Jump to content

Elcano Challenge with rocketengineer1982 - Kerbin Circumnavigation ***Image Heavy***


Recommended Posts

Part 7 (Day 3): "Anti-lock braking failure" or "How to do cartwheels in a 32 ton vehicle"

 

F5A2Djx.png

Ted stopped 3 km past Checkpoint 11 to take a look at the upcoming obstacle.  Is he worried?  Nah, that frown is just playing things up for Mission Control.  If they think it's a hard journey, he will get more snacks when he gets back.

 

9ZISPvb.png

Another rock!  This time Ted resists the urge to do donuts around it and keeps on driving.  He doesn't want to get Mission Control ticked off again and lose his snack privileges.

 

ZWqS9Bw.png

Is climbing the hill a challenge for the Centipede Rider?  Not even close!  The 20 degree slope doesn't even slow it down, and Ted decides to floor it going uphill.  Eventually the Rider reaches 24.6 m/s (still climbing) and Ted has to ease off the gas or risk an accident.  The 20 wheels provide very effective traction and plenty of power.  Using the jet engine was not necessary.

 

S49X8pU.png

Ted crests the first mountain range.  From here the ground slopes gently upwards for a while before the descent will begin.

 

UpCP32w.png

Tedmore makes his descent.  It's relatively gentle so far, but it's going to get steeper and Ted has to watch his speed.  He finds it inconvenient to have to shift his hand from the throttle to the keyboard and thinks that some control remapping is in order to get the brakes controlled by a button on the joystick.  Mission Control advises him to wait until after he finishes the descent and is on nice level ground so the Rider won't roll away during the computer system reset.

 

HlM3TKM.png

And perhaps Mission Control was very, very wrong.  The Rider picks up speed very quickly going downhill, even with the motors being used for braking and reaches more than 25 m/s.  Ted panics and jambs the "B" key, resulting in an anti-lock braking failure on all wheels.

The Rider promptly swerves towards the downhill side and then cartwheels.  Fortunately, it lands upright and seems mostly intact.  All lights in the cockpit are still green - the Rider seems to be okay!  Ted grins in relief.  But, what's causing those explosions down the slope?

 

7ny2xL5.png

Hmm.  Things look less okay from this angle.  Ted checks his left side mirror and realizes that something is very, very wrong with the port pontoon.  Mission Control is back to yelling at him about doing stunt driving in a 400,000 credit vehicle - they're still seeing all green lights on the duplicate cockpit display.  Ted informs them of the braking failure and that the Centipede Rider is now only riding on one and a half centipedes.

 

69qVyG6.png

Mission Control finally receives the damage report from the Rider.  However, all cockpit lights still show green.  Mission Control assures Tedmore that this is a feature of all cockpits, and that it is nothing to worry about.  It simply provides Kerbals with the green lighting that they love so much.

 

YslvPk1.png

4Au1GfN.png

Tedmore gets out to inspect the damage and repair the 6 blown tires.  The Rider lost the rear two segments of the port pontoon, 4 wheels, two aerodynamic fins that helped with control on the water, two small drills, one RCS thruster that assisted with propulsion, and 333 units of liquid fuel that was in the destroyed fuel tank.  It also lost 4 struts that stabilized the rear of the vehicle.

The Centipede Rider is now down to 26.75 tons.

Mission Control insists that Ted sit tight where he is and they will fly a replacement vehicle out to him.  Ted doesn't want to waste the time, and believes that the Rider will be at least marginally functional while crossing the land even though the stability on the water is horribly compromised.  After a long discussion involving PR spin and snack allotments, Mission Control agrees to allow Ted to push the damaged Centipede Rider on, but insists that he receive a new vehicle before he crosses the next mountain range.

 

kVdQIhf.png

Ted carefully finishes the descent and stops at the bottom to remap the brakes to the joystick trigger.  Really, why would you have a button for "photon torpedoes" on an unarmed exploratory rover that doesn't even have a rubber band gun in the pilot's survival kit?  Ted suspects that someone at Mission Control watches way too much Star Trek.  That also might explain why he overheard someone at Mission Control yell to "beam up the away team" right after the accident.

 

n69Oj36.png

Tedmore continues driving as the sun sets.  The damaged Rider handles decently well, although he has to be careful when crossing sharp ridges to avoid scraping the water rudders on the ground.  It also exhibits an unnerving tendency for the aft sections of the central pod to shift during large power applications.

 

yWySsYx.png

Tedmore takes the time to stop and place Elcano Challenge Checkpoint 12 (0o 0' 18" S, 22o 58' 29" E).  The Rider is handling the terrain well, and Ted decides to keep going at normal speeds over the gentle terrain.

 

 

Full Part 7 album: http://imgur.com/a/xpvRh

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

This has been way too long.  I've updated to 1.1.3, but I just haven't had time to do the driving in quite a while.  I've got full time research right now (lunch break), but I'll see if I can post my last update when I get a chance.

Still going, haven't given up yet!

 

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had this written up for quite a while - I took a quick break to put the finishing touches on it and post.  My eyes were starting to water looking at the MATLAB code...

 

 

Part 8: Pushing on to Not-So-Unlucky Checkpoint 13

Tedmore continues pushing on in his damaged Centipede Rider.  He'll probably be doing this for the foreseeable future, so I should probably quit repeating it.

After I completed this section, I've updated to 1.1.3 and started using a 64-bit version of KSP.  We'll see if the increased precision provided helps reduce the number of issues I have run into with terrain joints and exploding flags (and Kerbals, but don't tell Tedmore Clone #8!).  So far, the 64-bit version has been very stable for me (career mode that I play when I have some time - I drive when I have time to sit down for several hours and get through a checkpoint or two).  This also has the added bonus of making the previously glitchy and rare terrain scatter not so glitchy and rare.

 

6xclZrz.png

Here's Ted driving onwards from Checkpoint 12.  Mission Control is still yelling at him to stop and get a replacement vehicle flown out, but Ted has his tunes cranked up and isn't listening.  Mission Control is starting to get suspicious because they keep getting intermittent blasts of "Highway Star", "Space Trucking", "Horse With No Name", and "Rocket Man" from Ted's radio whenever he accidentally keys it while keeping time on his dashboard.  The Kerbals manning the stations at Mission Control are secretly passing around earplugs... Ted likes singing along.

 

Lqbraaw.png

Ted is starting to wish that he had included more songs in his "Mission Mix".  Half an hour of listening to the same 4 songs is tedious.

 

K5aJucq.png

Ted stands by the Elcano Challenge Checkpoint 13 (0o 0' 23" S, 30o 48' 8" E) flag and presents his best "reputable and responsible" face to the camera.  Mission Control has finally realized that whatever limited influence they had over Tedmore ended as soon as they let him into the cockpit of the Rider.  To make the best of the extreme-anxiety-producing situation, they decided to publicize the accident and build popular support for Ted's "courage" in driving onward in a horribly damaged vehicle.  Of course, "courage" isn't what they call it when the microphones are muted.

To get Ted to present his best face for the camera, Mission Control promised him cake as soon as he returns.  Ted has sadly not realized yet that the cake is a lie.

Planting the flag at Checkpoint 13 went really smoothly.  There were no spontaneously exploding Kerbals or flags, which surprised me given that almost every previous checkpoint had some issues, and it was Checkpoint #13, after all.

 

 

Full Part 8 album: http://imgur.com/a/ppTfT

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part 9: Is this the end for the Centipede Rider?

Switching to using a 64-bit version of KSP and improving my terrain detail almost completely eliminated issues with sticky terrain joints.  The only issues I've had with blown tires have been trying to cross a joint at high speed.  I can also increase my cruising speed to 17 m/s, while still slowing to 6-8 m/s to cross sharp terrain joints.  On the other hand, I can no longer use time warp at all, so all driving will have to be in real time.

Updating to 1.1.3 seems to have caused some unexpected problems.  I find that the wheels consume more electricity than before, and also seem to have reduced traction.  Careful throttle management has become critical to avoid out of electricity - and I'm only crossing Highlands!  I can only effectively use 1/3 throttle without draining the batteries, which is barely enough to climb a 4 degree slope.  Nearly full throttle is required to climb a 7 degree slope (the Rider has roughly 90 seconds of battery life at that throttle setting).

No, these difficulties are not why the Centipede Rider might be permanently halted.  You'll see.

 

VOpoG0K.png

Apparently, either increasing terrain quality or updating to 64-bit can cause flags to fall down.  Ted already has his photo, so there is no reason to let Mission Control know what has happened.  They might make him get out and plant another flag, and he really wants to keep going.

 

ZgQWkmt.png

After crossing a terrain joint at the bottom a rise a little too quickly, the right outside rear tire blows.  Ted pushes on to past the crest because the force on the wheel is enough that trying to repair it on a slope causes it to immediately blow again.  Once the Rider is on the level or on a down slope, the wheel can be repaired.

