1.0.5 Hermes Shuttle lifter/deorbiter

[Mikki]

I made a replica of the French Hermes-Shuttle concept:

It is cheap, safe, lots of dv, few parts, no fuelmoving needed, easy landing, Jeb-proof.
The lifter drains the LFO from bottom to top (advanced fuelline technique ...), therefore it remains stable and doesn`t flip while ascend.
The shuttle has a Swivel and two Thud engines, the decoupler remains on the craft, containing a small LFO tank and the main engine (Swivel).
Behind the commandcabin sits a small LFO tank only for RCS, which can be used as additional fuel reserve in case of emergency.
The shuttle is stable in any fuelload situation, no fuelmovement for CoM correction required.
Perfect for small payloads or crew rotation, just put a additional cabin into the cargobay.

Keep TWR while ascending around 1.4, start gently and cautious gravityturn at 20000m, then hit the prograde button while navball is in orbitmode, engage RCS. While descend face the shuttle belly angular to prograde (radial), for full aerobraking efficiency.

Flying this is a piece of cake .

Mammoth is maybe OP, but hey, make it better!

Craftfile: https://www.dropbox.com/s/w3xl2np50bwxive/Kermes%201%20Lifter.craft?dl=0

Imguralbum from launch to landing, 10 pics: http://imgur.com/a/0jo6G

Edited December 22, 2015 by Mikki

[Rune]

9 hours ago, Mikki said:

The lifter drains the LFO from bottom to top (advanced fuelline technique ...), therefore it remains stable and doesn`t flip while ascend.

Nice! Always cool to see deceptively simple rockets that are really thought out. And a relatively obscure concept too!

 

Rune. Well done!

[Floker]

I really like this. I tried making a Hermes myself about a year ago using mk2 parts. It flew like a brick and was ugly as hell. That said your design amazes me even more. Well done :-)