ManEatingApe

This nifty challenge should also provide some inspiration. It's possible to do a lap of Kerbin in less than 25 minutes without even leaving the atmosphere! Tip: Flying west rather than east when you leave the runway/launchpad will subtract Kerbin's rotational velocity from your craft allowing you a higher speed relative to the surface for the same centrifugal force, allowing you to save fuel or use less wing area. @ralanboyle Are auto-pilot mods such as MechJeb/kOS acceptable?

I look forward to seeing your entry!

Borderline stable is still stable, just more sensitive to input, so you have to be gentler with the controls. Practice is really the key, however with a script flying for you this is less of a problem. "set steeringmanager:pitchpid:kp to 5.0" increases the proportional constant of the kOS cooked steering PID controller, see: http://ksp-kos.github.io/KOS_DOC/commands/flight/cooked.html#tuning-cooked-steering If your next question is "But Ape, what is the proportional constant of a PID controller?" then that is a complex subject. These links can help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controller https://www.csimn.com/CSI_pages/PIDforDummies.html https://www.machinedesign.com/automation-iiot/sensors/article/21831887/introduction-to-pid-control Well spotted. The "lock steering to <expression>" statement evaluates the given expression on each physic tick and assigns it to the steering controller. The "until <expression> { block statement }" also evaluates the given expression on each physics tick, and if false, also executes the given block statement. So the following code block: local desiredCompassAngle is 0. local desiredPitchAngle is 0. local desiredRollAngle is 0. lock steering to heading(desiredCompassAngle, desiredPitchAngle, desiredRollAngle). until false { set desiredCompassAngle to <expression>. set desiredPitchAngle to <expression>. set desiredRollAngle to <expression>. } is functionally equivalent to this code block below. However the 2nd code block has the advantage that the 3 variables desiredCompassAngle, desiredPitchAngle, desiredRollAngle are local to the scope of the loop, rather than the scope of the script. Keeping mutable variables as local as possible reduces the chance of programmer error, so I went with that approach. until false { local desiredCompassAngle is <expression>. local desiredPitchAngle is <expression>. local desiredRollAngle is <expression>. set steering to heading(desiredCompassAngle, desiredPitchAngle, desiredRollAngle). }

Took your craft for a test spin, problem is: script needs tuning to match craft (or alternatively craft needs tuning to match script ) My craft was borderline unstable i.e COL and COM were very close. This made the craft very maneuverable and enabled the wacky acrobatics that the script depends on. Your craft is very very stable, I can see from the screenshot (and messing around in the VAB) that COM is very far ahead of COL. This is great for stability but means the craft reacts slower. 2 suggestions: Adjust script: Change the line set steeringmanager:rollpid:kp to 1.6. to set steeringmanager:pitchpid:kp to 5.0. Your craft has plenty of roll authority but the slow reactions mean that more aggressive PID control is needed. I did a test flight with a value of 5. The craft no longer crashed into the ocean but overshot the max altitude so you will still need to tweak this value. Adjust craft: Move the side pontoons forward or adjust your wing shape to make your craft less stable and more maneuverable. Unrelated to stability I would also suggest waiting to stage your nuke until at least 10,000 meters altitude. Below that altitude ISP and thrust is low, so you're wasting fuel.

Hi @OverClock, welcome to the forums and to this challenge! Quick forum tip: You can type an "@" symbol to mention a forum user by name. A little box will popup that searches forums users as you type. That user will then receive a notification the next time they login that you mentioned them and their name will be outlined in blue (just like yours above). Regarding your plane, there any many things that could be going wrong - COL ahead of COM, insufficient control authority, script needs tuning. In order to help you I'll have to see pictures of the plane or better yet the craft file itself. The forum doesn't allow uploading files directly, so you'll have to use an image sharing site such as imgur.com and a file sharing site such as dropbox.com or Google Drive. So I'd suggest you do the following: Upload a screenshot of your craft to Imgur Upload your craft file to Dropbox Post to this thread including both these links (you can use the "Insert image from URL" button to display an image inline)

Sheesh, kids these days, it has to be vi of course Just kidding, Sublime with kOS syntax highlighting plugin...

This challenge has plenty of entries that may inspire you:

Quick question for folks participating on this challenge - what version of KSP are you using? The reason I ask is that I'm having trouble pushing a fairing past 3,150 m/s without it exploding on version 1.8.1. Wondering if it's something silly I'm doing or some changes in the aero-model.

My 2 nominations are... SSTO to laythe and beyond by @panzer1b Description Build a spaceplane that can reach Laythe in a single stage, and optionally, return to Kerbin or visit other celestial bodies. The first challenge I ever entered and still fondly remember. Why should this be run again? It's a natural evolution of the ever popular K-Prize challenge thread for space-plane builders who want to really challenge themselves. It encourages players to really improve and hone their space-plane skills. There's a really detailed and fun points system to encourage folks to try different approaches and go the extra mile. Ōsumi Challenge: Get to orbit, SRBs only, totally unguided by @Snark Description Launch a ship to Kerbin orbit, completely unguided using nothing but SRBs. Why should this be run again? Incredibly original and well thought out challenge with a fascinating real life backstory. There are new SRB parts available since this challenge was last run (Shrimp, Mite, Pollux, Clydesdale and Thoroughbred). There are new Breaking Ground parts (especially the KAL-1000) that would add a new dimension to this challenge

Thanks! It's not super obvious from the photo but the wings are at a slight incidence of about 3 degrees.

I think the inflatable heat shield as a nose cone is the way to go for maximum raw speed. With a quick and dirty test craft I managed to get it up to 3,500 m/s without even breaking a sweat heat-wise, so it could be pushed even further.

Here is my compact entry in the Lightning division weighing only 10.6 tons (plus 6kg of snacks ). Top speed was restricted to 2,670 m/s due to the limited heat tolerance of the Mk1 parts, but acceleration and braking was high due to the low mass. The last minute pull-out of the dive when approaching the KSC was dramatic! Total elapsed time was 27:37. A fun fact is that the entire journey was completely automated using a kOS script. If anyone would like to use the script and tweak it for their own entry then please feel free, source code is included in the spoiler below.

Thank you on behalf of @Muetdhiver @Jacke @Pds314 @IncongruousGoat @dvader @Rakaydos who made the thread and mission a success! Shout out to contributors - if you haven't already put all your photos into an Imgur album, please do so and I'll add it to the OP, so folks can see the entire mission in a single location.

Thank you on behalf of everyone who contributed to the Community Caveman Jool 5. Credit must also go to @IncongruousGoat @Muetdhiver @dvader @Jacke @Pds314 @Rakaydos Their creative contributions, cheerfulness and persistence were key to making the thread and mission a success!

Thank you, I'm flattered and delighted! The thread is still open for anyone casually considering contributing crazy Kerbal catapulting capers...