VB-8 High Altitude Spaceplane Deployer

[venku122]

Venku Rocketry International presents the latest in its series of groundbreaking spaceplanes, the VB-8 High Altitude Spaceplane Deployer. Designed to lift 8 VF-2 High Speed Spaceplanes into a high altitude to allow for them to reach orbit without a large expendable launch vehicle. The VB-8 is 100% reusable and after deployment glides down for a soft splashdown in the Kerbific Ocean. I had to switch from a single hull to a dual hull design after being nearly done which SUCKS. A big thank you for C7 for supplying the awesome wings and cockpit modules and to iamwearingpants for the idea of a dropship. And now for PICTURES!

VB-8 and payload of 8 VF-2s Sits on the launchpad

VB-8 lifts off and gains altitude

VB-8 levels off and begins gliding before payload release

VB-8 deploys VF-2s in pairs at an altitude of 22km

Youtube comments are appreciated

Addons used: C7 aviation pack Big Effen Engine, tuned SAS, Sunday Punch's parts pack, heat management pack and NovaSilisko's parts pack. the .craft file is attached below.

[Andras]

You could add stages before releasing each pair to fire their rocket engines first.

[NovaSilisko]

That thing is a beast.

[foamyesque]

That thing is a beast.

Yeah, wow.

I wonder if it might fly better with some tailfins? Help balance the underslung planes. Hm.

[sirmonkey]

tried loading the craft file.. it loads 3/4 of it then claims parts are missing, except its the same parts its already loaded so they are obviously there.

[Tim_Barrett]

Change the title to missile deployer! xD

[Tim_Barrett]

Wait, high altitude? Below the atmosphere? uhm

[venku122]

Thanks for the feedback! Ill just answer everyone in one place. It has a ton of rcs modules and the VF-2s cockpits are also command pods so the ship is incredibly maneuverable. I edited the .cfg of the radial decoupler to have a force of 20 so that might cause a problem. The ship was staged to activate the VF-2 engine before release but due to the nature of the VB-8's design the exhaust from the rocket would cause the second wing to explode. It is planned to allow parts to activate on release which should allow this design to deploy them safetly. I may make a new design to work around this constraint but I am currently very busy and ksp must take a backseat to other priorities. The VB-8 was from the beginning always planned to be used in the atmosphere . Deploying the VF-2 in space wouldnt be very interesting since they would just drift slowly away from the launcher. WHEN I HAVE TIME I may try a space launch since the launcher has a half tank left over once it reaches deployment altitude and I also purposely bleed vertical speed to avoid exiting the atmosphere. Send me a pm if you have any ideas you would like me to make and film

[Tim_Barrett]

Replace those 2 columns of 2-m fuel tanks with 2-m fuel tanks from Nova's pack. You could also make a launching stage on the bottom so you dont waste orbiting fuel on the SpacePlane deployer. But i'm not sure if you are going for a SSTO rocket or not.

Plus, where did you get the wings? I can't find them in any of the mods specified.

[venku122]

Replace those 2 columns of 2-m fuel tanks with 2-m fuel tanks from Nova's pack. You could also make a launching stage on the bottom so you dont waste orbiting fuel on the SpacePlane deployer. But i'm not sure if you are going for a SSTO rocket or not.

Plus, where did you get the wings? I can't find them in any of the mods specified.

the wings are from the version 1.0 of the c7 aviation pack. Also the 2engines stacks of tanks are from nova's pack. There the alternate paint version from 1.2. I have enough fuel to go astonishing already but I probably couldn't deorbit. I purposely bleed vertical speed to stay in the atmosphere so if I don't do that I could probably get a 60km orbit. I think the big wings are called massive in the vab and the icon for them appears normal sized so double check

[Tim_Barrett]

Link? The KSP repository C-7 Aviation pack download doesn't have the large wings...

[venku122]

The c7 pack is on the first page of the addons subforum. Do you have the newest version with all the new wing types and the microtank??