[0.22] B9 Aerospace Pack / R4.0c / New pods, IVAs, engines, fuselages & structures

[wasmic]

Hey, Bac9 and/or Taverious, I've just noticed that there is a type of plane engine that is not present in any mod so far: The Turboprop. I don't know if I should suggest this to you or Snjo, though.

[Elthy]

Regarding the memory problems:

The new .tga textures are much bigger than the old PNGs. They have the same Resolution (1024*1024) but the .tga files are about 8 times as big:

The "old" Sabre Engine M has two textures, the "model_sabre_250.png" (466kb) and the "model_sabre_250_emissive.png" (57.7kb), the "new" Sabre Engine M has 2 textures with the same name, but in .tga. They are much bigger, 4097kb and 3073kb. Im not sure how KSP loades textures, but this would match the increased Ram consumption...

[Taverius]

Regarding the memory problems:

The new .tga textures are much bigger than the old PNGs. They have the same Resolution (1024*1024) but the .tga files are about 8 times as big:

The "old" Sabre Engine M has two textures, the "model_sabre_250.png" (466kb) and the "model_sabre_250_emissive.png" (57.7kb), the "new" Sabre Engine M has 2 textures with the same name, but in .tga. They are much bigger, 4097kb and 3073kb. Im not sure how KSP loades textures, but this would match the increased Ram consumption...

No.

We've tested it, and memory usage is identical to the byte regardless of texture format.

This should not be surprising to anyone, all the textures get converted to DXT on load.

Hey, Bac9 and/or Taverious, I've just noticed that there is a type of plane engine that is not present in any mod so far: The Turboprop. I don't know if I should suggest this to you or Snjo, though.

I've thought about it, but this is more Firespitter territory. For all the use that subsonic planes have in KSP, the 2 podjets cover what we need in B9.

[K3-Chris]

What's new in C btw? your changelog ends at 3.5

[bac9]

What's new in C btw? your changelog ends at 3.5

Some small hotfixes, I think they are listed in the changelog.txt from the archive.

Btw, any plans for a wide-body set of HL fuselage parts? I tried making a rover garage but unless I use the tiny silver stock wheels the rover is too wide for the cargo bay. I would use the S2 Widebody sets but there's no cargo tail ramp for those. ._.

No plans, it will look ridiculous. There are other large parts underway that will work better for that sort of thing.

[Surefoot]

Yep, rover carrying is the last point not covered really by B9. Curious to see what solution will be designed.

[Hodo]

I have been having an issue with a few parts, since the last update anything I put in a cargo bay and attach to the ship either through a docking port or KAS winch, it will fall through the bottom of the cargo bay. I have tried strutting them in the build phase, but this makes them useless if I undock them and move them out and bring them back on the ship. I have tested on Kerbin and the Mun and it doesn't matter, it will fall through the floor of the cargobay. If I undock the vehicle, because it has clipped through the bottom of the vessel it causes the whole thing to explode.

[BananaDealer]

I have been having an issue with a few parts, since the last update anything I put in a cargo bay and attach to the ship either through a docking port or KAS winch, it will fall through the bottom of the cargo bay. I have tried strutting them in the build phase, but this makes them useless if I undock them and move them out and bring them back on the ship. I have tested on Kerbin and the Mun and it doesn't matter, it will fall through the floor of the cargobay. If I undock the vehicle, because it has clipped through the bottom of the vessel it causes the whole thing to explode.

Quantum struts. You need them. I need them. *Points at random guy* He needs them. We all need them.

So get them.

[Hodo]

Quantum struts. You need them. I need them. *Points at random guy* He needs them. We all need them.

So get them.

The thing is, I could carry stuff previously in a cargo bay, with it docked and it not fall through the floor.

[djnekkid]

I upped the heat values for the mediums since unlike the smalls they were never heating up. I need to check if its too high though, but I'm delaying doing it because I need to write a custom plugin to check the part's heat. ._.

I can provide you with my (air).craft if you want me to. At launch it's ok until its taken off and climbed abit, and then I need to throttle back to roughly 85%. Then at roughly 22-25km altitude I go into rocket mode to get into the final orbit. I guesstimate its overheat-bar is at roughly 80%, but it when it goes to rocketmode, it VERY FAST overheats and explodes.

