M-21 Oxcart and D-21 Drone Replica

[ValCab33]

Hello everyone !

I've decided to make a replica of one of the most replicated plane on this forum... the SR-71 Blackbird !
...or not. There are too many Blackbirds here (some good and some less good), so why not a bit of change ?

So I present to you the M-21: a two seater variant of the A-12, modified do carry and launch the D-21, a high-speed and high-altitude recon drone.
Only two were ever made, one of them was destroyed during a D-21 test launch (the drone's engine failed to start and it slammed into the rear of the M-21, destroying it), and the other one is exposed at the Museum of Flight, in Seattle.

For the first four missions of the D-21, the second and third were partial failures, and the fourth was destroyed in the accident previously described. Following the accident, they decided to drop the D-21 from a B-52 instead, duct-taping a booster under the drone to help it reach altitude and speed for the RamJet to start working.
After a few more failures, the drone finally managed four successful missions over China before being retired in 1971.

Imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/6jczN

Now let's get to mine !
The M-21 itself has a pretty good handling, probably better than the real one. Thanks to the Whipanther Engine, it can reach 1000 m/s easily in both low and high altitudes.
Watch out if you add more fuel for longer travels though, as it will add more weight at the rear, you might get too much maneuvrability.

The D-21 is rather fast. It can reach high speeds very quickly. You can choose between long range and poor pitch maneuvrability with the front tank full, or medium range and good maneuvrability with the front tank empty. In that second configuration it can take some extreme loads, I managed a 160 Gees turn

About the Bird's engines: Some may not like the fact that I clipped engines inside engines, but I wanted multi-mode engines kinda like the real one. So I'm gonna explain the modes:
FullSpeed mode: Both Whiplash and Panther engines are activated. It's the mode by default. Makes the bird able to reach Mach 3+ at low altitude.
HighAlt mode: Whiplash only, used at high altitudes, as the panthers will be ineffective. You can also use it at low altitude, but your speed will be limited to ~ Mach 1. Use AG2 to toggle the Panthers.
Eco mode: Panther only. For low altitude only, when you just want to fly around without too much speed. Uses less fuel than other modes. Use AG1 to toggle the Whiplashes.

Flight Instructions:

1. For the takeoff, right-click on the drone core behind the cockpit and "Control from here" or the NavBall won't be aligned with the plane. Then press Stage once to startup the M-21's engines. Full throttle, and pull up at around 110 m/s.

2. Climb to desired altitude for drone launch

3. When the desired altitude is reached, you have 2 drone launch possibilities:
3a. Real-life style: rise the nose a bit, then pitch down to begin a dive. Press Stage to launch the drone, level the M-21, and switch to the drone.
3b. MGS3 style: perform an aileron roll, and drop the drone when you're upside-down. Level the M-21, switch to the drone.

4. Quickly, right-click on the probe core and "Control from here". You now have full control over your drone.

5. Enjoy !

You can also just drop the drone cause you don't want it, and fly at mach 3.2 in the stratosphere.

The D-21 was supposed to eject the data package before self-destroying, and a C-130 would retrieve the package in mid-air. So mine can't land. But it has chutes, so you can somewhat retrieve it. If it doesn't explode.

Oh, and the M-21 has a braking chute, you can activate it with ABORT. It's not very useful, but the real one has it.

Aaand, final thing, you can access KerbNet from the drone cores of both M-21 and D-21, and have actual recon thing happening and place waypoints and all ! How cool is that ?

Download here

Enjoy !

Edited October 23, 2016 by ValCab33
Imgur stuff

[TwinKerbal]

For the cockpit: you can always have a MK2 cockpit.  It was practically made for it!

For the intakes: you can always use shock cone intakes

Overall, it's a great craft.  

[aagun123]

Great craft！

 

My old stuff

take off

 

separate

 

 

sea-skimming

 

zoom and dive

 

 

target destroied

[ValCab33]

7 hours ago, TwinKerbal said:

For the cockpit: you can always have a MK2 cockpit.  It was practically made for it!

For the intakes: you can always use shock cone intakes

Overall, it's a great craft.  

I hate the Mk2 cockpit for the Blackbird. It doesn't fit at all. And the operator is supposed to be behind the pilot, not next to him. The Mk2 Inline fits much better, but it would have been too much in the back and the nose would have been too long.

And I tried the shock cone intakes, but they weren't... long enough.

But thanks for the feedback ^^

6 hours ago, aagun123 said:

Great craft！

 

My old stuff

snip

Not bad ! 

[TheKorbinjer]

On ‎10‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 7:03 AM, ValCab33 said:

I hate the Mk2 cockpit for the Blackbird. It doesn't fit at all. And the operator is supposed to be behind the pilot, not next to him. The Mk2 Inline fits much better, but it would have been too much in the back and the nose would have been too long.

And I tried the shock cone intakes, but they weren't... long enough.

But thanks for the feedback ^^

Not bad ! 

You can use my 1:1 scale Blackbird if you'd like. I use Wikipedia images and specs to make them as close to the real thing as I can.

Link to the forum topic:

 

[EVA_Reentry]

Looks quite a bit like Eorin's. I like it