Race to the north pole and back

[l0kki]

5 hours ago, Klapaucius said:

I had two passengers, so I let Jebediah plant the flag, and Bill flew back without him (mainly I did this because I forgot to put a ladder on the plane). If this is not kosher, I'll take a penalty.

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving the kerbals on the north pole is allowed but not very nice )))))))):

Edited September 27, 2018 by l0kki

[Dark Lion]

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First attempt; no test flights. I see I should've gone with a Rapier though... and managed my trajectories a bit better, but 26m16s is still pretty swift!

[zolotiyeruki]

5 hours ago, Dark Lion said:

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First attempt; no test flights. I see I should've gone with a Rapier though... and managed my trajectories a bit better, but 26m16s is still pretty swift!

Yeah, I was able to cruise at about 1730m/s with the Rapier.  It's tricky, though, because of overheating.  Also, the shock cone intake is the only one that works that fast/high.

I had airbrakes on my first attempt, but those overheated and blew up during descent.  I tried a couple of the small control surfaces, but they didn't give much drag.  I found that landing gear makes for a very effective airbrake.

I may try again and build a craft with one fewer LF tank, as I ended up with a ton of leftover fuel.  Less takeoff weight = faster acceleration early in the run.

[vitekc45c]

41 min 14 sec