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Heat Shielding a Plane


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You heard that right. I'm trying to bring a plane to Eve. Specifically, this plane:

EVE_9_Mobile_Air_Fortress.png

Ignoring how I'm going to get it there, the problem is that I can't get the heat shielding to work. I've been testing with HyperEdit, and it doesn't matter what I do, one of the wings explodes and then the entire thing tumbles out of control (not that it matters since it's useless with only one wing anyway). Even this:

Poofy.png

HOW CAN I GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!? :confused:

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8 minutes ago, pincushionman said:

Fly higher in atmosphere for longer rather than just plowing through it like you would with a ballistic entry? You've got lift-producing devices, use them!

Yes, that'd help, but the wings have no heat tolerance. I still need a way to keep them shielded.

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Just an idea...How about mounting a large detachable girder frame on the front and mount your five inflatable heat shields in a line along that? Strut it back to the wings for rigidity. Then stick a lot of air brakes at the rear to keep the back end draggy.  

Update...I gave it a go and I found those wings weren't protected by even 5 inflatable heat shields at the front. Maybe they are bugged?

This worked though...

EfzCLbl.jpg

Needed 12 air brakes at the back and a large advanced reaction wheel in the cargo bay to keep it prograde but I got it through re-entry. 

Edited by Foxster
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7 hours ago, Foxster said:

Just an idea...How about mounting a large detachable girder frame on the front and mount your five inflatable heat shields in a line along that? Strut it back to the wings for rigidity. Then stick a lot of air brakes at the rear to keep the back end draggy.  

Update...I gave it a go and I found those wings weren't protected by even 5 inflatable heat shields at the front. Maybe they are bugged?

This worked though...

EfzCLbl.jpg

Needed 12 air brakes at the back and a large advanced reaction wheel in the cargo bay to keep it prograde but I got it through re-entry. 

So I need new wings? Because if so, that kinda sucks, since I already put this thing in orbit.

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14 hours ago, Reactordrone said:

For things with low heat tolerance I'll usually add a stage or drop tanks that give a couple of thousand m/s delta-v and just slow down to 2000-1500m/s before hitting Eve's atmosphere.

Need to test this; I am using a tug to get this thing to Eve, even though it should have just enough delta-V on its own to get there. That should give me enough leftover to slow down

EDIT: Seems to work; now the problem is getting the heat shield off...

Edited by Brownhair2
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You MIGHT be able to get away with a disposable engine who's sole purpose is to slow you down/kill vertical speed.

I would try getting into orbit, circularizing as low as you possibly can, and then using your "braking" engine, just kinda float on down. You might need two engines, one to kill horizontal velocity and one to kill vertical...

Tis a challenge.

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Brownhair2,

Some months back before an update, I had a spaceplane that had a striking resemblance to the SR-71.  I would bring it back by descending/maintaining 70 kM, then dropping my periapsis to about 40 kM.  From this point, I'd increase my alpha to 15 degrees, and enjoy the ride.  The plane would level off at between 40 to 45 kM for a few thousand miles, eventually losing enough speed to continue descending.  It got warm, for sure, but I never lost anything of consequence.

My recommendation would be, descend and maintain 90 kM, then drop your periapsis to about 70 or 75 kM, increase your alpha to something comfortable that will create a significant amount of drag, but wont be uncontrollable like a deep stall, and start reentry interface about half-way around the planet from where you want to land.  Just a matter of perspective, I had to enter the atmosphere 135 degrees from KSC to comfortably capture the ILS 9.

Hope this helps.

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