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Homebuilt gasturbine engines
Building modelturbines is a very fascinating hobby, the thrill of firing the homebuilt for the first time
cannot be described in a short sentence.
I started building these engines as from school back in 1993 and had one succesfully flying in 1997. First a lot
of time went in designing my very own engines, later I found the KJ66 drawings which gave me some help and speeded things a bit.
Currently I have 6 engines running, 2 KJ66's,
one JG100, one MW54 (GR65, Boosted to 65N) and my latest creation the GR180 as I call it myself which is a hybrid of several engine designs and some stuff learned
over the years by myself. These powerfull engines are in service in my two large scale F16's.
This little monster still uses the good old CV470 camping gas canister and is capable of producing a massive 18kg thrust, higher values
are on the test!
Here some details of this mighty machine:
Weight: 1150 gram
max. thrust: 18kg @ 120.000 rpm
Fuel cons.: 650cc/min
Diameter: 107mm
Length: 240mm
Turbine&NGV: 70mm Dieter Albisser
Compressor: Schwitzer 74mm (Modified from 81mm)
The pressure and airflow inside the little monster is enormous, can you imagine Kurt Schreckling started this
good enovation with 2,4kg thrust out of the same casing?
Here some pictures of this 'beast', below the page you can find a download file.
Own design GR180 on the test bench:
GR180 from the inside after extensive testing:
Homemade milling the diffuser from stock aluminium:
Homemade balancing equipment by use of piëzo elements and a Scope:
GR220 ready for first tests:
My first homebuilt fired up....back in 1993!
Here you can find a download file of my GR180 with some drawings and pictures included. Please note that this file is NOT intended for comlete
scratch build, some previous experience is highly recommended! Also, the design is not fully ready yet and may never be so as it's an experimental
engine. Improvements will be updated sometimes, refer to the date of the notes included. Feedback is also very welcome.
The reason I share this as freeware is that a lot of different drawings are already circling around and this will only add to that. Also for me this
is just the joy of the hobby, no benefits needed! Just remember and mention me when passing on the link or drawings and I'm a happy man.
g.rutten (at) versatel.nl
Downloads:
GR130 T04B Compressor radius dxf file
Edit 17-3-2015; It appears that the compressor wheel p/n:316954 which I used for the GR180 is discontinued and very sparse available. Only found out by a fellow
builder recently, will have to find a replacement in due time. Any wheel with inducer (intake diameter) of max. 56mm might work but is unproven and will be a trial if it matches the diffuser
I hope to find a suitable replacement soon, watch this space.
News 25-7-2015:
Started building a new engine which I call the GR220. This engine is slightly larger compared to GR180 and will be capable of producing a massive 25kg thrust. Using Dieter Albissers Jetmax 74mm turbine wheel and a 81mm Borg&Warner compressor wheel.
Engine reaching completeness. Did several kerosine only start attempts which progresses nicely now.
Turbine has had approximately 15 runs now and all looking very good. Haven't reached max rpm and power yet but data seems
very promising. This is one powerful puppy!!!
Here short clip of kerosine only start test during adjustments and tuning:
80% power and acceleration test: