The Blog of Contraption and Creations, From the Nuclear_Hamster

Nuclear_Hamster · September 2, 2012

Good afternoon everybody. Or Morning. Or even good night. I have decided that i have reached a level that I would class as being pretty advanced. This has lead me to believe i should do a little showcase on my designs, from beginning to end. You will see how my creative skills have progressed. To help with this, I already have a good knowledge of rocket science, aerodynamics, physics and engineering in general. This game doesn't strictly adhere to most rules, but at the same time keeps the most fundamental ones! This is why I find it good fun. I am also a Pilot in the real world, so have a decent sense of aircraft design and handling. This does help! Anyway, enough from me. Enjoy.

This is the first presentable rocket I had ever made, ignoring test rockets. To my surprise it worked first time.

I'm much more interested in the Spaceplanes personally, so you will see a lot of bias towards them.

This is the first Spaceplane i made. Very basic.

This one is the first High-flying air breathing space-plane I made

Due to it being unbalanced, it evolved into this.

I remember seeing the tail of that last design and wondering how close to a Concorde I could make a spaceplane. This was made. the tanks on top were added afterwards to increase its endurance; I wanted to see it fly to the North pole. They turned out to make it very stable in flight.

...Mission completed.

By now I had a very good grasp of the building editor. All of these contraptions above had been created without the use of holding Shift during the editor! It was a massive realisation and you will now see a huge increase in the standard of design I could create! Low wings, High wings, Swept wings, Delta wings... Endless possibilities!

But before i move on, to decent design, I had not yet mastered a "Space. Plane." A Horizontally launching aircraft capable of reaching space. This was the first one to manage it. It didn't reach orbit and I couldn't understand why it kept falling apart on the runway if I tried to make it bigger. But it got to space!

This one got a bit higher

And Higher still!

With a bit of pride for finally getting a stable space worthy spaceplane launched, i decided to knock getting it into orbit on the head. Instead, I had discovered speed! I had seen all of those pictures of engine bricks on here, and well before any of you say anything. No. Just no. That's not a plane. You shall only see (relatively) Intelligent design shown on this thread.

So without further adieu, I present to you the speed demons.

A Few things happened next. Updates. Minmus. Those were all conquered without much real change to my existing rocket.

But then this happened.

Some of you will stare at that and think "Oh. Its a plane." Others may well see a different picture, and notice my observations. I saw that wing flex. Now look at how much weight it is carrying. Thus began the next stage. Building the titans!!

This was my first 'large' creation! However it was interrupted with the new KSP Update including EVA! So you shall see a few of the shots, playing around with that in the next bit too.

Now i wanted to go back to my Spaceplanes. But i wanted another try at making a 'Space. Plane' again, but one that could orbit. And hell, one that would land back on the runway again too! This one managed it. It was tweaked so many times to get it balanced with the burn to space. But it paid off.

New update meant I had lost my spaceplanes! I had no footing from my previous designs to look back on either. No worries for me though! Lets start with the biggest thing we can think of right? This, my fellow kerbinauts, Is currently my price and joy of spaceplane creation. It can reach anywhere on Kerbin. It will climb to the 16,000m Mark and sustain it with only a 10 degree angle of attack and not even the need to adjust the pitch! Its perfectly balanced and as the fuel drains, it becomes lighter and amazing to handle, and easier to land.

There are Several variants, but these three are my favourites.

During Testing, Bob decided to fly the first flight.

Now refined, and with a new pilot selected...

Phoenix MKI

Phoenix MKIII

Now this one. The Phoenix MK VII, codenamed 'Titan'. This has proven to be too much for my computer to handle. I have only managed to get it spawned and moving along the runway. But the framerate is just too low for control. But i am proud of its prowess

That is all I currently have that is worth showing. If this becomes popular, I might even be willing to explain some designs, why they work, and even do some tutorials. More importantly, I hope you have enjoyed it.

Goodbye, for now.

Edited September 3, 2012 by Nuclear_Hamster
Added Spoilers

Exelcior_esp · September 2, 2012

Wow, all of those craft look amazing! it seems that you have a silk touch for bulilding ships. i really like them.

zapy97 · September 2, 2012

wow you are a spaceplane genius i have never seen anything quite like these planes, even better you only use stock parts you sir can have my medel for space plane excelency, also have you ever tried doing a VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) design, for all we know you may be better than me, also could you attach some of the craft files for your planes

sproginator · September 2, 2012

Holy Jesus that's epic!

