my brother in-law fly's, but he''s never been as complete with the workings , and also the size of the turbine has left me speechless, this is a great demonstration and I thank you :0
I've flown in a Rotorway that was assembled by a friend of mine in the UK. it had a 4 cylinder petrol engine and the tail rotor was driven by vee belts. The tail rotor used to cause its blades to crack at the boss connection points.
Hello, this is very interesting and enjoyable. The turbine engine is a lot smaller than what you would expect fitted into a helicopter. Thank you, a really informative video. Dave Schulstead :-)
Be interesting to see that turbine hooked up to a generator. Be more interesting to see how big of a generator it can turn vs the amount of fuel consumption. Of course, that data is already known; but the efficiency would be worth noting. Fuel consumption vs amperage output with two phases 120/240vac.
That is literally the smallest helicopter main rotor gearbox I have ever seen, that includes the mini 500 main rotor gearbox, the Bell 47, and the Hiller 12 series.
Quick question: If you've got a centrifugal clutch on the engine output, why do you need a spragg clutch as well? Surely if the engine died in flight, the centrifugal clutch would disengage and the rest of the drivetrain would be freewheeling (or autorotating if you prefer) anyway?
Between the clutch and the sprag is the Rotax reduction drive if it were to seize then you would be mighty greatful that the Sprag allowed the Rotor system to continue spinning on its own momentum before you were able to reconfigure for Auto Rotation (drop the collective to change the MR blade pitch to negative) which is totally different.
Interesting video! I own a T62T32 I wonder which GAC unit you guys use? Do you sell parts for T62s, FCUs etc? I assume Rotorways are flown in experimental category, I'n not sure EASA allows the turbine powered versions in the UK?
Is there a Good source "Proven", 'Civilian Aviation "Turbine Engines"' that can be used and adapted for the civilian (2-6 seat) Homebuilt experimental Aircraft market? I would like to see a Light Turbine engine in a Civilian aircraft that has lots of power to overcome the current power deficits that exist in the current civilian airplane & helicopter market. I'd sure like to see an Experimental, Homebuilt Turbine Helicopter Kit (or Airplane Kit) that seats 2-6 passengers, has more power and an extended range than what is currently available in the civilian market. Seems, the engine powerplants available in the current market are lacking performance and barely powerful enough to carry 2-4 passengers at max load, only able to fly 2 hours or up to 200 miles before refueling again. Does anyone know of a more capable Helicopter than the status-quo (ie. Robinson 22, 44) that has more power, greater maneuverability, increased range & load capacity that is still affordable to buy and fly?
I feel the same. I want a 100-350 hp turbo prop for the experimental category to begin with. I’d make a mini PC-21 with a 200hp turboprop if it existed.
There are a couple of firms designing "light" turbines for the experimental market but you have to understand it's a very difficult area to penetrate. Turbine's require millions of dollars in R&D to develop and use expensive exotic alloys for the high temp/pressure thresholds they operate within. Making one for the experimental market is a tough sell because you're looking at $100,000 just for the engine which is usually more than someone wants to pay for an entire functional aircraft. The next problem is maintenance. With a brand new turbine who is qualified to service it? Probably only the manufacturer since it is nothing like popular turbines you see today. Parts will be rare and you will have to ship your engine across the country or even overseas for repairs which is further cost prohibitive. Lastly comes necessity. Turbines are for high performance heavy aircraft. Who needs a turbine in a 2 seater plane that weighs 800 lbs? Experimental aircraft are typically flown maybe 50 hours per year. There's no need for the kind of reliability of a turbine with such little usage, piston is fine.
do they have auto relite ability ? something like Bell or MD ? its prob going to be a requirement in snow and no doubt rain before long like the commercial aircraft. There is a guy up in Alberta Canada I met as well that can do recording systems for keeping track of the parameters
I worked on the 62. It has two rpm's, one hundred percent and zero percent. I was an turbine engine mechanic for helicopters in the U.S. Army. Most of my work was on 712's found on the Chinook as well as the 62 used as apu. Noisy little bastards... no doubt why I have tinnitus and I used double hearing protection. Question though... I noticed there is no egt sensor on the chimney. Why not?
What helicopter does the smaller solar 2A1 come from? Also in regards to power %, most of these engines seem to idle around 60% until ready for takeoff, is that bad for the engine?
Great demonstration unit. I'm a JetExec owner and builder and would like to get in contact with Chris. I sent an email, but haven't yet gotten a response.
buena demostración Como me contacto con usted tengo un proyecto casi terminado Toda la mecánica lista pero la electrica gran problema David Domastic vendió kit pero no ayudo en nada con parte eléctrica faltan muchas cosas el no responsable no ayuda con nada OCUPO ASESORÍA QUIERO TERMINAR favor ayudarme
chris, i need some info about converting my 30 yr old barnfind exec 90,never flown,to a turbine solar set up inclusive of kiss aviation gearbox plus the necessary components,and electronics,etc,as in ball park cost. im in the uk,and such info is not easy to source.thank you.
well the kit costs 20k USD from KISS aviation and thats just the conversion kit. You'll need your own engine + gearbox which is another 20k. I'd ballpark 50k to convert a 162f to turbine, not sure if exec 90 is any different.
@@codmott286 thanks chris,im pretty sure the airframes are the same,i did think the kiss aviation kit included the turbine reduction gearbox,and maybe tailrotor gearbox etc.are there any solars turbines still out there,if yes,where to look? appreciate your advice.
@@eddyriley2055 you're right KISS includes all gearboxes. You can find the turbines on ebay sometimes, barnstormers, occasionally trade-a-plane, otherwise best avenue is the various rotary forums for each dedicated aircraft. Some owners give up projects, or bought spares they no longer need. For instance homers helicopter website has a clean T62-32 available in crate.
@@codmott286 thanks for that,what a relief,had visions there,of a conversion kit , consisting of brackets and bolts for $20k,back on budget,just need to find a decent solar t62,many thanks.
91rss ummm..... an stands for the army navy standard. Numbered in 16ths of an inch. Most of its aluminum, some stainless steel so grade 8..... not so much. Just an industry standard size description. For example -4 an is 4/16 aka 1/4. I’m surprised a normal google search couldn’t supply you that
@@josht8011 yes 30 yrs in the field,, AN in fittings is obsolete now BTW, its basically hydraulic fitting charts to find fittings on owner built stuff, and owner built could use grade 8 vs AN3 etc.
I worked with lots of those Solar turbines in the 70’s. They were made for the telephone company’s 200 KW standby generator sets. They proved to be not a good choice for that application because of the frequent starting and stopping they experienced. A turbine engine does not like short run times and frequent starts. The heating and cooling cycles are the equivalent of several hours of run time per start. This resulted in high maintenance costs compared to Diesel engines which is why they were phased out of the standby generator application. Solar still makes much larger turbine generators used for industrial power generation.