 

DjLx1rj.png

The Kraken has struck the Rider again!  Ted notices that the two right inside rear tires are not turning and also appear to be passing right through the ground.  This could also explain why the right outside rear tire seems to blow so often.  While Mission Control is very concerned that this will be putting additional force on the right outside rear wheels, Tedmore figures that those are two tires that he will never have to repair.

Here we see Ted as he stops to repair more blown tires.  The wheels loading is very close to critical values.  Are the revised wheels weaker?

 

nbGXPfB.png

Ted passes close by a shrubbery.  Gene Kerman is unable to resist, and shouts "Ni!!!" into the microphone.  Ted is not amused.

 

1yyJZgp.png

The next mountain range rises above the horizon, and Tedmore can now see where he is destined to cross it.  Mission Control is telling him yet again that he must get a new vehicle before crossing the mountains - Ted grimaces and stubbornly ignores them.  He is planning to cross at least the next two ranges before accepting a replacement vehicle.

 

QXXYxpE.png

Unfortunately, Ted's plans may not come to pass.  After taking an unusually sharp terrain joint at 8 m/s, both right outside rear tires on the Rider blow!  Tedmore gets out and attempts a repair, but every time they get repaired, the bounce caused by the repair results in the tire blowing again.  Undaunted, he turns the Centipede Rider sideways on the slope to reduce the force on the tires and tries again.  No luck.

Ted tries turning the Rider back to the west so it points down the slope, and tries yet again.  Even simultaneously repairing both wheels does not work, and the tires stubbornly keep blowing.  With the right inside rear tires refusing to interact with the ground, the force on the outside rear tires is just too great.

 

pYdjRi6.png

With no further ideas, and Mission Control's unhelpful tip to "use more duct tape", Ted plants the flag at Elcano Challenge Checkpoint 14 (0o 0' 18" S, 35o 33' 46" E).  The Rider is almost completely immobilized and it is very difficult to get it to do more than pivot about the two blown tires.  Tedmore resigns himself to the fact that it might finally be necessary to accept a replacement vehicle.  The Centipede Rider has carried Ted almost a third of the way around Kerbin, and has traveled more than 140 km since losing half of its left Centipede.

In all that time, the Rider has not traveled more than 0o 1' 30" (177 meters) from the equator.

 

 

Full Part 9 album: https://imgur.com/a/jwFBr

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow! I don't know how I missed this elcano mission report for so long. Really nice job with your report, and that's an awesome looking rover-boat. :)

 

11 hours ago, rocketengineer1982 said:

Updating to 1.1.3 seems to have caused some unexpected problems.  I find that the wheels consume more electricity than before, and also seem to have reduced traction.

A couple of things. If desired, there's no requirement on which game version you need to use. So if you want to use 1.0.5, that's perfectly acceptable. 1.1.3 allows you to adjust friction on the wheels (friction control), as well as the torque that's sent to the wheels (in the form of traction control). Higher friction can help out going uphill, but will also increase stress on the wheels.

Unfortunately there's not much to be done for the extra EC consumption, except that I found if I turned off some of my wheels (for my Eve trip), I could reduce the top speed some but it made it overall easier to deal with. (But then again, if you have to send a replacement vehicle, then might as well improve the power systems.)

Excessive popped wheels. :(  I think a "grace period" was put in place, so maybe if you can fix a couple of them quickly enough. If you pin open the windows, you can have several open and try to rapid-click "Repair."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Claw said:

Excessive popped wheels. :(  I think a "grace period" was put in place, so maybe if you can fix a couple of them quickly enough. If you pin open the windows, you can have several open and try to rapid-click "Repair."

Thanks for the tips.  I had not payed much attention to the "Friction Control Override" button.

I tried repairing both wheels at once (front/back and back/front), but they both keep popping when the Rider comes back down from the post-repair bounce.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part 10: The recovery team is on their way

This one is going to have more pictures than usual.  Quite a bit happened, but I'm also getting more into the story of the journey and the characters involved.  Up until now, I've been trying to keep to the minimum number of screenshots needed to illustrate each part to try to keep page loading times down.  Now, that's going out the window.  I'm also going to be including more dialogue, and hopefully more Kerbal-esque humor.

Fair warning, this is going to be a very long one.  Grab a drink, a sandwich, or your favorite Kerbal snack before continuing.

Testing the Centipede Lifter went pretty well, all things considered.  It follows my original XC-120 Packplane concept, although I had to significantly widen the original design.  I also tried a C-5 Galaxy on stilts (Mk 3 airplane parts and Tweakscaled FAT wings) and two variations of cargo bays for transporting the Centipede Rider internally.  The Tweakscaled cargo bay ended up as a 650+ ton monstrosity that I never bothered putting wings onto, although it probably would have ended up something like the Messerschmitt 323 Gigant.  Making a cargo bay out of wing pieces was a complete failure as I could not get the aerodynamics (FAR) even close to workable.

So, I went back to the Packplane concept.  I threw in two antenna aerials from the engines to the tips of the vertical stabilizers for the heck of it.  They also have the nice feature of keeping the tails from flexing during hard landings.

 

Jgzpbi9.png

Roscia and Haltrey get some practice in docking with a Centipede Rider mockup.  Jebediah is in the Centipede Rider, just in case it gets partially squashed.  Ostensibly, he's there to see if anything fails, and what fails first, but you can never tell with him.  He might just be there for kicks since he is a little bit of a badS.

 

Z9eoEWK.png

The Centipede Lifter has to be backed over the Rider because the fins won't clear the claws.  Jeb now has a good feel for the size of the Centipede Lifter (scaled down blueprints just don't do it justice) and is wonders if it was still a wise decision to volunteer for this mission.  Then again, Gene came to him first and expressed his complete confidence in his ability, but after all, he does seem to get the most dangerous missions.  Could Gene possibly have slightly antagonistic feelings towards him?  Nah.  No way.  Not a chance.  After all, Jebediah never goes on about his exploits for more than 4 or 5 hours.  Well there was that one time... no, there were TWO times... or was it three?  Never mind, everyone loves hearing his stories.

CRUNCH!!!

"We have contact!  A couple tires blew, but no real damage," reports Jeb.  Roscia stops the landing gear from retracting further and begins extending them again.

Gene's voice comes over the radio, "Test complete.  Return to the hanger and get prepped for flight.  Congratulations on the completion of another dangerous assignment, Jeb.  I guess I'll be hearing about it a few dozen times over breakfast..."  Gene wonders to himself if it really was such a good idea to give all the dangerous assignments and bragging rights to one Kerbonaut, even if he is the four best Kerbonauts they have.

"What was that last bit, sir?  You broke up," replies Jeb.

"Oh, nothing."  With the microphone off, Gene tells a staffer to send out a memo that Jeb is never to be sent on an Elcano challenge mission, no matter how desperate the situation.  Wild cheering erupts in Mission Control.

 

eOPxvKa.png

Gene radios Tedmore, "Good news!  The latest round of testing was a success and we only lost 8 mockups.  The Centipede Lifter is being fully fueled now, and Roscia and Haltrey are performing their preflight checks."

Ted is ecstatic.  Sitting still, even for only a half-hour, goes completely against his nature.

 

aAGrsca.png

"Ground, this is Centipedelifter.  Startup checklist is complete.  Request taxi to the active."

"Centipedelifter, Ground.  Taxi to and hold short runway 09 using taxiway Alpha.  Like there's any other..."

"Ground, Centipedelifter.  Cleared to taxi to runway 09, hold short, using the taxiway.  I suppose we could cut across the grass or the service area if you really want..."

"Centipedelifter, Ground.  Negative.  We're still smoothing out the ruts from when Jeb tried that shortcut.  Contact tower on 119.9 when ready."

"Ground, Centipedelifter.  Contact tower on 119.9 when ready.  Centipedelifter out."

Roscia taxis to the hold-short position on the taxiway just outside the hanger and stops.  Haltrey tunes the tower frequency.

"Tower, this is Centipedelifter holding short runway 09.  Request backtrack."

"Centipedelifter, Tower.  Backtrack approved.  Position and hold runway 09."

"Tower, Centipedelifter.  Backtrack approved.  Position and hold runway 09, roger."

 

WFF0a1t.png

"Remember, Roscia, we need to pickup Ted's cabin before we take off.  At least this time we'll be able to pull forwards over our cargo."

"Ted is going to LOVE this cabin.  It's got a radio, satellite TV, a microwave, and lots of snacks!  It even has a hydraulic lowrider suspension system!  Boy, that cost a bundle.  It will be a great place to spend a day while we fly back the Centipede Rider to be repaired."

"You really think so?"

 

iMCzqYu.png

"Oops!  That didn't sound too good.  I hope we didn't break anything."

 

LuDaaJU.png

"What were you just saying about expensive suspension systems?" quips Halt.

