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How the heck do I design an high altitude rocketplane in RP-1?


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So, I'm currently trying to design a rocketplane for high altitude flight, but its all a mess and there's not enough space on it. And that annoys me a lot. And I don't know if I have done a good or a bad job because I don't know what sort of designs I can even reference at all. This is my Craft File in case anybody wanna show an example of what I could do to fix it.
I was trying to use 3 engines just so that I could get enough TWR to have an easier time reaching high altitude. I still haven't placed the RCS because it isn't finished
unknown.png

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Best thing to do, which is not the Kerbal way, is to just get better tech and upgrade your craft.    Strapping on extra "Boosters might help but better tech is almost always the solution.

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I took your plane and made some modifications- sorting out the control surfaces was the first priority, then changing the fuselage from a procedural tank to a modular one, then a few other fixes, a few test flights and finally a dubious paint job, to make this:

zoNGbvW.png

It uses the same wing parts and the same tech levels as the original, but when I tested it I managed to break 75km twice in the same flight. There's a bit of pitch instability at extremely high altitudes which RCS may fix, some further tweaks may still be needed but it works well enough for me.

Link to craft file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/kddgjacgs6xpljn/X-3M1.craft?dl=0

AG1 toggles engines, 2 lowers flaps and 3 raises them, 0 deploys the drogue chute and abort (backspace) controls the wingtip airbrakes.

 

And here's the design I made in my own RP-1 career recently:

IlOXre3.png

Oz3009R.png

I used an all-moving tail and a canard design which made it easier to balance the CoL and CoM, added split airbrakes in the awkward gap on the inside of the trailing edge of the wings, and most importantly tiny wheels on the wingtips so that if it landed badly and started falling over to one side it wouldn't destroy the plane (proven successfully on several occasions!). I didn't need RCS on it at all, plus with upgraded and stretched tanks and better engines it could use the X-15 cockpit and go to space.

rnKTihL.png

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5 hours ago, jimmymcgoochie said:

I took your plane and made some modifications- sorting out the control surfaces was the first priority, then changing the fuselage from a procedural tank to a modular one, then a few other fixes, a few test flights and finally a dubious paint job, to make this:

zoNGbvW.png

It uses the same wing parts and the same tech levels as the original, but when I tested it I managed to break 75km twice in the same flight. There's a bit of pitch instability at extremely high altitudes which RCS may fix, some further tweaks may still be needed but it works well enough for me.

Link to craft file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/kddgjacgs6xpljn/X-3M1.craft?dl=0

AG1 toggles engines, 2 lowers flaps and 3 raises them, 0 deploys the drogue chute and abort (backspace) controls the wingtip airbrakes.

 

And here's the design I made in my own RP-1 career recently:

IlOXre3.png

Oz3009R.png

I used an all-moving tail and a canard design which made it easier to balance the CoL and CoM, added split airbrakes in the awkward gap on the inside of the trailing edge of the wings, and most importantly tiny wheels on the wingtips so that if it landed badly and started falling over to one side it wouldn't destroy the plane (proven successfully on several occasions!). I didn't need RCS on it at all, plus with upgraded and stretched tanks and better engines it could use the X-15 cockpit and go to space.

rnKTihL.png

Thanks! I'm using the XLR-11 mostly because I fear what sort of accident I could get into if I used the XLR-25 due to what happened to the Bell X-2. Anyway, gonna go try this out

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1 hour ago, FabioofSpace said:

@jimmymcgoochieHey, is it normal for the craft to start getting the red supersonic windy thing?unknown.png

Yes, you’re descending into the thicker part of the atmosphere at hypersonic speed so you’ll get a significant amount of heating and drag (hence the effects). Going faster and higher will only make this worse, I’ve had parts explode on suborbital flights with the X-15 cockpit, though fortunately nothing critical was destroyed.

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1 hour ago, jimmymcgoochie said:

Yes, you’re descending into the thicker part of the atmosphere at hypersonic speed so you’ll get a significant amount of heating and drag (hence the effects). Going faster and higher will only make this worse, I’ve had parts explode on suborbital flights with the X-15 cockpit, though fortunately nothing critical was destroyed.

I just realized I have airbrakes. God, wish I noticed it earlier. @jimmymcgoochie Edit: After the airbrakes it can't reach 75+ km altitude anymore, but at least its safer now, so better than nothing I guess

Edited by FabioofSpace
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