RocketPilot573

The artwork and sound design is really cool! The game is super dressed up I love it. -RC

As long as it works for full release I'll be happy. It's been a long wait but we'll get there someday. -RP

I'm sure something similar could be used as a swash plate. However, helicopter rotors are under some serious load. They have to support the entire weight of the helicopter (lift) and stay together when rotating super fast... And then the blades have to tilt and steer in various directions... This grid fin mechanism is no where near strong enough neither can it spin. I tried to make something like that once but never got any far. Maybe with the right amount of struts... (I too would love to see a proper stock helicopter with a swash plate, I'm sure there is a way!) -Rocket

Because I wanted grid fins... https://gfycat.com/SophisticatedVerifiableHeron Unfortunately they don't make any lift... But that's ok I was going mostly for looks. Does anyone know how to make control surfaces operate inside a fairing? I would love it if the the grid fin actuators could be hidden inside an interstage. -Rocket

Today I launched my Kerba rocket, a replica of ESA's Vega. This is a cheap rocket good for putting small payloads such as satellites or science experiments into LKO. Liftoff! There is always a worry that the main booster will explode with these designs because of the seven SRBs stuffed into the first stage. The Kerba broke the sound barrier very quickly. This kind of rocket takes some skill to fly correctly, especially when aiming for a specific orbit. After separation, the first stage was pulled back by six seperatrons. Second stage ignition was a bit shaky. The rocket has little control authority due to a lack of thrust vectoring and roll control being provided by the upper stage. The rocket coasted toward the AP for a moment before igniting the third stage. The fairing were supposed to jettison shortly after third stage ignition, however this was delayed due to a "software issue," causing slight under-performance. This was resolved before third stage engine cutoff Regardless, the 1.5 ton dummy payload was successfully delivered to a 160 km orbit. -Rocket

I launched my Ariane 5 replica for the first time. I had tested the boosters prior to this however the main rocket stack had never been tested in flight before. This was the first attempt. Liftoff! The roll control was extremely sluggish. IRL the boosters are supposed to gimbal, however in KSP my only option was clipping small control surfaces in the boosters, which were not as effective as I had hoped. After flying a very steep trajectory, the booster separated. Speed at booster sep was very low... Ariane 5 has a both a low thrust core stage and upper stage so this was a race against gravity. Fairing Sep. The payload for this flight was a 36 ton orange tank, though I'm pretty sure this rocket can lift more. Maybe 50 tons. The core stage actually had more than enough delta-V to reach orbit and beyond. But stage 1 flight was cut short when I accidentally hit spacebar. The upper stage reached Mun orbit before running out of fuel. If the core stage didn't leave unexpectedly this would have reached Duna. -Rocket

I found out my New Jeb first stage (New Glenn replica) glides surprisingly well. -Rocket

Someday I will build a rocket... but not today. -Rocket

Absolutely! This is a New Glenn replica. -Rocket

Today I'm gonna assemble a rocket... The hard way. -Rocket

Thanks. I have to admit the orientation of the diagonal beams looked a bit odd to me when I was building it, but I was mostly going for look and low part count. That's how I ended up with the single diagonal beams in 4x radial symmetry. I'll look into adjusting the design as long as it doesn't increase part count. The pad is already 200 parts and the rocket is maybe 500. -Rocket

I landed my rocket on the VAB. -Rocket

Hello again! I have another update for everyone (again?)! Very significant progress was made! First, a prototype of the crew access arm was installed on the previously mentioned launch tower. Mike Kerman trying out the access arm. The arm is able to rotate outwards however it is not fully functional yet. I also once again attempted to integrate an upper stage to the booster using the VIF (Vertical Integration Facility). The upper stage was lifted to the top of the build to allow the booster stage to move in. The VIF doors have been upgraded so that they can dock in the open position, allowing them to survive reloads. Mike Kerman drove the transporter into the hangar. Then began the dramatic process of lowering the upper stage onto the booster. In order for this to be successful both pairs of Jr. docking ports must latch and be properly aligned. It was at this point that I very slowly lowered the gantry crane, carefully maneuvering it with its four vector engines. Docked?! Docking confirmed! Upper stage is now integrated! The New Jeb Rocket stands proud with its upper stage properly attached. Afterwards, the gantry crane moved back to the top of the VIF, reset the horizontal crane to the front of the hangar, and lowered back down. At this point, the fairing would be rolled into the VIF and attached to the crane so it too could be placed on top of the New Jeb, but that will be for later. Next time: Hopefully integrating an entire stack and rolling out to the pad. -Rocket

Hello again! Today I have another quick update on my vertical integration project for you all. I began construction on the launch pad from which the New Jeb will launch from. The New Jeb's transporter will roll the rocket onto the pad, where it will dock to the structure. The pad is designed to help the transporter withstand the immense weight of the fully fueled rocket. I will probably make use of auto-strut to fully secure the pad base to the booster. The pad is also heavy enough (700+ tons) to prevent the rocket from accidentally lifting the entire thing of the ground. I was only able to test the integration of the booster stage alone because I have yet to actually assemble a complete rocket. Nonetheless the transporter successfully latched to the pad base. Mike Kerman checking out the pad to make sure everything is safe. Roof is safe! MIke Kerman proceeded to leap off the roof insisting that the rocket stage required further inspection. This is where the upper stage engine would be if I could actually get it integrated properly... I also started considering ways to fuel the rocket prior to launch. So far I have come up with this fuel tank, which would be connected to the launch pad. The New Jeb needs at least 12 Kerbodyne tanks for fueling. Unfortunately this pad tank only has 9 of those, which means the pad would need 2 tanks. -Rocket

