Cupcake...

Wow! It's beautiful in a hideous sort of way! Cupcake...

Thanks for lovely feedback! The craft is now available to D/L if anyone wishes to take it for a spin. I use a mod called EVA Follower to have Kerbals wonder around, everything else is camera tools. All the best. Cupcake...

CRAFT FILE: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/i3ghib5yldxavxn/AAACug_ikHyfQOFoYffZOBEca?dl=0 Presenting the Scalpel, a high performance SSTO that's terrifying, yet surprisingly practical. While designed to ferry rock hoppers and probes into the orbit the craft can also be kitted out with a detachable fuel cell for trips to the Jool system. The Ion hopper used in the video has been included as an example. With the payload safely delivered there's nothing to stop you having a good hoon at treetop height. CONTROLS: 2 - Toggle Engines 3 - Switch Modes 4 - Toggle Detachment Engines 0 - Toggle Cargo Bay Doors ABORT - Undock Cargo Port SUGGESTED ASCENT PROFILE: For ascending I'd recommend disabling the main pitch (located behind the cargo bay) and roll (outermost control surfaces) surfaces. Activate SAS and set full throttle. Ensure the crafts heading is 90°. Once the craft leaves the runway, fold the landing gear and build up speed while keeping your altitude low. At 1500m/s bring the nose up to a 20° pitch. Once your apoapsis hits 40k set the craft to point prograde. The rapiers rocket engines will soon ignite. Leave them burning until the craft hits an apoapsis of 80k then cut the engines and coast out the atmosphere. OWNERS MANUAL: A joystick is highly recommended and SAS should be kept on at all times. When adding cargo try and position the payload as close to the centre of mass as possible (RCS Build AID Recommended). I'd suggest draining the fuel from both pre-coolers when doing this. The craft is extremely agile but can be very unforgiving at low speeds when there's not enough air moving over the control surfaces. In short treat her with respect and you'll be fine! The detachment engines are designed to help ease the craft away from the payload once it has been deployed. Quicksaving/loading with a Kerbal in a command seat can mangle the landing gear. To fix this, have the Kerbal leave the seat then quicksave/load. Enjoy! Cupcake...

...ferried a wee bit cargo to orbit. Enjoy! Cupcake...

Heh all, I'm aiming to have this one released over the weekend. Enjoy! Cupcake...

Thanks for the lovely feedback as always. Cupcake...

Help Jeb get settled in to his private Island. Enjoy! Cupcake...

I'll just leave this here: Enjoy! Cupcake...

Thanks Daf. I think I may have found a fix for the landing gear bug which will be very cool if it works. Cupcake...

...is now available to DL for all you warmongers out there (BD Armoury Required). Rocket pods added because, well... they just are. They're mounted to the side docking ports so can be jettisoned easily if need-be. Enjoy! Cupcake...

Yeah, I'll get the military version uploaded tomorrow, it's past my bedtime here. Cupcake...

Will do, hope you enjoy it. Cupcake..

CRAFT FILES: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rd3kw0dapbjl5t2/AADQRqqTp4wApvfkz4eSZ1yoa?dl=0 Presenting the Hex; a medium dropship that's as powerful as it is adaptable. There are three models available; one designed for deep space, one designed for use on Kerbin/Laythe and one designed to blow things up. Thanks to a modular design the drive sections can be swapped over in seconds. The craft also comes with a launch vehicle with provision to build your own if you so desire. The standard deep space variant puts out just over 4k of DV which can easily be extended with drop tanks. CONTROLS: See craft file. OWNERS MANUAL: A joystick is highly recommended and SAS should be left on at all times. Rocket assist is designed to counteract the lag of the jet engines, it should be used for emergency power, fine control or bursts of speed. Mechjeb is highly recommended as for some reason it's the only way to get accurate DV readings! Due to a KSP bug quick-loading with a Kerbal in the command seat can result in the landing gear getting mangled. To fix this exit your Kerbal from the craft and quick-save/load or remove the landing gear completely. The craft comes with mono-propellent and RCS thruster blocks for docking. During re-entry position the craft 90* relative to the airstream to maximise drag and spread the heat load. The deep space version can make a powered landing on Kerbin at the end of a mission. The cockpit doors must be open to allow the solar panels to charge. If you're using the atmospheric model on Kerbin it's recommended to remove the top docking port and solar panels. ASCENT PROFILE: Ascend vertically until the solid rocket boosters are expended and detached. Gently pitch over to 45* and stay on this heading until your apoapsis hits 40-50k at which point set the craft to point prograde. Once the main ascent engines stop working detach the stage and coast out the atmosphere. Unlock the fuel supply for the upper stage engines and circularize/raise your orbit. Enjoy! Cupcake...

