generates a combined 2300 kN of thrust, and as such is called the
Kronus T-2300 Turboprop.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jy7u6x6oobxx6er/Kronus%20T-2300%20TurboProp.craft?dl=0

-Engine Characteristics

-Variable Pitch settings same as above
-Prop Thrust: ≈ 2200 kN
-Blowers: 12 Wheesleys
-Blowers Thrust: 1440 kN
-Assembly Thrust: ≈ 2310 kN
-Assembly ISP: ≈15500s
-Part Count: 182
-Assembly Mass: 46.557 tonnes

-Engine Description

This engine is basically an enlarged version of the original, it has a slightly higher mass due to having additional blades, struts, and a larger fairing casing. Despite these additions, optimizations in the engine’s design means it has the same part count as the original.

The engine’s high thrust meant that the prop would simply rip the entire fairing assembly off with it, leaving the core behind. While this issue was fixed by struts, it is likely that this is the most powerful engine achievable that follows this basic design philosophy.