"Microturbines"

T

The-Flying-Lawyer

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If anybody can find some size/weight/performance data for the Monarch 5 microturbine, I'd be curious to see the numbers. They're designed for military/commercial drones, but this could be a pretty cool (if high-end) GA engine in the mid- to long-term.

https://www.uavturbines.com/
 
Small turbines suck fuel, and given the price, I don't see how that would help GA at all. (In my day job I'm confronted with the largest and most efficient aviation turbine engines on the planet).
And as @James331 mentions, one can get used turbines on the cheap for playing with. Not many are flying with them.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
Small turbines suck fuel, and given the price, I don't see how that would help GA at all. (In my day job I'm confronted with the largest and most efficient aviation turbine engines on the planet).
And as @James331 mentions, one can get used turbines on the cheap for playing with. Not many are flying with them.
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That was my impression too, which was why I was surprised to see they've actually flown a midsized drone with it. I'm wondering if they were able to pull off some kind of engineering magic on the consumption and power output compared to older versions.
 
Can't find the article but there was a homebuilt jet aircraft kit that I want to say was tested a few years back. Not sure what model it was. I remember it was yellow...heh
 
Caramon13 said:
Can't find the article but there was a homebuilt jet aircraft kit that I want to say was tested a few years back. Not sure what model it was. I remember it was yellow...heh
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If you're thinking of the SubSonex, that's still available. https://www.sonexaircraft.com/subsonex/

The only fixed-wing turboprop I found based on that T-62 article James sent was a converted Bede BD-5, which is apparently on display at the Hiller Aviation Museum. https://www.hiller.org/museum/aircraft-on-display
 
AeroComp has a whole line of turboprop compatible plane kits. Also, the Bede 5 is tiny. It made an appearance in a James Bond movie, maybe Octopussy. (Not what you’re thinking!)
 
kyleb said:
An acquaintance built and sold 3 of these. All 3 crashed. I know one was a mechanical failure in the tail rotor drive.

Be very careful, the engineering seemed to be largely TLAR, which isn’t the preferred approach for a thing that flies more than once.
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Thought the turbines went from a belt to shaft for the tail rotor?

The-Flying-Lawyer said:
If you're thinking of the SubSonex, that's still available. https://www.sonexaircraft.com/subsonex/

The only fixed-wing turboprop I found based on that T-62 article James sent was a converted Bede BD-5, which is apparently on display at the Hiller Aviation Museum. https://www.hiller.org/museum/aircraft-on-display
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Think there was a luscombe conversion for sale a while back that I really debated getting.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
Small turbines suck fuel, and given the price, I don't see how that would help GA at all. (In my day job I'm confronted with the largest and most efficient aviation turbine engines on the planet).
And as @James331 mentions, one can get used turbines on the cheap for playing with. Not many are flying with them.
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A lot of these conversions are intriguing, but are an answer to a question nobody asked.
 
Back in the '90s a guy was selling converted APU engines with a redrive and controllable prop for $20K. 150 HP, burned 18 GPH. Since my tank was 15 gallons, I'd have a little over a half-hour flight with a few minutes' reserve.

And that highlights the huge energy inefficiency of small turbines. I think they don't start to compete with a recip until around 800 hp or so. Maybe more.
 
James331 said:
Thought the turbines went from a belt to shaft for the tail rotor?
Click to expand...

They did. It has been 16-17 years, but IIRC, something in the tail rotor shaft assembly broke during a max torque situation. Fortunately, it happened at 4' high and the pilot was smart enough to drop the rotor pitch and set the heli down before it became a carnival ride. Had to replace the bent skids and fabricate a new shaft, IIRC. Upsized the shaft when he fixed it.

The guy who was serving as ballast in the left seat commented afterwards "I didn't realize this was a test flight." Turned out the builder needed to test the max torque situation (low, heavy, hover with pedal turn, IIRC) and went for self loading baggage. He didn't mention that to the passenger beforehand.
 
Dan Thomas said:
Back in the '90s a guy was selling converted APU engines with a redrive and controllable prop for $20K. 150 HP, burned 18 GPH. Since my tank was 15 gallons, I'd have a little over a half-hour flight with a few minutes' reserve.

And that highlights the huge energy inefficiency of small turbines. I think they don't start to compete with a recip until around 800 hp or so. Maybe more.
Click to expand...

Now you can buy an electric airplane with roughly the same endurance. That's progress!
 
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