"Guess it wasn't designed to be sat on by a 100-ton aircraft.  Don't worry, it looks like all four were knocked off, so Ted will never know that it ever had suspension at all.  Besides, it will save us some fuel not having to carry the weight of the landing legs," replies Roscia.

"Yeah, all 0.08 tons of them.  You sure you didn't work for Kerbair before starting here as a pilot?"

 

y5Ty5KK.png

"Tower this is Centipedelifter, position and hold runway 09.  Request clearance for takeoff, departing East."

"Centipedelifter, Tower.  Cleared for takeoff runway 09 departing East.  Climb and maintain 10,000 meters.  Have a good flight."

"Tower, Centipedelifter.  Roger.  Cleared for takeoff runway 09 departing East.  Climb and maintain 10,000 meters."

"Taxi lights, off.  Strobe, on.  Landing lights, on.  Flaps, none on this aircraft."  Haltrey scratches out that item on the checklist.  "Flight director, on.  Autothrottle, armed.  Transponder, code set.  Takeoff clearance, received.  Engines, on.  Landing gear is down, and all snacks are stowed.  Before takeoff checklist complete," Haltrey confirms.  "I guess it's a good thing they tell us to put the gear down - I'd hate to try taking off with it up."

"I'm not sure how they think we would make it through taxiing with the landing gear up," Roscia replies.  "I think the engineers who write these checklists need to get out more."

 

3XcTOEW.png

Rose advances the throttle to full and the Centipede Lifter races down the runway.  "Squirrel!" shouts Haltrey as he tries to stomp on the brake.  The plane veers sharply left before Roscia can apply enough pressure to the right rudder peddle to compensate for Haltrey's preservationist reaction.

"Please take your foot off the rudder peddle...  This is why you aren't a pilot.  I wish this plane had a passenger section."

"But we nearly hit that squirrel," Halt points out.

"First, he was running AWAY from the aircraft.  Second, he was 20 meters away.  Third, this is not a car - AGAIN,  We have more than enough ground clearance to pass over a squirrel without harming the cute little fella."

"He could have gotten sucked into an engine."

"Good point.  I would have hated to tell Gene that the mission failed because of a suicidal attack squirrel."

 

6YFHLmP.png

Roscia pulls back on the yoke, and reduces throttle to 3/4.  "Wow this thing can move!"

"Aaaaaah!!!" screams Halt.

"Be quiet and let me concentrate.  We'll be glad for the extra power when the Centipede Rider is slung underneath and we have to takeoff from rolling terrain."

A couple minutes later, the radio crackles to life.  "Centipedelifter, Tower.  Contact Departure on 125.15.  Frequency change approved."

"Aaaaaah!!!  I mean - Tower, Centipedelifter.  Contacting Departure on 125.15."

Haltrey switches over to the Departure frequency.

"Departure, this is Centipedelifter, climbing 250 for 10,000, departing East."

"Centipedelifter, Departure.  Roger.  Climb and maintain 10,000 heading 090."

 

KIl1u4P.png

"Centipedelifter, Departure.  You are leaving my airspace.  Resume own navigation.  Frequency change approved."

"Aaaaaah!!!"

"Centipedelifter, Departure.  Please repeat last transmission."

"Aaaaaah!!!"

"That's what I thought you said."

Rose smacks Haltrey on the back of the head.  "Stop screaming, we leveled out almost half an hour ago!"

"Oh, right.  Is it time for me to get airsick?"

"Just reply to Departure."

"Departure, Centipedelifter.  We are leaving your airspace.  Resuming own navigation.  Frequency change approved.  Centipedelifter out."

Roscia checks the gauges and fuel displays.  "This is much better than I expected.  We are cruising at 10,000 meters at 240 meters per second and Mach 0.81.  We have an estimated endurance of 40 hours and an estimated range of 34,500 kilometers.  The fuel we will be using to pick up the Rider and bring it back will be a drop in the bucket.  In fact, we could circle Kerbin about 9 times with this much fuel!"

"Great..."  Haltrey is looking a little green.

 

p6RqZNe.png

The Centipede Lifter cruises above the second land crossing made by the Centipede Rider.  Rose watches the external camera pointing to starboard and watches the mountains pass by.

"Isn't this great?  It was so exciting listening to the broadcasts from Tedmore and seeing the photos he sent, and now we actually get to see where he's been!  Do you remember the second land crossing and all the trouble Ted had with exploding flags?  I'm not sure, but I suspect those guys over at supply were pranking him.  Everyone knows that flags are made of a relatively inert material.  Even the label on them says, 'Guaranteed not to explode as long as not exposed to air.  Or vacuum.'"

*Hurrrk!*

 

gnUwCIo.png

"Centipede Lifter, this is Mission Control.  We lost radio contact with you for a while there.  What happened?"

"Mission Control, this is Roscia Kerman on the Centipede Lifter.  There was a little incident with Halt, an airsickness bag, and the radio stack.  It took a while for it to dry out again.  On a related note, I know you packed us a gross of airsickness bags, but do you think it will be enough?"

"Most likely.  If if isn't, just pop open the door and have Haltrey stick his head out.  We packed some spacewalk tethers for you just in case."  Gene tells a nearby engineer to remember to waterproof the radio stacks from now on.

"Look, Halt.  You can see where Ted tried stunt driving in the Centipede Rider from here.  It looks like some of the debris slid further down the slope, though."

"We're so high...."  *Hurrrk!*

 

kMpdCoj.png

"OK, we're getting close to the Rider, so we should begin our descent.  Hang in there Halt, we're going to be on the ground soon."

*Hurrrk!*

Poor Haltrey.  Poor Roscia - it's a small cabin.

 

FLRlNlu.png

The Centipede Lifter is getting close to the ground now.  Roscina turns on the landing lights and continues diving with airbrakes extended towards the stranded Rider.

"Centipede Rider, this is Centipede Lifter.  We are descending towards you from your 12 o'clock at 1,700 meters.  We will overfly the terrain near you and then circle back for a landing."

"Hi guys!  It's great to see you!  What did you bring me?  I want to get rolling again as soon as possible!  Does my new ride have the hydraulic lowrider suspension I requested?"

"Yeah, about that....  Mission Control couldn't afford to build another Centipede Rider - something about using up enough Plutonium-238 for 16 large satellites.  We're going to be shipping your vehicle back for repairs and refitting."

Dead silence.

 

AN4V9XI.png

Rose's voice comes over Ted's radio: "Centipede Rider, this is Centipede Lifter.  Requesting a flyby"

"Negative Centipedelifter, the pattern is full."  Ted pours himself a cup of coffee and takes a sip.

"Yee-ha!!!"

*Phurgh!*

*Hurrrk!*

 

3Gzpuvd.png

Roscia lowers the landing gear and swings the Centipede Lifter back around to the west.  "OK, Ted, we're beginning our descent.  Wish us luck."

"Luck," Ted grumbles.

For once, Haltrey seems to have it under control, but Roscia is sweating bullets right now.  She's tried this landing twice in the simulator with unfavorable results.  The first time, she hit an unexpected hill, destroying the right front landing gear and knocking the upper right engine loose.  Then the plane slowly rolled over as it lost speed.  Complete loss.  The second time, she got launched off an unexpected crest at well under safe takeoff speed.  She managed to get it down without any major damage, but she still lost both ventral rudders and the left lower rear airbrake.  Having to make this landing at night to minimize the time that Tedmore is halted isn't making it any easier.

 

OEewGtO.png

"Touchdown!" cries Rose.  She applies full brakes and deploys the drogue chutes.  "Come on come on come on come on...."  In her haste and tension, she forgets to activate the thrust reversers, but it doesn't matter.  The Centipede Lifter has come down on a fairly long stretch of reasonably flat terrain and gradually slows to a stop 1.8 km west-southwest of the Centipede Rider.

 

Pgbwfmz.png

Haltrey gratefully steps outside for some air and to repack the parachutes.  After moving the 92 used air sickness bags to the baggage compartment of the Centipede Lifter, Roscia steps outside for some air and to let the cabin air out.

"How are you feeling, Halt?" Roscia asks.

"Been better.  I hate flying."

"Then why did you volunteer for Elcano Challenge support?"

"I didn't.  I volunteered for Elcano Challenge crew - I don't get seasick, only airsick.  Of course, that was before I was on a flight seated next to the Elcano Challenge mission supervisor.  There may have been a slight incident."

"Oh."

 

uNLCEQC.png

With both Roscia and Haltrey feeling much better after their short break, Roscia turns towards the Centipede Rider and begins taxiing over.  "Here we come, Ted.  We'll drop off a cabin for you, pick up the Rider, and get the refitted Rider back to you as soon as possible,  They've got the parts they'll need standing by in the hanger ready for installing, so we should be back here less than 4 hours after we leave you.  Isn't this modular construction technique we use wonderful?"

"Yeah," Ted replies.  "Does my cabin at least have hydraulic lowrider suspension?" Ted pleads.

"Nope.  Not at all.  No.  Don't think so.  Why would you ask?" Rose replies innocently.

 

VO6wS5c.png

Roscia pulls near the Centipede Rider and stops.  "Here we are.  I can't wait to talk with Ted for a little bit.  There's probably a lot he didn't put into his reports that we'd love to hear about."

"He might even have stories as good as Jeb's!" Haltrey exclaims.

Ted comes on the radio.  "Did you guys bring any mix tapes?"

"Yes.  We've got 12 hours of mix tapes as well as taped voice lessons.  Mission Control insisted."

"Great!"

 

"That's funny, the damage doesn't look as bad from out here," says Halt.

 

 

Full Part 10 album: http://imgur.com/a/DFlxv

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, the flag at Checkpoint 14 blew up.  I was having minor instability issues with 64-bit KSP when undoing changes in the Spaceplane Hanger, so I switched to 32-bit for the build and testing.  Then I got so caught up in what I was doing that I forgot to switch back to 64-bit before I started the flight.  I only realized when I was almost an hour in, so I kept going and hoped for the best.  I'll put down Tedmore's Cabin in roughly the same spot and rename it "Elcano Challenge Checkpoint 14" and provide updated coordinates.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Part 11: Take the long way home

Been way too long again.  I think I might end up setting a record for the longest real-time circumnavigation - not from lack of motivation, but from lack of time.  I completed this section over a month ago, but I haven't had time to upload it until now.  I think will break it into two parts because it is quite long.

I've done a little bit of work revising the Centipede Rider.  Now it really looks like it is riding on a pair of centipedes.

I'm getting tired of having to rearrange all the images every time I upload a bunch to Imgur.  Is there a way to make sure that they upload in order?

 

17c14f6.png

After dropping of Tedmore's Cabin near the Centipede Rider, Roscia and Haltrey taxi into position over the crippled Rider.  The ground here is sloped, which makes the actual positioning much harder than the trial runs made back at KSC.  Several times, Roscia started to retract the landing gear to clamp onto the Rider only to find that the Centipede Lifter had started to slide and the clamps were no longer lined up properly over the Centipede Rider's pontoons.  On the 11th or 12th try, Roscia grumbles "Good enough.  I could be here all night trying to get perfect alignment.  If we have to shift some fuel around to compensate a little bit, so be it."

Ted is not happy with her flippant attitude about his circumnavigator.

 

Qw1pIJF.png

Ted takes a short walk over to where his cabin sits.  "Aww, dang.  They want me to rough it."  Mission control did not put any command modules or probe cores on the cabin, so Ted has to manually open the solar panels and extend the antenna.  Once inside with his snacks, TV, and mix tapes, Tedmore is quite content.  He even has a radio so he can keep track of the progress of the Centipede Rider's refit.  The transmit button doesn't work, but Ted doesn't know that.  It's probably for the best, anyway.  At least until he gets a chance to listen to the voice lessons.

 

r3WnReD.png

"All right, Ted.  We'll see you soon."

"Mission Control, Centipede Lifter.  We have picked up the cargo and are ready for takeoff."

"Centipede Lifter, Mission Control.  Roger.  Have a safe flight."

Rose revs the engines and begins her takeoff roll.  "Hold on!  This might get a bit bumpy."

Haltrey is looking green again.

 

g33SjvV.png

"OK, climb-out looks good, dials are in the green," says Roscia as she pulls the Centipede Lifter into a turn.

"Rose, aren't we supposed to be heading in the other direction?  I can't way to finish our trip and see the city lights again."

"We're taking the long way home."

 

EmLWkId.png

"Centipede Rider, this is Mission Control.  Are you suffering an instrument failure?  Our tracking shows you heading east instead of west."

"Mission Control, Centipede Lifter.  We're going to scout out the terrain that Tedmore is going to be crossing.  We've still got 3 bundles of airsickness bags behind our seats, but we might need more."

"Centipede Lifter, roger.  Guess Halt isn't too happy about the longer flight, huh?"

"Hurrrk!"

"I'll take that as a 'no'."

 

8zes7QP.png

Roscia and Haltrey fly over the next mountain range that Tedmore is going to have to cross.  Rose thinks it looks like it might be a bit rough, and Haltrey is still trying not to think about his lunch.

 

LxOXXeo.png

"Wow, Halt, I think the engineers who designed this may have overestimated the required fuel fraction.  Is the estimated range and endurance decreasing at all?  We'll certainly have no problem making it back to KSC."

"Why couldn't I have been on a space mission...."

*Hurrrk!*

 

H4WSuUq.png

"This thing feels too nose heavy.  Halt, transfer some fuel from the nose tanks towards the tail.  I think we missed the optimal grappling point on the Rider and it's sitting a bit too far forwards."

"Transferring."

*whirrr* *gurgle* *gurgle* *gurgle* *gurgle*

 

fnUj3pI.png

"There are some nice big lakes to the north.  Pity Ted is dead set on an equatorial circumnavigation.  The Rider is quite a bit faster on the water.  We're about 70 degrees east now and if you look to the left and over the lake you can see some really nasty mountains - good thing Tedmore isn't going to be trying to cross those.  He'd probably just strap a couple SRBs to the back of the Rider and go for it..."

*Hummmmph!*

"Watch the panel!  Watch the panel!  I KNEW something like this was going to happen when I saw them packing all the air sickness bags."

 

Tt7JJMe.png

"Well at least we got the radio stack dried out - again."

"Mission Control to Centipede Lifter.  We lost contact with you again.  Did Halt have another accident with the radio stack?"

"Yup."

"Roger.  Pity there aren't any other seats in the cockpit so we could get him further from the radio.  How's the terrain looking along Ted's route?"

"Not too bad.  The section around 110 degrees east is going to be interesting.  He's going to be paralleling the coastline for a bit and is going to have to make two water crossings before beginning his longest ocean crossing.  There are some pretty nasty mountains to the south, but nothing we've seen so far has been much worse that where Ted tried some stunt driving."

 

S8ihWAG.png

"It does not look like the estimated range is going down.  I think some of our gauges are broken...  Probably met your lunch one time too many..."

*Hurrrk!*

 

Fdq9fv4.png

"Oh my god those are some big mountains!"

"Mission Control to Centipede Lifter, could you be a little more specific?"

"Centipede Lifter to Mission Control, we're flying over where Ted is going to make landfall.  The mountains here are extreme.  I'm looking at 60+ degree slopes.  I hope that the refitted Rider is going to be able to climb something like K2, otherwise Ted might have to make a detour.  Swinging north just before landfall will put him only about 0.5 degrees off the equator,and then he can skirt the northern edge of the mountains until he can find a decent pass.  It looks like there's one about 178 degrees west."

"He's not going to like having to make a turn."

"Well unless he can get up 4 near-vertical slopes and down 4 near-vertical slopes, he might have to."

 

And thus the engineers as KSC began making rapid revisions to the upcoming refit of the Centipede Rider.

 

 

Full Part 11 album: http://imgur.com/a/LGmW0

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part 12: Take the long way home, cont.- AKA Random parachute deployment

 

dCQAeSR.png

"Wow, Halt, from this altitude I can see why everyone says it's an impact crater.  I was here last year on vacation, you know, and it just doesn't have the same impact when you see it from the beach," comment Roscia.

"Kind of unnerving, thinking that something big enough to leave a crater like this hit Kerbin.  Kind of makes me a little scared," replies Haltrey.

"Yeah but big impact events are really rare.  The scientists say that this one happened tens of millions of years ago and wiped out the Kinosaurs.  We aren't likely to have one happen anytime in our lifetimes, or in the next million years for that matter," says Roscia reassuringly.

 

gPvGFjJ.png

"Centipede Lifter to Mission Control.  The terrain we're flying over now looks pretty rough.  The ground isn't particularly steep, but it goes on for quite a while.  Ted is going to be slowed down a lot here," says Roscia.

"Roger, Centipede Lifter.  We'll be sure to advise Ted that he's going to need to be careful, but he really shouldn't have much of a problem.  You should see what the engineers are whipping up for the refit."

 

pU0gCVa.png

"Hey Halt, wake up!  We're over the Great Western Desert.  Doesn't it look so peaceful?  No one around for hundreds of kilometers, just gently rolling hills of sand."

"Unngh.  Uh, looks like a bad place to get stuck to me."

"I suppose so, but it looks so peaceful at night.  Anyway, the ground here is nice and smooth - Ted should have no problems."

"Got any wood?"

 

jLunuIW.png

"Fine, you'll feel better now.  The Great Western Desert is behind us and we're over the ocean again."

"Great, life rafts."

"Stop being so gloomy."

 

nurcL9N.png

"Ha ha!  I KNEW something was going to go wrong!  Hee hee hee hee hee.  We're going down!"  Haltrey starts laughing hysterically.  Rose things that he might have cracked after almost a full day of near-constant airsickness.

"What the heck?  Low speed and stall warnings all over!  Angle of attack is -40 degrees and we're rolling!  Oh.  Parachutes deployed.  Halt, did you have an accident with the parachute arming toggles like you had with the radio stack?" says Roscia.

"Maybe..." replies Halt.

"Well at least we have a checklist for accidental parachute deployment due to lunch-induced toggle short-circuit.  Maybe someone tipped off the engineers that you get airsick.  Let's see, cut parachutes... throttles up... accelerate to 80 m/s, pull up... and level off.  No problem - only dropped 3800 m."

 

WgtaaJY.png

"Centipede Lifter to KSC Approach.  We are 135 km west at 7000.  Request vectors for landing."

"Centipede Lifter, KSC Approach.  You are entering our airspace.  Maintain heading 090 and climb to 8500.  Expect vectors to the active."

"Approach, Centipede Lifter.  Roger.  Maintaining heading and climbing to 8500."

 

KPUGPCP.png

"Wow, Halt.  Ted's worst challenge might be right near home.  I never really looked at how rough these mountains are," comments Roscia

"Are you sure we're going to clear them?  Those peaks look really high," says Halt.

"Don't you even know how high K1 is?  We could fly over K1 with almost 1 1/2 kilometers to spare.  The mountains here barely top 6000 m, and the approach path to KSC has us crossing at 8500 m.  We'll clear them just fine.  Oh, and that's K2 right over there.  Look, we can see the campfires of one of the mountaineering expeditions."

"Why anyone would want to climb a mountain where they need to use a jackhamer to chisel out a spot large enough for a fire pit from the side of a 70 degree slope is beyond me," replies Haltrey.

"What about Jeb?" asks Roscia.

"Oh.  Right."

 

Wk5Sjio.png

"Centipede Lifter, Approach.  Descend and maintain 3000.  Slow to 150 m/s.  You are number 1 for landing.  Maintain heading 090 and report when runway is in sight."

"Approach, Centipede Lifter.  Descend and maintain 3000, slow to 150, roger.  We are number 1 for landing."

 

xMKPlPA.png

"Approach, Centipede Lifter has the runway in sight."

"Centipede Lifter, Approach.  Roger.  Contact Tower on 119.9."

Roscia tunes the radio to the Tower frequency.

"Tower, this is Centipede Lifter.  We are 19 km west, inbound for landing.  We have the runway in sight."

"Centipede Lifter, Tower.  Roger.  Wind is calm.  You are cleared to land, runway 09."

"Tower, Centipede Lifter.  Cleared to land, runway 09."

 

T4tGq6L.png

"OK, Halt.  We're nearly down.  Too far to the right... c'mon left... left... left..."

"Yeah!  Nice, solid, ground!"

 

v3rwWzO.png

"Aw dangit!  We don't have any drogue 'chutes because they deployed during flight.  Oh well, reverse thrust will have to do."

The radio crackles to life: "Centipede Lifter, exit runway when able.  Contact Ground on 121.9."

"Contact Ground on 121.9, roger."

As Rose slows the Centipede Lifter to a stop, she wonders what the engineering division has come up with for the Centipede Rider.  Before she left, she saw them assembling a new rear section for the left pontoon, but it wasn't even close to finished.  And Gene had implied that the engineers were working on something that would get Tedmore over the mountains with ease...  She hopes she will get time off to watch them test-drive whatever modifications they've come up with.

 

Full Part 12 album: http://imgur.com/a/gSRTr

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part 13: Jeb takes a drive

 

MtttS3I.png

Gene wasn't exaggerating: the design for refitting the Centipede Rider is something to see.  The engineering team at KSC started by removing the useless refinery and drills, and packed into the central bay as many batteries as could possibly fit.  To improve the climbing ability, they replaced the rear sections of the two pontoons with a pair of Wheelsey turbofans, which give the Rider a total thrust to weight ratio slightly greater than 1.  However, static thrust flow simulations found that the engines would flame out unless provided with an insane number of intakes.  The front ends of each pontoon were replaced with adjustable ramp intakes, and 16 radial air intakes were added (12 to the pontoons, 4 underneath the main body).  Solar panels were tacked on wherever possible.

Most importantly, the engineers decided to add landing gear to the Rider, so that if it suffered a blowout again, it could just be jacked up for repairs.

The water rudders had to be realigned to be slightly more vertical because they were causing "wheel blocked" errors.  Six Mk.0 fuel tanks were installed along the edges of the central bay,  They bring up the total weight to roughly 1 ton more than the original Centipede Rider, so they might be removed before testing is completed.  Additional reaction wheels and a probe core were also added to the central bay.

 

fh4mavw.png

As soon as repairs were completed and the modifications made, Jeb took the Rider out for an early morning test drive.  He soon found that the landing gear could be used for a high speed - although extremely fuel inefficient - cruise over land.  First on the procedure was to head west from KSC and test the Rider's mountain climbing ability.

"Let's see, head to 79o 20' 36" west, 7' 54" north and proceed with climb testing.  Where the heck is that?  Oh well, this mountain looks as good as any."

Mission Control gave up on trying to rein in Jeb a long time ago.

 

Fj8edl9.png

Jeb gets impatient and pushes the Rider to 55 m/s.  Cruising using the landing gear is surprisingly smooth.

"I feel the need - the need for speed!"

 

IZSvH6T.png

"Hey, Gene, this is Jeb.  I'm looking up at this mountain and it looks pretty steep.  You're sure that bunch with the slide rules know what they're doing?"

"Yup, should be just fine.  The Rider is practically a VTOL now.  Climbing shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't slide sideways.  Even then, you've got some parachutes, just in case."

 

N8AS9aS.png

"Wilco, Gene.  Engaging crawler mode!"

 

cMrs5QD.png

"I'm at about a 40 degree climb angle now.  No problems at all.  There's plenty of power available and I'm accelerating up the slope nicely.  The wheels provide a great boost to the climbing ability, and the alternators and solar panels are providing more than enough power.  Total thrust state: 183 kN."

 

pWNXm5q.png

"Bit steeper now.  It started to fishtail a little, so I turned on the RCS.  I'm at just under 20m/s and accelerating in a 50+ degree climb with 226 kN thrust."

"Roger, Jeb.  Watch your speed.  The intakes won't function well under 10 m/s, but if you hit a change in slope while going too fast..."

"Ah, you worry too much.  This is fun!"

 

ISESFrq.png

"Almost 60 degrees now with no problems.  I can see KSC from here!"

 

p8CSfwT.png

*CRUNCH*

"Whoops!"

"Whoops?  What's 'whoops'?"

"Only a little bit of damage.  Caught some air off a slope change and landed pretty hard.  I think I might need a recovery team - there's lots of blown tires and I lost some parts."

"The gearheads aren't going to be happy.  They just finished repairing the Rider."

"Aw, it won't take them long.  They should be on a K1 pit team."

"Where do you think we got them from?"

 

About 30 minutes later, after a quick bit of repairs...

CwshZgf.png

"Parachutes test out OK - very effective!"

"You're lucky Gene is on a koffee break - he'd have a fit if he saw you taking the Rider up to 120 m/s.  You should be glade you didn't go airborne."

"Don't think I didn't try..."

"What was that??!"

 

OF0PQsf.png

"Well it floats OK.  Quite a bit lower than the last one, though.  Speed seems to be reduced a little bit, but not much.  I think with the intake and the engines we lost a bit of pontoon volume.  Could also be that extra tonne, too.  The steering is also a little more sluggish, but still easily controllable."

"Roger, Jeb.  You are cleared for the speed run testing - just take it slow and think your way through it."

"When haven't I?"

"..."

 

hlEnFeJ.png

"Dang!  Guess the speed testing is over."

Jebediah waits for the Rider to finish doing cartwheels and settle out.

"You're going to need to send out a boat to pick up some of the pieces."

"C'mon, Jeb.  Full report, please."

"Right, right.  I got up to about 36 m/s on one engine without any bad characteristics.  Then I went to 3 engines and full throttle.  I got up to about 100 m/s before it flipped on me."

"What happened to 'go slow and think it through'?"

"You can't really go slow if you're doing a speed test, can you?"

"Not what I meant....  Anyway, once we get all the pieces back, I guess we can have the engineers put the Rider back together - again.  And you wonder why they never invite you to come along when they get off work."

"But I do such a good job testing their designs."

"Yeah, destructive testing..."

 

Full Part 13 album: http://imgur.com/a/6Ms8Q

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/27/2016 at 2:07 AM, Claw said:

Wow, that's quite the hill climber!

Thanks!  Doing the circumnavigation flight gave me a much better idea of what I would have to climb to complete an equatorial circumnavigation.  The inlets look excessive, but actually just barely give enough intake air.  I'm quite glad that they do, because there isn't room to add more unless I start partially clipping them through each other.

