Looking for a SSTO/VTOL plane that has a cargo bay with a rover in it

[kerbalkhal]

that can be parked/attached again in the cargo bay. So basically a plane with a reusable rover or a rocket car or something like that. Plane has to be spaceworthy (read: re-entry)

Edited April 18, 2017 by kerbalkhal

[DStaal]

That is actually amazingly difficult in current versions of KSP, from my experience in trying to design something similar.  The problem is the wheels and the collision mechanic don't mix well: A ship never collides with itself, and wheels depress on collision with the ground, depending on the weight they support.

That means that there are two states for your rover: driving into the hanger (where the wheels collide with the floor and depress) and attached to the hanger (where they don't collide with the floor and are at full extension).   Docking the rover requires a docking port that's at both heights: It needs to be low enough for the rover to come in and attach to it, and high enough that the rover can be released with the wheels fully extended without them clipping through the floor (and blowing everything up).

These are mutually exclusive requirements.  A rover which is light enough and has strong enough wheels might be able to get around the problem by just ignoring it (the depression of the wheels will be minimal) - but 'light enough' will be entirely gravity-dependent, so a rover that's light enough on Duna might not be light enough Eve.

My current career goals require something similar (I don't care if it's a plane or not), and I'm iterating down to a design with a docking port on top, and using KerbalFoundries Anti-grav plates to rise up to re-dock to it, though I haven't quite gotten the design finalized yet.

 

If anyone has managed it recently (I believe the 'ships don't collide with themselves' part was a recent optimization) and can prove me wrong, I'm interested. 

[JeeF]

Can you illustrate what you imagine the final product would look like?

[kerbalkhal]

3 minutes ago, JeeF said:

Can you illustrate what you imagine the final product would look like?

Well a rover is a rover, something like this, maybe smaller

 

 

And the plane could be something like this

 

 

But bigger, so the rover would fit. But like DStaal said, its apparently very difficult to make it work, which is sad because I basically just wanted a spaceship that can do atmospheric flight and also have a rover in it so I could fly to another planet and drive around in my rover there and then head back with everything.

[JeeF]

Ah, ok, by hangar you mean a cargo-bay. That got me confused.

[kerbalkhal]

24 minutes ago, JeeF said:

Ah, ok, by hangar you mean a cargo-bay. That got me confused.

Yeah sorry, english isnt my first language.

 

Also it doesnt matter if I need to use cheats to make it work, like indestructible parts or something.

[JeeF]

Stock game? Are you using any mods?

[kerbalkhal]

45 minutes ago, JeeF said:

Stock game? Are you using any mods?

Stock for now, but if the plane requires mods then I will get them. Basically I'm asking any kind of working version of this kind of ship, with any kind of mods or not, with cheats or not etc

[Foxster]

Here's a stock SSTO with a cute duel-fuel rover I've thrown together for you...

Craft file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n2ydevh6lmge042/SSTO cargo ramp 1.craft?dl=0

Actually, use this one instead, the rover is better: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mr5419zvu0czafv/SSTO cargo ramp 3.craft?dl=0

Edited April 18, 2017 by Foxster

[kerbalkhal]

15 hours ago, Foxster said:

 

 

Edited April 19, 2017 by kerbalkhal