KerbalX

Details

• Type: SPH
• Class: ship
• Part Count: 547
• Pure Stock

Description

The actual first helicopter I’m comfortable releasing (and yes there are 25 precursors to this one). With 2 coaxial rotors spinning at 20 rad/s, this was originally built for the Monte Karlo river run challenge from Bradley Whistance, but the effort into making it look nice and work well I think makes it good enough for other things, if you want an impractical way to get from A to B. Styling is based on a KA-50 Black Shark and maybe some other things.

Flight is similar to a VTOL plane, except your VTOL system can suddenly go boom. And it doesn’t roll well. To start, set control from the docking port above the cockpit (the one immediately visible), wait for the rotors to stop shaking then stage. The blades should detach and start spinning up. Enable the blower afterburners with AG 2 to help lift off. These can be stopped when you feel you don’t need to go up much further. AG 3 toggles the jets for forward thrust. Its not super necessary on takeoff so after staging I usually switch those off until fully in the air. AG 1 toggles afterburners for forward thrust. Use if you need more speed

Some things to keep in mind:
A) the bearing is slightly unstable as in I have had previous versions the rotors just randomly explode because of KSP physics not working properly. Enabling No Crash Damage eliminates this, but doesn’t seem to be absolutely necessary.
B) Pulling hard maneuvers can and will likely result in failure since there is some flex in the craft bearing system (and also that physics thing in Note A). This can also be solved by enabling No crash damage.
C) The fuel load in this is quite high, necessary for its original goal. As a result, it is quite heavy. If you dont need the full almost hour flight time, you can remove fuel from places. Just keep an eye on the COM.
D) If adding payload, remove fuel. The rotor system is at the edge of its lift capacity. Also again, keep an eye on the COM.
E) The COM/Blade relation is slightly off, so it pitches up slightly in flight. Just don’t leave it unattended and it should be fine. Its a helicopter, its going to need more attention than a plane. Should keep you busy though in long tedious flights.

This is by no means perfect, and other better builders exist whose work helped get me started with turboprops. EpicSpaceTroll and Azimech come to mind. Still I hope its enjoyed.

A stock helicopter called KH-92Z Raptor. Built with 547 leftover parts, its root part is structuralPanel1.

Built in the SPH in KSP version 1.3.0. I make no garauntees about compatibility with later versions