I also came up with an absolute tolerance for my circumnavigation.  KSC's runway is 2 minutes 26 seconds south of the equator and the tracking station is 7 minutes 37 seconds south, so I'm going to give myself at least 8 minutes on either side of the equator to work with.  I'd like to keep it within 3 minutes, but that may not be possible because there are some pretty sharp ridges in those mountain ranges.  My next installment will have more testing west of KSC, and the sharp corners in the terrain were a bit of a problem.  I'm pretty sure that I can stick to within 8 minutes, though.  That should let me avoid a particularly nasty spike directly west of KSC

 

EDIT:  That range directly west of KSC is nasty beyond belief.  70+ degree slopes and terrain joint edges at 45 degrees.  I've tried going over it several times, and it just isn't working.  The engines lose power with altitude, and I top out at about 4000m on a 70 degree slope.  I think I'm going to have to go around.  I might have to allow detours of up to 1 degree from the equator to go around particularly nasty mountains because only deviating 8 minutes leaves me with an impassible ridge west of KSC.  We'll see how close I can cut it now that I have a good feel for the limitations of the improved design.

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...
On 12/21/2016 at 4:42 PM, BubaVV said:

And what if you change jet to Dart, tanks correspondingly and try it on the Eve? Is it possible to cross oceans and do worldwode trip? Surely, with drilling between water stages

That's one of the changes I'm looking at to increase the static thrust and hill-climbing capability.  I've got a design where the two jet engines on the pontoons are switched out for pairs of FLT-100s and Aerospikes.  I then was able to switch out the intakes on the tops of the pontoons for more solar panels because of reduced intake air requirements.  I still need to test out the changes, and getting oxidizer will be tricky and would probably require refueling pods dropped by aircraft.

I could refuel using an Advanced Grabbing Unit on each pod (just drive the Rider into it), but I would still have to fly around Kerbin - again - to drop off the refueling pods.  Frankly, I'm getting a bit tired of making aerial circumnavigations.  Maybe I'll use suborbital lob shots to deploy the pods.

 

EDIT:  Aerospikes aren't worth it.  The time at TWR=1 is too low to really be useful.  I think I'll go back to the jets and just make some detours.

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

It appears that the Klaws cannot grab onto radial air intakes and so my previous method of attaching the Rider to the Lifter is not going to work, at least using the method of having the Rider sat on.  Back to the drawing board.

6PVMYe2.png

 

Album:  http://imgur.com/a/e7r9C

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Added link to Imgur album
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I worked out how to get the Rider connected to the Lifter.  A single Klaw is mounted on the centerline and grabs onto the batteries in the Centipede Rider's cargo bay.  The connection is strong enough to withstand 5G turns.

I had a couple problems with the starboard engines falling off the Lifter during flight and maneuvers, so I ended up re-strutting them.  Still need to run another test flight before approving the design.

2SMexHA.png

35dKnCm.png

 

Album:  http://imgur.com/a/GPrSJ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've solved the Lifter's structural integrity problems.  I'm not sure what changed since the pick-up, but something apparently did.  The engines did not used to have a disturbing tendency to fall off...

While waiting for the proper time to set out (so that I'll be making the drop-off landing during the daytime), I had Val do a little more hill-climb testing.  I also charted a reasonable path for crossing the mountain range west of KSC.

8oKaKyq.png

R0l0NJB.png

East............................................................................................................................................................................................................West

 

Imgur Album:  http://imgur.com/a/YD3QX

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Wow, it's really been over a year and a half since Tedmore, Roscia, and Haltrey, along with the regular gang of nutca-(AHEM) highly esteemed Kerbonauts (much better) last provided a progress update on their epic mission to perform what will hopefully be the first equatorial ground circumnavigation of Kerbin.  Poor Ted, stuck all alone in his small cabin for so long.  He must be going stir-crazy by now, or he would be if he hadn't already been completely off his rock-(AHEM!), um... completely and perfectly sane and stable!  Of course, because only the brightest and bravest Kerbals are allowed to train at Kerbal Space Center and become Kerbonauts.  No, there was nothing at all about triple snack rations for the first 7 volunteers...  And certainly, none of them are the slightest bit mercurial...

When last we left our heroes, Tedmore was sitting in his cabin, singing along to his mix tapes, eating snacks, and gradually starting to wonder why no one was complaining about his singing over the radio, all the while as happy as Jeb is when things are blowing up.  Meanwhile, a third of the way around Kerbin, Roscia and Haltrey were conducting flight tests of the Lifter and dealing with some minor stage separation problems - always a concern when it's a single stage vehicle - while Jeb and Val conducted tests of the refit, minorly explosive Centipede Rider.  Or perhaps it was the tests that were minorly explosive, and not the Rider?  Moving on swiftly, Tedmore is distracted, Roscia is dealing with unintentional engine separations, Haltrey is trying hard not to barf, Val is climbing hills, and most concerningly, Jeb is having fun.  Poor, poor Gene.

 

So, on the condition that I actually have some free time, yes, I do plan to complete this circumnavigation of Kerbin!  How long it will take, I'm not sure.  I may end up with the record for taking the longest to actually complete a circumnavigation of Kerbin, but it shall be completed!

Oh, and kudos and extra snacks to the first person who can find the Easter egg hidden in this post.

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Part 14 (Day 6): Great balls of fire

The latest update to KSP has made my game rather unhappy with my usual assortment of mods (~10 GB of ram usage), so I've had to strip most of my mods.  This section was completed using only FAR, Kerbal Engineer Redux, and a few visual effects mods.  Even with this light load, my computer was still not happy with the amount of memory required, and so refused to run faster than 1/2 speed.  As always, all vehicles are comprised exclusively of stock parts.

You can blame my inexperience with Texture Replacer for the altered appearance of my Kerbals.  Don't worry, Haltrey's mustache will be getting removed soon.

I also had some serious technical difficulties connecting the Rider to the Lifter.  The last update has caused my aircraft to start sliding across the surface of the runway, which was making aligning and attaching to the Rider nearly impossible.  I finally gave up trying to use the Klaw after spending the better part of an hour perfectly lining up the Lifter before locking the brakes and watching it slowly drift north.  Hopefully this will be fixed soon.

 

KSC
Day 6, 00:30:00 UT
"Oh-dark-thirty"

It was a warm, sunny afternoon, and Roscia was lounging on the beach at Wave-Off Point, thoroughly enjoying hour 7 of her 12-hour leave.  As she reached over to snag another snack from the "Box 'O Snacks" she brought along, Roscia's fingers found a distinct lack of Box... and snacks, too.  Reluctantly opening her eyes, she looked over to find Haltrey with the Box in one hand and a snack in the other, munching contentedly and looking decidedly less green than the shade he'd usually been the past couple days.  Roscia sighed, the sound of the waves and approaching commuter flight from KSC having masked the sound of the Box theft and subsequent munching.

"Hey, Halt," Roscia prompted.  Haltrey looked over, snack still halfway to his mouth.  "Oops, sorry," he apologized, placing the Box back down withing easy reach of both of them - where it had been sitting for most of the day.  Roscia snagged a snack from the Box.  After a minute of contended munching, broken only by the inbound flight on final passing overhead, Halt mused, "You know?  It wasn't really all that bad."

"What wasn't?"

"The flying."

"Tell that to our radio."

"No, I mean it.  It really wasn't that bad.  Sure, I was miserable, but we helped out Ted, and it was an awesome and wacky adventure.  Take connecting to the Rider for instance.  We taxied over top of it, and then sat down on the Rider to connect it to the Klaws!  How do the scientists even come up with these procedures?"

Roscia laughed.  "You're right.  They should have just used a docking port or something."  After a few seconds of thought, she smiled slowly.  "Even with the long hours, it wasn't that bad... as long as there were plenty of air sickness bags," she said jokingly.

It was Halt's turn to laugh.  "Yeah.  I hope they guys in Mission Control don't get any ideas about making a Munar circumnavigation anytime soon.  I think Ted's still a little out of it - he definitely was cooped up in the Rider with his tunes for too long.  Not to mention the potential for 6-hour air sickness.  There wouldn't be enough bags," he replied, grinning.

Roscia and Halt looked down the beach to where Ted was sitting by the water's edge, where Tedmore was meticulously making a sand sculpture of the Rider climbing the side of a mountain, alternately singing and muttering to himself about needing more thrust.

"I cut my nails and I twiddle my thumbs," Ted sang.

Roscia frowned slightly.  "Yeah.  Having him drive, alone, for days and days straight probably wasn't the best idea."

"I'm really nervous, but it sure is fun."

"At least they gave him the week off, though, rather than our two days," Halt mused.

"Come on baby, you drive me crazy."

"Yeah," Roscia replied.  "Though all engineers are a little batty.  I'd swear that when he was working on the intakes on his sand sculpture of the Rider I saw the suspension compress," commented Roscia as she and Haltry watched Ted work.

"Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire!"

Suddenly the sounds of the waves Ted singing was shattered by a horrible, loud noise.  Roscia looked up, thinking that perhaps it was the commuter flight departing the Island Airfield on its return trip to KSC, but there was no offending aircraft, and the noise didn't sound like a turbofan, anyway.  Frantically, Roscia searched for the source of the awful, grating noise, but there was no source in sight, and it seemed to be coming from all around.  Halt and Ted seemed oblivious to the sound, and as Roscia listened, she realized that the sound was becoming clearer, and that it sounded just like a telephone ringing.

----------

After a couple seconds of blind groping, Roscia managed to snag the phone off her bedside table.  Cracking her eyes open, she made out the time, and the location of the "pick up" button.  She closed her eyes again, and aggressively stabbed at the button before holding the phone to here ear.

"Mmmmmph....  Rosssh Krrmn hrrr."

The voice of Gene Kerman answered her from the other end of the line.  "Roscia, the Centipede Rider's refit is nearly complete.  Report for preflight briefing in 15 minutes.  Good morning."

Roscia's reply was to aggressively stab the "hang-up" button before rolling out of bed and falling onto the floor.

"Ow."

----------

Fourteen minutes later, Roscia dragged herself into the briefing room, a cup of Kerbonaut-Optimal Fluid For Energy and Excellence (KOFFEE) in one hand.  Inside, Haltrey was awake and waiting for the briefing, as attested to by the slowly forming pool of drool on the table.  Roscia sat down beside him, as he rested his head against the table, his half-open eyes staring at the projector screen currently filled by the KSP logo.

"Good morning," mumbled Rose.

"Uunngh," replied Halt.

The briefing room door opened again, admitting Gene, who walked briskly to the front of the room, a cup of Koffee in one hand, an overflowing clipboard in the other, and a folder full of reports jammed under his arm.

"Good morning, both of you.  Sorry for waking you so early, but the finishing touches are being made to the Rider, and we need to get it out to Ted ASAP," Gene said, before turning around to look at Roscia and Haltrey.  Looking vaguely disturbed, he paused a moment to dig through the papers on his clipboard.  Finding the sheet he was looking for, Gene quadruple-checked the numbers printed there before returning his attention to the two members of the Lifter's crew.  "Right, since you both have full crew rest, what do you say we get on with this briefing so you two can get flying?" he asked enthusiastically, hoping to get Rose and Halt to perk up.

Halt replied with a quiet gurgle.

"Ooookay.  Moving on then," said Gene, switching to the next slide of the presentation.  "As before you will be flying an equatorial course, departing KKSC at 01:45 UT this morning and passing north of KKIA..."

 

KSC, Spaceplane Hangar
Day 6, 01:17:32 UT

Roscia and Haltrey stepped through the door double doors leading into the main construction area of the spaceplane hangar and were immediately assaulted by a wall of sound.  It was like someone had taken the usual riot of activity and turned it up to, oh twenty-five or so.  Several aircraft under repair had been relocated to the edges of the hangar to make room for the Centipede Lifter, and a couple of half-disassembled light aircraft resided underneath the Lifter's wings.  Technicians were crawling all over the and the Rider, some riveting, some welding, others grinding, even more with airbrushes and the occasional can of spray paint.  Roscia noted that one painter was working on painting a panel seam, followed by a welder who was welding the seam shut, followed by a grinder smoothing the weld, followed by another painter.  She sighed.

"Less than 3 minutes to roll-out," shouted a Kerbal into a loudspeaker micrphone, "c'mon, let's move Kerbals!"

Hectic though it appeared, Rosica was impressed at how much work had been done to the Rider and the Lifter in such a short period of time - and how close the technicians were to being finished.  With the exception of the painter/welder/grinder/painter team, everything seemed to be going... well not smoothly, but not terribly, either.  As she and Haltrey watched, Kerbals were finishing their work and climbing down from the joined craft, taking their ladders and work platforms with them.  She flipped through the sheaf of papers she'd been given detailing the Lifter's refit.

""Well, at least we don't need to connect to the Rider this time, Halt," she commented.

"I can see that."

"It says here that there were issues getting proper alignment - something about a gravitational frictional anomaly?  Can't say I understand what that means...  Anyway, they've given up on the whole "Klaw" approach and have attached the Rider to the Lifter with a decoupler, so perfect alignment is guaranteed for this flight.  If another recovery becomes necessary..."

"I hope not," interjects Halt.

"...they'll replace the decoupler with a Klaw and then it's business as usual," finishes Rose.

As they were speaking, the last workers finished up, and the hangar doors began to open.  A tug slipped inside, while through the opening doors Roscia could see waiting fuel trucks.  A lot of fuel trucks.  She started musing about how it would be more efficient to have one GIANT fuel truck instead of a half-dozen small trucks, and then about the potential risks of a single truck carrying that much fuel.

Halt poked Roscia's arm, breaking her concentration.  "We should probably go get on board," said Halt, pointing to the stair truck that had been left pushed up against the Centipede Lifter's wing.

"Right."

 

August 30, 2020.  Well, I remember having the rest of this chapter planned out - including puns - but it's been so long since I last worked on this (January 10th, 2019) that I can't remember more than the vaguest outline of what I had planned for this part of the story.  It's a shame, because I remember having a really good pun that has since slipped into the abyss.  I also had a really, really good joke about "smoking and nonsmoking sections" that I can't remember.  *sigh*

Again, please ignore Haltrey's sudden mustache, goatee, and graying hair.

 

KSC
Day 6, 01:24:15 UT

3OXdVEm.png

"Preflight check.  Emergency equipment?"

"Checked."

"Fire protection?"

"Checked."  Roscia holds up a squirt gun before tucking it back under her seat.

"Nav equipment?"

"Windows are clean.  Checked."

"Flightdeck lights?"

"You can read the checklist, so I'm gonna go with, 'checked'."

"Crew briefing?"

"They're probably still trying to get your drool off the table.  Crew briefing completed.  Next item."

"Hydraulics?"

"Set."

"Yaw dampers?"

"On."

"Voice recorder?"

"On, although mission control may regret that."

"Pressurization?"

"Set."

"Speed brakes?"

"Retracted."

"Thrust levers?"

"Down."

"Parking brakes?"

"Set."

"Communications?"

"Set."

"Transponder?"

"Set."

"Preflight check complete.  On to the prestart checklist."

Rose sighs and thumps her head against the display in front of her.

E6Ohaqs.png

A few minutes later the engines of the Centipede Lifter begin to spool up.

SNFZwHH.png

"Ground, Centipede Lifter.  Request taxi for takeoff, departing west."

"Right-o Centipede Lifter.  Taxi to and hold short of runway zero-niner using taxiway Alpha.  Contact tower on 119.9 when ready."

"Taxi to and hold short runway zero-niner using taxiway Alpha.  Contact tower on 119.9.  Centipede Lifter."

Roscia advances the throttles, releases the parking brake, and the Centipede Lifter begins to roll.

"Here we come, Ted," Roscia murmurs.

v9ObFat.png

"KSC Tower, Centipede Lifter is holding short runway 09, for departure to the east.  Request backtrack."

"Centipede Lifter, KSC Tower.  Backtrack approved.  Cleared for takeoff runway 09."

"Backtrack approved, cleared for takeoff runway 09, Centipede Lifter."

yjXWeE2.png

Rose taxies the Lifter to the end of the runway and slowly performs a U-turn.  "I'm glad this thing isn't any bigger," she comments to Halt.  "We've only barely got enough room to turn around."

"Shh, don't let the engineers hear you," jokes Haltrey, "Next thing you know they'll want to build a plane that can carry two Centipede Riders at once!"

Roscia laughs as she lines up the Centipede Lifter on the centerline.  "Fine, but it's their job to get it turned around!"

YWhqMvM.png

m51cuBQ.png

Rose advances the throttles, waits for the Lifter to reach rotation speed, and slowly pulls back on the stick.  The Lifter smoothly rises from the ground, racing its way towards Tedmore Kerman with its precious cargo slung underneath.

"HUUUUURRRRRRK!"

Rose sighs.  This is going to be a long flight.

 

Kerbin, 21 degrees 6 minutes east, 7 minutes 21 seconds south
Day 6, 02:50 UT

MVPuldn.png

Haltrey checks the Lifter's position.  "Okay, the last checkpoint is just ahead below the clouds.  Tedmode's cabin isn't too far ahead so we should start our descent soon."

"How are you holding up, Halt?" asks Rose.

"So-so.  I'm doing okay for now, just don't mention sna-."  Halt turns visibly greener and starts fumbling for an airsickness bag.

Rose sighs.  "Okay, starting a very gentle descent."

Ha80uqC.png

 

Kerbin, Near Tedmore's Cabin
Day 6, 03:00 UT

sUkNPt3.png

Roscia dives the Centipede Lifter through the clouds and begins to line up an approach.  "Ted, this is Roscia and Haltrey.  We're here with your new ride!"

