Spasho-I VTOL Aircraft

[Bandock]

First aircraft I have released in years on here.  Just recently got in the mood of building interesting space and aircraft designs.  Even managed to build a few new vehicles.

Without further ado, here is the Spasho-I VTOL Aircraft:

https://imgur.com/a/9csHn

Download Link:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/7rsehhtcvsl0bqr/Spasho-I.craft?dl=0

Few might remember of my earlier attempts at VTOL space/aircraft.  A good majority of them failed and haven't really built many even after 1.0 came out.  I might look into bringing back the challenge about VTOL that nobody really participated in due to the sheer difficulty (even with aerodynamics added) at the time.

Edited February 19, 2018 by Bandock
Imgur embedding seems to be broken.

[Guest]

Nice. I've decided that a VTOL aircraft is my next design project, so it's kinda cool you brought this up just now. Good to know it's possible at least!

[Bandock]

Yep.

I forgot that they added gizmos (since 0.90) that made it possible to move parts around in specific ways.  Even though, I used them in the past; it wasn't till recent I found ways to bring payload in a more stable way using gizmos.  I figured that why not use gizmos to build a real working VTOL aircraft?

Took some trial and error, but this became a very good result.  A bit hard to use at first, but excellent for training on using VTOL air/spacecraft.  Probably the best design I have done so far in regards to VTOL aircraft (as well as spacecraft).  I am considering building a truly functional orbital (SSTO) spacecraft this time around and finally make that challenge feasible.

The biggest challenge for any such craft is definitely the center of mass (which having fuel placed a certain way may cause instability as fuel is depleted).

Edited February 19, 2018 by Bandock

[Guest]

Here's my first iteration of the HELBAT X1. I want to develop this into a Duna-capable plane, eventually. It works now though, and CoM is very nicely controlled, barely shifts as the tanks deplete, and the beefy SAS and reaction wheels can take care of the little torque that remains:

https://kerbalx.com/Brikoleur/HELBAT-X1

To take off:

1. SAS on, standard mode
2. Start hover thrusters (action 2)
3. RCS on
4. Increase throttle until you’re off the ground
5. Start main thrusters (action 1)
6. When at about 40 m/s, cut hover thrusters (action 2), RCS off, gear up, and you’re on your way.

To land:

1. SAS on, standard mode
2. Gear down
3. Cut throttle
4. Cut main thrusters (action 1)
5. Start hover thrusters (action 2)
6. RCS on
7. Slow down to near stall speed
8. Increase throttle until you’re hovering
9. Control position with attitude (primary), SAS (secondary)
10. Reduce throttle until you’re descending at the rate you want
11. … land!

In hover mode, it flies like a helicopter – control where you want to go by tilting the craft. There’s not much point going faster than about 20 m/s horizontally though as you might as well transition to normal flight and save the fuel. See if you can land it on the helipad on top of the VAB!

(Because this evolution is for Duna it has rockets only, but I tried a Kerbin version with RAPIERs for forward thrusters and it works great.)

Edited February 19, 2018 by Guest

[Guest]

Made two more -- a heavier utility plane which I hope to evolve into something that will actually work to supply the Duna Kosmodrome, and because VTOLs are hard, a tiny little trainer so I can teach myself to fly them.

https://kerbalx.com/Brikoleur/DLV-X1

https://kerbalx.com/Brikoleur/Bumblebee

[Bandock]

Looking very nice so far.