Nuclear_Hamster · September 2, 2012

Well, Since you asked so kindly, I've made this just for you, zapy97. Just spent the past hour tinkering and came up with this.

I must say its quite stable all things considered, however I do admit its a bit wobbly if you're trying to take a pretty picture. I do apologise since the tail touched the ground as I landed. I aimed for the other side of the lake to proove it was a hovering landing. Still, I included it because it shows how controlled it is - it didn't blow up.

Edited September 3, 2012 by Nuclear_Hamster
Added Spoilers

Newt0570 · September 2, 2012

you can add spoilers using

and then [/spioler]

Edited September 2, 2012 by Newt0570

zapy97 · September 2, 2012

WOW... can you attach a craft file of it cause now i know i am not the best any where when it comes to VTOLs i am going to submit a few pics for comparison, if mine are anything to yours[ATTACH=CONFIG]32406[/ATTACH]

Yuri Kargarin · September 2, 2012

I love your designs, although I don't know of any non-government computer that could handle titan, it seems to be a good looking craft. All in all, great job.

Tazuren · September 2, 2012

The Titan is absolutely sexy. I want.

Nuclear_Hamster · September 3, 2012

Thank you for the hint about the spoilers, Updated posts.

I'll not be adding any craft files just yet. I'd like to build any reputation first before dishing out the goods, so to speak.

This first Vtol has inspired me to try and make a another MK of Phoenix with Vertical take off and landing capabilities. I'll come back here in about a week or so and update you with what I've been doing. Who knows, I might even adapt the Titan for it, if the Government let me in that is

cardgame · September 3, 2012

Tim will be jealous of the Titan, methinks. Nice work on these.

Miza · September 3, 2012

Oh wow those are really nice!

Nuclear_Hamster · September 3, 2012

Good evening,

I will start by saying I was expecting to be back here in a week. However, adapting the Phoenix for VTOL didn't take hardly as long as I thought. A mere 10 minutes. Surprisingly. However, I did find it extremely laggy. It dropped all the way down to about 5 Frames per second, even on my meaty machine, and activating the main engines made it impossible for the secondaries to be reactivated after the Frame rate dropped further. However, i did manage a few shots. And I cannot tell you how unbelievably stable this thing really is. Enjoy!

zapy97 · September 3, 2012

nice job if more people saw this thread they would be begging you for the craft files right now i am working on an amphious craft but the biggest challenge right now is getting it in the water...

alline1999 · September 3, 2012

awsome space crafts i like the desing of the 3th one and somme nexst one you did a geart jop making those i realy like them .

and i realy like you VTOL i currently am making a VTOL but on a smaller scale using 2 engines and damned robotics i like the style how you crafts look and i look forward to more of your creations my VTOL looks bad compared to yours.

my VTOL uses Damned robotics and has 2 engines maby later i make one with more egnines wich i gue will be eazyer to balance.

Edited September 3, 2012 by alline1999

Nuclear_Hamster · September 4, 2012

Evening, Again.

Tonight I decided to branch the Phoenix Series off with a Fighter Class. Its A long range interceptor, build for distance, but to fight with speed and manoeuvrability. Most aircraft will excel in two of those areas, but lack in all three or are classed as average. So how do you create a fighter capable of all three?

In essence - Drop pods. This fighter contains 8 Extra tanks of fuel under each wing that can be dropped in the next stage, and sent back to earth with a chute to be recovered again and re-used. The pods will happily let the aircraft cruise, but only efficiently at 10,000m. After they have dropped its a quick climb back up to 15,000 feet to fly at the full 450m/s. But it will struggle to keep its height, due to its small wing surface area. All these negatives are more than made up for, as you drop the fuel tanks before the Arctic Ice, and dive down above the mountains, screaming at 600m/s. It will hold its own path wherever you point it, feeling very twitchy. But that's a side effect for its manoeuvrability, especially considering its its size. A 90 degree bank into a turn and it can hold an attitude of 60 degrees off gyro. By keeping the wings level with the turn and it will perform a tight turn at the surface near anywhere starting 300m/s, but it circles best around 175m/s.

The placement of the landing gear means a fiddly landing, but I wanted to keep it Fighter-like in the landing gear too.

As a little note, I will be realising the Craft files as a set once i'm satisfied the Phoenix class has been finished!

Enjoy