"About time!"

a2IupCo.png

Rose and Halt guide the Centipede Lifter towards a gentle landing near Tedmore's Cabin.  As they begin to flare for touchdown, Roscia asks, "Hey Halt, do you hear something?"

Halt listens and hears a faint sound over the roar of the airbrakes.  "It sounds like... Jerry Lee Kerman???"

"Uh-oh."

After touchdown, Roscia taxis the Centipede Lifter over to Ted's cabin and sets the parking brakes.  "Okay Ted, we're here!  Come out and see your new ride!"

n9E40T5.png

"ALRIGHT!  Gonna be... on the road again!" Tedmore sings.

Haltrey activates the decoupler holding the Centipede Rider to its transport and Ted climbs down from on top his cabin and runs over to the refit Centipede Rider.

"Sweeeet!  This thing looks amazing!" Ted says as he climbs up the Rider's boarding ladder.

DtnZYYm.png

cm7U8K1.png

He slowly backs the Rider out from underneath the Centipede lifter while Haltrey and Roscia wait for him and the refit Centipede Rider to get clear.

"Hey Rose," Halt asks, "did you notice that Ted's pockets seemed awfully full when he ran over to the Rider?"

"Yeah," Rose replies, "probably just stuffed full of snacks.  You know how Ted is - like most Kerbals can't get enough of 'em and hates for any to go to waste."

Ted's voice comes over the radio.  "I'm clear of the attachment point.  Proceeding with detachment checklist."

"Roger, Ted.  Let us know when you're clear," radios Halt.

The sound of a spacesuit pocket being unzipped comes over the radio.

"Must be snack time," Rose comments with a laugh.

Some plastic clacking sounds.  Click.  Ca-chunk.  Click.  Click.

"Doesn't sound like snacks," says Halt.

"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain"

Ted closes the Rider's access doors and slowly backs out from under the Lifter.

"Oh, no."

He backs through a gentle left turn, slowly swinging the Centipede Rider around to point east.

"Too much love drives a man insane"

"Please, no."

Tedmore sets the parking brake and spools up the Rider's triple jet engines.

"You broke my will, what a thrill"

"Nooooooo!"

"Goodness, gracious, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!"

kqx82KP.png

"I guess that means he's clear," deadpans Rose.

 

Full Part 14 album: https://imgur.com/a/OLAKrQh

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...

I finally finished writing Part 14.  I drove and took screenshots for Part 15 a little over a year ago, but need to get them uploaded and write it up.

It's taking a while to upload everything.  Imgur keeps getting stuck partway through the upload process.  I'm averaging 3-4 tries per screenshot.

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part 15 (Day 6): Tedmore takes a tumble

So...  I drove this part over a year ago.  I upgraded to KSP version 1.6 and had installed a bunch of mods for my campaign save... and then forgot to uninstall them before continuing the Elcano challenge.  At that time, I didn't have the hard drive space for multiple KSP installs.  The list of mods is pretty long, but all the vehicles are still stock, and the only physics-altering mod is FAR.  The list includes Better Burn Time, Chatterer, Connected Living Space, Crew R&R, Docking Port Alignment Indicator, Easy Vessel Switch, FMRS (a stage recovery system), Hangar Extender, Kerbal Attachment System, Kerbal Inventory System, KSPI, Kerbin Side GAP (giving aircraft a purpose), KRASH (VAB/SPH simulations), MechJeb2, RemoteTech, Stage Recovery, Station Keeping, Take Command, Trajectories, and a bunch of visual mods.  This was a big "oops", and by the time I realized what I'd done I had already put in several hours and really did not want to have to do it all over again.

This extensive mod list was also causing my computer some issues.  I later found out that the mods were sucking up a lot of RAM (pretty much all of it) and it was bogging down my computer.  I spent all of this session driving with 2x time acceleration - and it was still slower than real time.

I remember watching the in-game clock and working out that the game was running at about 3/4 real time.  Naturally, that was after I was already a couple hours in.  It made for a very long and painful driving session.

On with the show!

 

lRJj5pL.png

Tedmore speeds away from the Centipede Lifter in his new ride while singing at the top of his lungs with his mic key firmly pressed.  Behind him, Roscia and Haltrey prepare for a speedy return flight to KSC and hope to be out of radio range as soon as possible.

 

OiQTQJD.png

Tedmore spies mountains ahead.  This will be the first test of the refit Centipede Rider.

 

LnaQSZm.png

Ted makes a quick stop to fix a flat and grab some snacks.

 

w9JFzpk.png

hOxwUpV.png

It's starting to get hilly.  Ted fires up the central turbofan to help get the Rider up the hill.

 

bwXOcUR.png

"Remember, Ted, go slowly over crests.  We don't need a repeat of Jeb's testing accident.  The Centipede Rider is not designed to fly,"  reminds Gene over the radio.

"Roger, slow and steady over crests," acknowledges Tedmore.

Gene's next comment is drowned out as Jebediah screams "NEEDS MORE BOOSTERS!!!" from somewhere in Mission Control.

 

Jm5kuLT.png

Ted finds some weeds.  Mission Control resolves to send out a team ASAP to investigate this anomaly.

 

C9Y14P3.png

4y7TVOL.png

Tedmore takes a minute to admire the view before planting the flag marking Elcano Challenge Checkpoint 15 (0o 0' 45" S, 38o 17' 8" E).  Behind him in the distance, the refit Centipede Rider sits 2 seconds north of the equator.

 

iF8ZCmM.png

uhipR6T.png

Ted skillfully pilots the Centipede Rider up the first ridge.  

 

vL2ZRwR.png

The descent is a bit trickier, and requires reverse thrust and careful use of the brakes.  Ted stops the Rider at the bottom of the ridge and radios mission control that he's getting out to check ground clearance under nose before proceeding.

"How much clearance do you have, Ted?" asks Gene.

Ted chews his lip while looking back and forth between the nose of the Rider 10 centimeters from the ground and the end of the boarding ladder buried in the dirt.  "Uh... plenty."

"Okay, cleared to proceed."

 

UudINct.png

Ted contacts Mission Control to report a magic boulder.

 

x7h8qoM.png

Climbing the next ridge again poses little challenge for the triple turbofans of the refit Centipede Rider.  The descent, however, has Tedmore slightly worried.

 

TsrYsL7.png

IZSEwXH.png

YJ9aZql.png

The next ridge poses a substantial challenge, however.

"Proceeding to climb the ridge.  Ascent angle is fluctuating between 40 and 50 degrees.  Approaching the crest.  Slowing."

Gene and the rest of the Kerbals in Mission Control hold their breath as the Rider crests the ridge.

"Ascent angle is down to 30 degrees.  Cresting."

The telemetry display in Mission Control reads a steady 28 degree climb before slowly tipping over into a 40 degree descent.  The Rider's speed builds quickly and Tedmore is forced to deploy the parachutes as it passes 30 m/s in a 50 degree descent.  Everyone in Mission Control breathes a sigh of relief as they watch the vehicle return to a safe speed.  It's a few seconds before Gene notices that Ted's status updates have stopped.

"Ted, do you read?  You've stopped transmitting."

"Ted here.  I'm descending at 10 meters per second.  Everything is okay... now."

"Roger.  We didn't receive your transmissions right after you crested the ridge.  Repeat them please," says Gene.

"Errrm... are you sure you want a long string of expletives on the official record?"

 

ocS6bIZ.png

"That's funny, the ridge doesn't look as bad from here," comments Ted.

 

After driving another couple kilometers, Tedmore is working his way along the side of a small ridge when several tires suddenly blow out.  He brakes the Centipede Rider to a halt.

"Mission Control, I've had another blowout.  It's causing problems, so I'm going to get out here to fix it."

"Roger Ted.  Be careful."

"Will do."

Ted climbs out of the Centipede Rider's hatch and down the ladder.  He sets one foot on the ground and...

"WOA-AAAAAAAHH!" screams Ted.

zbhB25l.png

hsmp4Y5.png

After tumbling a goodly way down a mountainside, Tedmore finally gets his feet back under him.

"Ted, are you okay?"

"Doing fine, Mission Control.  Looks like I'm going to be stretching my legs a little more than anticipated."

 

VQVYEAH.png

q5zcYNH.png

After a quick hike, Tedmore fixes the flats and continues on his journey as the sun sets.

 

KL4a2TK.png

The Centipede Rider crosses another ridge, this time in the dark...

 

93mhCnL.png

...and continues on, 33 tonnes of speeding metal... all alone in the night.

It can be a dangerous pace, but it's our last, best hope for peace.  This is the story of the last of the...

Wait, hang on. 

-paper rustling-

Sorry folks, wrong script.

 

Full Part 15 album: https://imgur.com/gallery/auocOyw

Edited by rocketengineer1982
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...