s1l3nt_c0y0t3

Is there some reason you didn't just use a mk3?

[Be more polite please, the KSP Moderation team]

That's a lot of part clipping going on.

We need tanks of just oxidizer, like we have Tanks of just LF. It would improve balancing builds, and make spaceplanes easier to fly.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/110647-Xiggurat-Industrial-Group I already have a standardized system. And if the terrain is anything other than perfectly flat, it still ranges from difficult to impossible to dock base parts on the surface on any planet with significant gravity (greater than 0.2G). I know it can be done; I've done it. I'm saying there should be a better way to do it. Just like you can build a space station with only 1.25m parts. I used to do that all the time. I still do it early in career mode. But it's so much easier with a part better suited to the task, the Clampotron Sr.

There needs to be a better way to dock ships while on the surface of a planet. It is difficult to impossible to use the standard docking ports to attach two base elements to each other with docking ports while on the surface. Attaching parts with the claw is easier, but tends to crash the game. Plus, the claw's dimensions make it hard to add radially to anything meant to be lifted in a cargo bay. I'm thinking maybe a 1.25m part that has a covered docking port on the end and accordion extends out and can flex around to connect with other docking porst despite slightly uneven terrain.

I've always thought of them as Kash.

Do you think you can make an SSTO spaceplane small enough to fit in a mk3 cargo bay without clipping? I haven't managed yet to make one that is controllable on reentry.

No one can land anyone on Mars without nuclear propulsion. Either nuclear-thermal, like the NERVA and Timberwind engines, or nuclear-electric, like SNAP + VASIMR. The dV is too great to do it by chemical rockets. You simply spend way too much time in a high-rad environment. Of course, there is the alternative of a nuclear-pulse engine, like Project Orion but that's a remote possibility.

If anybody else has used my designs, I'd appreciate any feedback or pics you have.

Yes, there are two fuel lines underneath between the lateral fuel tanks and the main body. I updated the zip for the WsTF, so you can just download the craft file itself. Just click here to get it.

Light spaceplanes updated. Next I'm going to post the light modular system for use at intermediate tech levels (tier 5-7).

Also, the mk2 tanks you're using are marked as LFO tanks. Your plane doesn't appear to have any rockets on it, so you don't need any oxidizer. Try switching those to just the liquid fuel tanks. They're lighter and hold more of the fuel you actually need.

The shape of the fairing matters. If it bulges out to sharply it can increase drag.

You have to actually have both your periapsis and apoapsis above the surface of the body to have it count as orbiting.