Building and Flying a VTOL aircraft on Duna with the Breaking Ground DLC

In this KSP video, we construct a propeller driven vertical take-off and landing plane for use on Duna.

[@ICKY427]

dang i never thought of just putting both rotors in a single fan duct. i like that. seeing your power usage, i think you could run this off a single RTG so you wouldnt need all the batteries.

[@Nivz54]

It amazes me every single time how you explain everything on point yet still make the video light and fun to watch… great job!

[@Echo3]

It is a game. I play to have fun. It is nice to hear that that comes through on the videos. What do you consider to be the most fun aspect of the game?

[@Nivz54]

@@Echo3 I think the sandbox aspect tbh, I do enjoy playing career and science mode, but in sandbox, you can do whatever you want, regardless of how silly/stupid it is :)

[@Echo3]

@@Nivz54 I like that the game has three modes. Often I have projects going in all three.

[@madrigo]

This video is so great. Everything is so well explained. Your didactic is impeccable! Nice job on the vehicle too!

[@Echo3]

Thank you very much for this amicable comment.

[@cryzz0n]

Good video, as always. I have built along with several of your videos, and I have some reservations about binding propeller pitch to throttle. The thing is, what it really needs to vary with is speed. That fast propeller driven design of yours, the thing that looks like a Cessna Skymaster, if you try to take off with full throttle, it won't go; the 45-degree pitch won't work at low speed. You need to take off at about 1/3 throttle. HOWEVER, having stated the issue, I don't have a solution. I can't think how to bind propeller pitch to airspeed. Thanks for listening, keep up the good work!

[@Echo3]

Typically, I run a constant speed, variable pitch style propeller. You are correct that "full throttle" doesn't work right at slower speeds. I am just using the main throttle action group, but I'm not using it as a throttle. I use "low throttle" for take-off. In testing, I found that 8 degrees is ideal for static thrust, then I want to "increase throttle" (increase deployment angle) the faster the craft is moving. In some of my builds, I have an action group for torque (this indirectly controls the RMPs) and another for the deployment angle.

[@bad_pilot13official]

Cool vid Echo! I have a suggestion have you ever thought of making an Ornithropter similar to the ones from Dune? The helicopters that look like dragonfly’s. Maybe u could make a tutorial on it I’d watch that.

[@Echo3]

I'd love to make a tutorial over that, but I have to figure out how to make it work first.

[@damirvakhitov9213]

@@Echo3 Myabe overclock the traverse rate so that you can get instant angle changes?

[@Echo3]

@@damirvakhitov9213 even with the rotors, 460 RPMs is really as fast as the game engine can handle. It would definitely take some kind of KAL exploit to have a chance at working.

[@Vincent_A]

Thanks for this video, it's going to help me get off Eve with the help of propellers on the first stage

[@Echo3]

I do have a video about using propellers for a first stage Eve ascent craft. Eve's thicker atmosphere enables lots of lift, but also lots of drag. So rotors require lots of power. Good thing solar panels work a lot better there.

[@Psychonauta]

Keep up the good work, awesome

[@Echo3]

Thanks. Do you have any suggestions for future content?

[@Psychonauta]

@@Echo3 Spruse goose or meserschmite me 264, i like props and Flying boats

[@Echo3]

These sounds like great topics. The mod scatterer makes flying boats harder to land and take off, so I'd probably disable it for a video like this.

[@Psychonauta]

@@Echo3 You have So many options on pc, i have ksp only on ps4 and everything is much harder. Your builds are awesome

[@Echo3]

Thanks. In general, I try to make crafts that are console friendly. Mostly my mods are just to make the game look prettier. However, I am considering doing a video or series of videos that highlight a particular mod, but it is to be informational about real life concerns.

[@nameiwanttaken5682]

Underrated channel, great content, you've earned a new subscriber.

[@Echo3]

Cool. Thanks. Do you have any suggestions for future content.

[@nameiwanttaken5682]

@@Echo3 probably Duna aircraft such as helicopter that can maybe lift light modules to make a base or move around. I also think Mun and Tylo missions are cool.

[@nameiwanttaken5682]

Another suggestion is a guide to landing boosters or creating reusable rockets

[@Echo3]

@@nameiwanttaken5682 I have made a reusable rocket video. I land the booster on the runway and the upper stage in the water just off the coast.

[@Echo3]

@@nameiwanttaken5682 The thin atmosphere does make flight on Duna difficult. Some time of "heavy" lift helicopter for Duna does seem like an interesting challenge though.

[@Matthew_ksp]

very epic

[@Echo3]

Thank you. What do you consider to be your most epic build?