Brrrrrrrrt. Enjoy! Cupcake...

Brrrrrrrrt. Enjoy! Cupcake...

That’s odd, can you give me any more detail? Ta! Cupcake...

Finally found a use for the FL-C1000 tanks. Oh, and there's the Squall Mk3 more info on which will come soon... Cupcake...

I don’t know if I should be flattered or annoyed! Thanks for letting me know. Cupcake...

Spare a thought for the emergency services this holiday season. Merry Xmas! Cupcake...

Merry Xmas everyone! All the best. Cupcake...

Thanks for the lovely feedback, glad you're getting good use of this design and I hope you enjoy my newer ones as well. Cupcake...

Hi guys, I've just updated the Maelstrom Mk2. The medium landing gear that was causing all manner of frustrations has been replaced with the smaller landing gear. The plane is now much easier to land and of course less weight translates into better performance and more responsive handling. The trade-off is there's not much clearance so care has to be taken on landing/take-offs to avoid excessive angles of attack. Cupcake...

Is that a Wisp I see? Funnily enough I've just retired the design, it's going to be replaced in service by the Maelstrom Mk2. Saying that you go on enjoying it for as long as you like. No point having it if you're not going to flaunt it. Cupcake...

My pleasure! It was actually built in 1.3.1 and tuned in 1.5.1. Cupcake...

UPDATES: 1/12/18 - Medium landing gear replaced with small landing gear, balance/centre of lift tweaked, solar panel removed. 24/12/18 - Small reaction wheel added, craft re-balanced, aesthetic improvements. CRAFT FILE: https://goo.gl/1d4wqu Presenting the Maelstrom Mk2; a super manoeuvrable, high speed aircraft capable of pulling off bone snapping manoeuvres that can only be described as obscene. This new design replaces the MK1 SSTO version and builds on the qualities I loved about that design (high speed, agile handling) while doing away with the things I didn't (part count, complexity, some nasty flat spins). Maximum speed is just over 800 m/s dry and a whopping 1700m/s+ (Mach 3) using re-heat. Note: flying at this speed will eventually cause the engines to overheat and explode! When flown sensibly at cruising altitudes of 14,000m and above it's possible to get flight times of over four hours. When flying less sensibly it's possible to pull in excess of 180g and still have the plane stay in one piece. CONTROLS: 1 - Toggle Engines 2 - Toggle Re-Heat 5 - Toggle Engine 1 6 - Toggle Engine 2 9 - Toggle Engine Gimbals 0 - Toggle Cockpit Doors ABORT - Toggle Airbrake (Use With Caution) OWNERS MANUAL: As with all my designs a Joystick is highly recommended. The craft is extremely responsive and should be flown with a very light touch to prevent energy being lost to extreme angles of attack. The controls are set for maximum agility but can be dialled back for a more placid ride. There isn't a heck of a lot of landing gear clearance so care should be taken to avoid excessive angles of attack during takeoffs/landings. It's recommended to map the afterburner to the joysticks trigger as this will help get you out of trouble quickly if you see the ground running towards you! Enjoy! Cupcake...