Today I have a very quick update for you all. I noticed that despite the huge wing strakes, the New Jeb was very difficult to maneuver during descent. Particularly, roll control was an issue. Whenever the rocket pitched "up," the lifting forces of the wings were so much that the vehicle would roll uncontrollably, which caused it to spiral downwards, negating the promised cross range capability of the wings. I added the big shuttle control surfaces (the 2nd largest ones) which fixed the problem. The extra control authority along with higher actuation speed keeps the booster under control easily. I eagerly put this to the test to see how accurately I could land it at a target. I aimed the camera directly downward so I could see precisely where the booster was flying over. That along with the navball targeting enabled me to guide the rocket straight in. This cropped imaged shows a close up of the fins in action. They are clipped in to keep true to the proper look of New Glenn's fins (this craft is a replica so I am making few compromises on the looks). Stay on target! The rocket is able to make surprisingly aggressive maneuvers with those wing strakes, but that is not needed here. I imagine the booster could alter its landing spot by several kilometers with just the wings alone. Landing burn always starts at 2 km. However I will probably lower this because the booster now descends at slower speeds due to the wings. I will continue work on the VIF in the coming days. There are several hurdles I have yet to overcome. Namely vertically integrating stages safely, especially without angering auto-struts, will be interesting. -Rocket

WOW! That LEM looks amazing! I can hardly wait to see more parts as they come along! Like other, consider my faith restored! Even if I hadn't purchased before April 2013 I'd purchase the expansion in a heart-beat. -Rocket

Due to some upgrades, my first stage booster was able to land a little more on target than expected. -Rocket

I see the hype train has reached it's peak speed of 0 posts per hour. Come on guys we need more than 1 lump of hype coal in the boiler! In all seriousness I think this is a reasonable update. Localization looks like it took a while, but I'm sure it will be worth it for non English speakers. Besides, 1.2 has been one of if not the best version of the game ever, it's not like we desperately need a massive update. Any ideas when the prerelease will be out today? -Rocket

Ah good idea! Silly me forgot about spoilers, which is odd because I use them regularly... I'll fix it now. EDIT: and now the gif wont work...

(WARNING: many pictures)

This weekend I made very promising progress on my vertical integration project. My first task was to create the horizontal component of the gantry crane. This horizontal crane is necessary for moving rocket stages to the back section of the facility, which will be important later. The stage is lifted up on wheels and rolled to the other set of docking ports. I forgot to add bumpers at the end of the track so I must be careful to not move to far, else the stage fall to the ground! Success! With the horizontal crane functioning, I went on to fix the vertical crane. The solution turned out to be simple: Replace the jet engines with vectors! The gantry crane is kept stable mostly by the SAS (set to radial out, or straight up) using thrust vectoring, reaction wheels, and RCS. The crane is mostly safe as long as it is controlled carefully and limited to a slow speed of about 5 m/s. I added docking ports at the top of the building to give the crane a resting spot. Once the stage is lifted to the top, it must be horizontally transferred to the back of the hangar before being lowered onto the rocket stack. A preview of the integration process: Here we can see the upper stage, held by the gantry crane, waiting to be lifted to the top of the hangar. The first stage booster sits in the back of the hanger, standing on it's transporter (transporter not pictured). Next up, I fixed the first stage transporter. This rover is designed to recover a landed rocket booster, raise it off the ground by about 1 meter, and transport it to the hangar. I also plan to have it transport the full rocket stack out to the pad, and now that I think of it, it will probably BE the launch pad! Finally, I "launched" the VIF out to the runway, which somehow made the huge, 5 meter-diameter booster look tiny. While the booster would be able to fit through the gap in the VIF's wall, the transporter was far too wide. So the lower section of the front wall would have to rotate out of the way. As such, devised a set of doors at the bottom of the hanger. Unfortunately due to my incompetence, I installed the door hinges backwards preventing the doors form opening adequately. The very tall booster nearly toppled over trying to make it up the runway slope, but it made it. Yep, that's not gonna fit. -Rocket

The Ant and Spider are the only engines that I do not have on any of my craft currently. Though I don't usually use the Twin Boar, it is good for whipping up a simple rocket that works. -Rocket

I continued work on my rocket recovering and vertical integration project. Last night I made the first version of the 1st stage transport vehicle. The transporter moves to the rocket. It is designed to lift of booster off the ground and transport it to the VIF. Lining up the transporter with the docking ports is easy thanks to the differential tank style turning the wheels have. The transporter has a lift-able truss section actuated by airbrakes. The section is supposed to drop down, dock to the booster, and lift it up. Once the ports align, the shields are opened and they dock. Naturally, lifting the entire 150 ton booster with airbrakes can be... difficult. Eventually I ended up cheating and used the rocket engines. Success! -Rocket

Adding clouds obviously. I wish. -Rocket

I'm considering trying this challenge sometime. Maybe within a month or two. This looks really fun and I need an excuse to make a shuttle. -Rocket