A year ago I heard that CNC Modelparts from Switzerland offered a turboprop for the JetCat P20/ Kolibri. Immediately I decided to build a Karat with a turboprop myself. Due to the air intake at the bottom and at the top and the straight sidewall it is perfect for a turboprop conversion. Also the exhaust gas can pass through the two wings.
In December 2017 I drove to Switzerland with my JetCat P20 to pick up the Turboprop from CNC Modelparts. At the same time I shared my idea with Carlos Marquez from CM Jets in Spain, he immediately became enthusiastic about the new concept and promised me a custom made fuel tank for my model. Two weeks later I already received the new Kevlartank for my turbo KARAT.
FALCON received my order to build an adapter for the fuselage, which I can easily attach to the zero side thrust nose, due to the F3A Contra-Rotating-System, to receive the necessary side thrust.
At the Rotor Live Helicopter fair in Iffezheim, I discovered for the first time the innoflyer light system, which was new in the product line of Hacker Motor. I became impressed by the innovative, simple and efficient handling. During dinner with Andreas Golla from Hacker and Christoph Raible from innoflyer we started speaking about my special project, the turbo KARAT.
At the Rotor Live Helicopter fair in Iffezheim, I discovered for the first time the innoflyer light system, which was new in the product line of Hacker Motor. I became impressed by the innovative, simple and efficient handling. During dinner with Andreas Golla from Hacker and Christoph Raible from innoflyer we started speaking about my special project, the turbo KARAT.
Andreas Golla suggested to equip the plane with an innoflyer lighting system. At first I had the impression he was joking, but when I realized he was serious about it I actually thought it was a great idea.
On a piece of paper I received from the waiter we determined the position of the light on the model, and ordered the parts immediately.
After the Turboprop, all DITEX Servos and the lights were installed, the plane had to be varnished. I was planning on an
easy but also a bit scale finish. In addition to the KARAT I worked on a Scorpion from Aviation Design with a Patrouille Suisse color scheme, which I like a lot and it is visible in the air.
As the Turboprop and the lighting are both from Switzerland, I decided to adjust the color scheme of the Ptrouille Suisse so it matches the KARAT.
As the Turboprop and the lighting are both from Switzerland, I decided to adjust the color scheme of the Ptrouille Suisse so it matches the KARAT.
Before I installed the turbo, I painted the whole body area of the turboprop inside twice with BVM Heatshield to avoid prickly heat in the carbon/fiberglass of the body. After everything was rewired and finished, the first flight took place in the beginning of May 2018. Everything worked out perfectly right away. In the meantime, I had a performance problem with the turboprop, but this was due to small kevlar pieces in the kerosene filter.
The plane now has about 30 flights and everything still works fine.
At the end not the most spectacular plane I’ve ever built, but definitely one that I have the most fun with!
And just the worlds first F3A turboprop biplane – turbo KARAT.
The plane now has about 30 flights and everything still works fine.
At the end not the most spectacular plane I’ve ever built, but definitely one that I have the most fun with!
And just the worlds first F3A turboprop biplane – turbo KARAT.
Also I would like to thank everyone who was involved in this amazing project:
CM-Jets, innoflyer, CNC Modelparts, Hacker Motor, JETI model, PowerBox Systems, FALCON
Many thanks to Philipp Rösner for another great video of turboKARAT!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYLl9w2v3xE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYLl9w2v3xE
