Cavalier Aerospace Systems

[Jeb!]

Hello chaps,

I've just got a new machine, a Cybertron Palladium with an i5-6600K CPU and the new GTX 1060 6GB graphics card. Now I can finally build crafts with more than 20 parts without 1 FPS!

Now I can fulfill my dream of having my own space program. (Albeit not in real life  ) Enter Cavalier Aerospace Systems    A somewhat intentionally sarcastic name...

First off, we can have fast planes, high flying planes, and long range planes, but if it doesn't look awesome, what's the point?  In my space program, the most important flight characteristic is awesomeness! If it can hardly fly, and barely makes it to orbit, but it looks awesome, We have not failed! That should be our mission statement. 

We don't need mods here! (Except visual mods cause the stock water looks deplorable) Personally, I think SVE, EVE, and scatterer help KSP look a lot more realistic. Since they don't affect the actual craft files, I don't have to have broken crafts every time KSP updates.

I apologize if it appears I have copied anyone's designs. I try to keep all my aircraft original, and solely of my own work. Of course, with the same parts, it is inevitable that two crafts designed for the same purpose may have similar appearances, as has been discussed to death in this forum. I do look to this forum for inspirations, however, even inspired designs have my own distinct (not always positive) touch!

By the same token, feel free to use my ideas! They're not copyrighted or anything.     As long as no one explicitly copies a plane EXACTLY and claims it as their own design, I officially say you can always use these pics as inspiration for your own new designs. 

So first off, the KS-12 Equinox:

The Equinox is my first SSTO in 1.2, and really my first truly functional SSTO in general. I't was originally intended as a cargo shuttle, but after realizing the the space limits of the payload bay, I converted it to a 10 Kerbal passenger ship, a much more viable option for this craft. This is also one of my best looking planes if I do say so myself. The big wing strakes not only provide more fuel and streamline the profile of the airframe, but also give it a lot more lift and a more efficient glide ratio. The Equinox is powered by 4 Rapiers, mounted on 2 pairs of Mk.2 bicouplers. Once RCS, solar panels, and extra fuel were added, it became a bit trickier to make it to orbit. I haven't cracked it up on landing yet though! Still a WIP, I want to increase its range so it can be viable for docking and tourist ferrying missions.

 

Another SSTO, yet to be named:

Been working on this a few hours this afternoon, and it can get to orbit fairly well. It needs a bit of tweaking, but once this airframe is perfected, the 1200 units of LF in the wings should pay off big time! The fact that I can have the lift and fuel of the FAT-455 wings and yet still have a streamlined profile means this could be a promising prototype! The canards were deemed unnecessary once the COM was properly balanced with the COL. Surprisingly, this ship can still have fairly good pitch authority without canards at low speed despite the very far back COL. Actually more stable without them believe it or not. Main problem with this ship is slight lack of yaw stability. (Spun out of control once at high altitude) Haven't decided on a specific task for this plane, but I might even just take the passenger module out and keep it as a kool looking SSTO!

 

Please let me know what you guys think of these! I'm fairly new to this, so I need a bit of fine tuning to get my the most performance out of my SSTOs. Any tips or suggestions appreciated! If you like one of my designs, you could even click the 'like this' button if you so choose. Or because pounding buttons is just so Kerbal.

I'll be editing this first post as I build up posts here, so be sure to check here for any changes like espionage policies! 

When I have more time, (Watching the election news!) I'll be adding some other aircraft to this thread. More to come!

-Jeb!

 

Edited November 9, 2016 by Jeb!

[sdj64]

The wings on the Equinox look really nice!  The second one also looks awesome, but did you test it to see if the big wings can survive reentry?

[Jeb!]

53 minutes ago, sdj64 said:

The wings on the Equinox look really nice!  The second one also looks awesome, but did you test it to see if the big wings can survive reentry?

Yes, didn't have the chance to get screenshots, but it got into LKO and I brought it down again quickly due to time constraints. It survived re-entry alright. The narrow front section combined with the very wide wings in the rear give it pretty good stability in re-entry, closer I think to how a real world SSTO would have to be built. It's another story on climbing through the atmosphere at high altitude. High nose attitude combined with low speed (if I'm so unfortunate) means spinning out. Keep the speed up, and everything is fine. Still working on a solution for yaw stability. 

Edited November 9, 2016 by Jeb!

[Jeb!]

Next up: the C8 'Kerbmaster' cargo plane 

This craft was inspired by the C-17 Globemaster. Whether or not this influenced my name choice for this plane, I'll leave that up to you to decide.

 The FAT-455 wings are just not big enough when it comes to a proportionally correct Mk.3 transport plane, so I built my own even better ones! With a bit ton of hidden struts, the wings are plenty strong enough to lift the weight of the fuselage, while still allowing for at least some flexibility. The single LF tank behind the cockpit is quite enough for it to make long distance flights over the seas of Kerbin, and also keeps the center of mass forward to allow more added weight in the rear cargo hold. 4 large flaps on the trailing edge of the main wing help the pilot to keep control at speeds under 50m/s and acheive quick take offs and landings. Pitch authority is not too bad for a plane of this size. The C8's flight performance is quite unlike a real cargo aircraft however! The 4 VERY over powered 'Goliath' engines can propel it to incredible speeds for its size, and even allow this plane to maintain a greater than 45 degree nose up attitude while still gaining airspeed!

With all the cargo space and the aft ramp, there are numerous uses for this aircraft. I've made a small military style jeep and decent sized box truck, and several of both can fit in the ample cargo bays. Drogue chutes pull the vehicle out the open cargo ramp, and from there roof mounted parachutes take over and give it a 'safe' landing.

In a slightly modified variant, I've created a realistic ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) system deployed from the rear cargo ramp. Yep, that is a real thing in real life! Unfortunately, persisting glitches with the wheels I used for deploying it still cause it to not function correctly. (i.e., explode in a fiery inferno) Once I perfect it, I'll be sure to post it here!

I love this plane. Not very flashy or performance intensive, but very reliable and fun to fly!

Comments? Suggestions? 

 

Edited November 10, 2016 by Jeb!

[Karol van Kermin]

On 9.11.2016 at 3:14 AM, Jeb! said:

call this one maybe razor, cuz its edges look really sharp

[Jeb!]

1 hour ago, Karol van Kermin said:

call this one maybe razor, cuz its edges look really sharp

Hmmm, I'll think about that. Sounds cool anyways!

[Jeb!]

6 minutes ago, Jeb! said:

Hmmm, I'll think about that. Sounds cool anyways!

Ok, I really feel like I want to call this SSTO KS-13 Razorback. But it doesn't have a razorlike back. But fear not, we can fix that! 

I'll just switch the shock cone intakes with ram intakes and turn them upside-down! Build the plane to reflect the name. Now that's what I call true reverse engineering! 

[Karol van Kermin]

@Jeb! What about KS-13 Razoredge ? Sounds cool and you don't have to change its look.

Also I wanted to ask how high the trim on this one is?

[Jeb!]

57 minutes ago, Karol van Kermin said:

@Jeb! What about KS-13 Razoredge ? Sounds cool and you don't have to change its look.

 Hmmm, Maybe. Actually I don't have access to my new PC right now so I'll have to wait a while anyways. Plenty of time to make new smaller planes while I'm on my old laptop. SSTOing is basically impossible on it due to lag.  I'll be hanging around Kerbin for now!

As for the trim, I assume you are talking about control surface adjustments to maintain level flight? I didn't know KSP had an option for that! Is this a mod, or a stock setting?

Edited November 10, 2016 by Jeb!

[Matuchkin]

@Jeb!. I think if you remove three turbofans on the C8 Kerbmaster (and appropriately attach the remaining one), you will get a plane that can carry any fitting payload around Kerbin.

[Jeb!]

3 minutes ago, Matuchkin said:

@Jeb!. I think if you remove three turbofans on the C8 Kerbmaster (and appropriately attach the remaining one), you will get a plane that can carry any fitting payload around Kerbin.

O_o But where would I put the one remaining engine 'appropriately' where it wouldn't look weird? One engine would not be sufficient for this large of a craft I suspect, especially if fully loaded. Remember it is moar important to look kool than have range... and it already has decent range. I could live with removing 2 engines and leaving the other two for a long-range variant. That I will try I think. But then again, I already can shut down the two outer engines for fuel efficiency on long flights, and having the 4 engines (along with their thrust reversing) is valuable for short takeoffs and landings.

[Matuchkin]

Just now, Jeb! said:

O_o But where would I put the one remaining engine 'appropriately' where it wouldn't look weird? One engine would not be sufficient for this large of a craft I suspect, especially if fully loaded. Remember it is moar important to look kool than have range

If you put the remaining engine on the bottom of the fuselage, you can make it blend with the fuselage, using wings.

[Jeb!]

1 minute ago, Matuchkin said:

If you put the remaining engine on the bottom of the fuselage, you can make it blend with the fuselage, using wings.

:/ Ja but then it wouldn't look like a real plane anymoar... Thanks for the tips anyways! I may try that on a different craft!

[Jeb!]

A new long-range delta wing prototype I'm working on, loosly based on the cool looking Avro Vulcan:

4 Junos, and a LOT of fuel. The Junos probably use the least fuel of any engine. Of course, they aren't the most efficient considering they're way under powered for pretty much any plane larger than small. This whole plane is pretty under powered, but once at cruising speed, it uses practically no fuel at all considering the amount at its disposal. I wanted the engines and intakes to blend in with the wing, which I seemed to accomplish with this plane. I have a feeling this will have sick range. I can't actually 'fly' it per se except for quick screenshots because of the terrible lag on this laptop, but maybe I'll try flying around Kerbin with it when I'm back to my new computer.

So overall, not all that great in performance, but it looks kool, so I like it!