[@Matthew_ksp]

@@Echo3 i think the small vtol ssto i had built some time ago

[@Echo3]

That sounds like a fantastic build. Have you posted pictures of it anywhere?

[@Matthew_ksp]

@@Echo3 yeah i made a video about it on my yt channel

[@Echo3]

I'll have to check it out then. 😀

[@pricelessppp]

Nice tutorial! How do you launch this and design a rocket for this? Maybe a a quad copter or ion power explorer would be ideal.

[@Echo3]

I did not launch this to Duna. I just cheated it there. A typical chemical rocket would be sufficient. A direct ejection from Kerbin that resulted in a Duna periapsis lower than 20km would suffice. Tomorrow's video features lithobraking! I was inspired by the Spirit and Opportunity missions. I have used an ion powered craft to explore Gilly. It worked very well there.

[@isaacreicin4836]

What mod did you use for the arm to extend the engine

[@Echo3]

There are no parts mods. I am using parts from the Breaking Ground DLC for the hinge and rotors.

[@shermanfox7338]

I’m only good with SimplePlanes, and that has earth atmosphere, but I think you maybe could use a wing like the concord were pitch and roll are on the same wing

[@Echo3]

When pitch and roll are combined, that is called an elevon. KSP doesn't model airflow over the wings, so a large delta wing like the concord provides no advantages in the game. But supersonic jets are still fun to make.

[@danieljobber7931]

Would you please, please make one of these and share it on Curseforge or something. I try to make stuff like this, but I can never do it with the crappy interface. I just want the feeling of flying around on Duna! Please, oh please!

[@Echo3]

It's on KerbalX kerbalx.com/Echo__3/Duna-VTOL-Explorer

[@bensharpe64]

That's pretty cool, could yo u post the craft file? I'm not very good at robotics

[@Echo3]

Here you go kerbalx.com/Echo__3/Duna-VTOL-Explorer

[@bensharpe64]

@@Echo3 Thanks man! I'll ship one to my Duna base later! :)

[@Echo3]

@@bensharpe64 it has action groups. 0 to turn on the rotors. Translate up/down to move the hinge. Throttle controls the angle of the propellers.

[@beimanuel942]

PLEASE tell me how to stop torque roll

[@Echo3]

You use counter rotating propellers. For plane with a single rotor, I use trim to help compensate for it.

[@beimanuel942]

@@Echo3 i tried contra rotating propellers but when i tried to turn up the torque limit after a few seconds the rotor stops, then starts, then stops.. you get the gist

[@Echo3]

@@beimanuel942 Normally, I don't adjust the torque limit and only change the deployment angle.

[@TBCN69]

Now, what about eve/ jool?

[@Echo3]

Now, I've not tried flying around in Jool's atmosphere. It's rather hard to find a good landing spot there.

[@TBCN69]

@@Echo3 I landed once on jool but bc gravity I wasn't able to escape

[@Echo3]

@@TBCN69 That's still impressive.

[@GoldenGrenadier]

Eve is the easiest body to fly propeller craft on. You don't need much wing surface at all and solar panels work super good there. Just don't expect to get your pilot back unless you build something crazy.

[@arcosprey4811]

You sound like an aeronautics engineer giving a presentation on an actual project. Your vocabulary is insane.

[@Echo3]

No, not an engineer, just a farmer who finds aerospace projects fascinating. Thanks for the compliment.

[@ussdaedalus5058]

you sound like your name is jeremy

[@Echo3]

My name is not Jeremy. What distinguishes the sound of a Jeremy?

[@R3dp055um]

Good video, as always. I have built along with several of your videos, and I have some reservations about binding propeller pitch to throttle. The thing is, what it really needs to vary with is speed. That fast propeller driven design of yours, the thing that looks like a Cessna Skymaster, if you try to take off with full throttle, it won't go; the 45-degree pitch won't work at low speed. You need to take off at about 1/3 throttle. HOWEVER, having stated the issue, I don't have a solution. I can't think how to bind propeller pitch to airspeed. Thanks for listening, keep up the good work!

[@Echo3]

Typically, I run a constant speed, variable pitch style propeller. You are correct that "full throttle" doesn't work right at slower speeds. I am just using the main throttle action group, but I'm not using it as a throttle. I use "low throttle" for take-off. In testing, I found that 8 degrees is ideal for static thrust, then I want to "increase throttle" (increase deployment angle) the faster the craft is moving. In some of my builds, I have an action group for torque (this indirectly controls the RMPs) and another for the deployment angle.