S-04 High Speed Low Atmosphere Plane

[Kerbin vonKerbal]

I've recently built a very stable, low atmosphere plane that I use primarily for Kerbin observation contracts in career mode. It flies like a dream and can pull almost max-G force turns. The turn radius isn't very good, however it'll get you where you're going fairly quick. I attach science instruments based on the contracts I accept, however they can be removed without any effects towards the flying capabilities. 

 

 

The design of the plane makes it take off on it's own, based on the higher wheel base up front and the amount of lift it has. Getting off the runway, it already reaches almost 300m/s and can climb vertically under acceleration up to about 12,000m. I usually cruise at that altitude at 260-300m/s easily. It's fully capable of landing itself very easily. In the event that an abort is required, I've set up action groups to deploy drogue chutes and kill the engines at the same time. Should an abort be required, the drogues deploy and when speeds reach 250m/s or lower, you can manually deploy the main parachutes and safely splash down or touch down on land. Default engine mode is dry, however I prefer to take off with wet/afterburner, which I've also created an action group for. You can outfit with whatever science instruments you need, or with none at all. 

 

Craft file: download S-04

 

Let me know what you guys think. Fly safe. 

[GDJ]

2 minutes ago, Kerbin vonKerbal said:

Let me know what you guys think. Fly safe. 

Nice looking plane!

Fly safe!? Wimps. I land in mountains.

[Kerbin vonKerbal]

1 minute ago, GDJ said:

Nice looking plane!

Fly safe!? Wimps. I land in mountains.

The true Jeb way. 

 

On a side note, you probably could in this plane if you had a flat enough mountain top... it slows down pretty quick. 

Edited February 4, 2016 by Kerbin vonKerbal