Kerbolet Teton K1000 (Proof of Concept)

[Tex]

Howdy, everybody! Today, Kerbolet is proud to announce a revolutionary (not) new (not) concept in the science of transporting freight across terrestrial surfaces using a tractor-trailer vehicle configuration.

Otherwise known as trucking.

Indeed, the Kerbolet Teton K1000 is an engineering marvel. Weighing in at a sturdy, earth-shattering 14.7 tons, this vehicle is one-of-a-kind. It is a six wheel drive HYBRID electric truck paired with jet propulsion for those nasty grades and the heaviest pulls. It is very difficult to roll due to some clever tweaks of the traction control system in each of its wheels, even at high speeds, and can withstand heavy collisions and just keep on going. Beer from Texarkana, anybody?

There are four jet engines on this bad boy- two mounted on either side of the stacks, and two on top of each stack. The rear jets provide pulling power (as well as a killer top speed of 55 m/s, or 123 miles per hour (WITH trailer, by the way)) and braking, if necessary, thanks to the thrust-reversing Wheesley engine and action group number 4. Action group 3 toggles the Panther afterburners on the stacks, which, though they are scaled down enough to not provide much thrust even when in afterburning mode, provide some extra downforce and a nice flame aesthetic. Action group 2 and 1 toggles the high-beam fog lights and regular headlights, respectively. In addition to those fancy lights, the K1000 also features working brake lights that function simultaneously with the brakes.

Here are a few pictures of the vehicle.

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

What really sets this vehicle apart, however, is it's towing capabilities. Mounted on the rear is a receiver for a trailer hitch, allowing an appropriately designed trailer to set right down, raise its landing gear, and get hauled! Observe:

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

Ladies and gentlemen... The Kerbolet Teton K1000!

 

- - - - - - - - -

If anyone out there has better stock hitch designs, please let me know. This design works well, but could be improved by a long shot.

[fourfa]

The Kerbal streamer EJ-SA has a great hitch design he uses all the time.  An Oscar-B as the "ball" - probably any similar Mk0 shape should work.  The "socket" is a 270-degree cage of octagonal struts, closed and locked by an aero control surface.  Deploy to lock, undeploy to unlock.

Looks like you could leave most of your cage in place, and just add the aileron in place of the rearmost cage piece?

[Tex]

I will definitely look into this, though at the moment I'm experimenting with a stock magnetic hitch design.

[SchwinnTropius]

@Azimech has a good locking hitch design that uses the smallest control surfaces with the small black and white nose cone. I borrowed his design for my own trucks with great success. You can see it in this thread.

[Tex]

11 hours ago, SchwinnTropius said:

@Azimech has a good locking hitch design that uses the smallest control surfaces with the small black and white nose cone. I borrowed his design for my own trucks with great success. You can see it in this thread.

That's actually really ingenious, I'll have to look into that as well!