The ship is basicly a S2 cockpit with fueltanks, a cargobay, deltawing designed, and with a single M sized at the back.

[bac9]

The thing is, I could carry stuff previously in a cargo bay, with it docked and it not fall through the floor.

Nope, you were never able to do that. No collisions ever happen within the craft hierarchy, and your payload docked inside the cargo bay is the part of that hierarchy, so if it can bend enough, it doesn't matter at all whether you have the floor below it or 50 km of open air, it will move all the same. Collisions only happen between separate crafts, when you are rolling a rover into the cargo hold, for example. If you want nothing to clip through the bay, either use short non-bendable payloads or secure stuff with struts (KAS mod is especially awesome for that since you can set up struts in EVA and re-strut everything as you'd like instead of just loosing all editor-placed connections on the first undocking).

[KhaosCorp]

Quantum struts. You need them. I need them. *Points at random guy* He needs them. We all need them.

So get them.

I for one dont need them....they are buggy and invite Kraken visits...not to mention there are much less buggy and realistic options.....

So.....no one wants to make a HL piggyback mount/decoupler??? DRAT...I suck at matching shapes!

[Surefoot]

A more realistic option would be mechanical clamps, which would have the same effect, but induce a lot more game glitches at the moment and funny side effects. But if you want to have a go, Infernal Robotics is the way to go, i have a lot of fun with their stuff too (and i use the gantry + hinge + dock to attach stuff in my B9 cargo bays).

[SmiteZero]

Hey, I found a little balance problem and was directed to post here.

Dealing with the square wing sections, the 4x4 has a lift of 3.06, but the 4x2 has 2.62 and 4x1 has 2.16, so that means that a wing that's 4x3 made from two pieces has a lift of >4.5 while the single 4x4 wing is only 3.06. The weights of these pieces are also not balanced against each other.

[K3-Chris]

I for one dont need them....they are buggy and invite Kraken visits...not to mention there are much less buggy and realistic options.....

I in .20 I had a station in orbit that used em on the docking ports (pre senior ports) and well... one day it kinda turned itself inside-out, the cloud of derbies was fairly epic, some of the parts hit near 45 degree inclined orbits from 0.

[Autochton]

Quantum struts have, in my eyes, been superseded by KAS EVA-deployable struts. So you dock in your cargo (make a pallet or something that will fit docking ports in the cargo hold) and then you attach struts to lock it down solid for transport. This matches the methods employed in real life much better, is less bug-prone, and does not involve magical tractor beam emitters.

[Hremsfeld]

Are there any plans for S2/MK2 adapters? Right now there're MK2/1.25m adapters, S2/2.5m adapters, and of course 1.25m/2.5m adapters, but nothing going straight between S2 and MK2.

[Hodo]

Quantum struts have, in my eyes, been superseded by KAS EVA-deployable struts. So you dock in your cargo (make a pallet or something that will fit docking ports in the cargo hold) and then you attach struts to lock it down solid for transport. This matches the methods employed in real life much better, is less bug-prone, and does not involve magical tractor beam emitters.

The only problem I have found is unless you have it docked from above or all the weight near the front of the docking object it will fall through the floor of the vessel. Making strutting near impossible and dont even think about undocking, it will EXPLODE!

[Taverius]

Are there any plans for S2/MK2 adapters? Right now there're MK2/1.25m adapters, S2/2.5m adapters, and of course 1.25m/2.5m adapters, but nothing going straight between S2 and MK2.

There's also a Mk2<->2.5m adapter.

[Autochton]

The only problem I have found is unless you have it docked from above or all the weight near the front of the docking object it will fall through the floor of the vessel. Making strutting near impossible and dont even think about undocking, it will EXPLODE!

Maybe it's because I generally don't use the HL hulls, I tend to use S2W hulls more, so I generally crane in my cargo from above. That way, a standard pallet or frame (which I save as a subassembly to easily add cargo) that mates with a set of docking ports in the cargo hold (which admittedly can get fiddly to release, but hey) can be used to put everything you need to freight on. The frame will contain the ejection system for the cargo on-orbit, and if necessary you can have attachments for something to be brought down, too - which is where KAS struts become really, really useful.

Loading rovers seems to be a trick under any circumstances, though, particularly to get RORO capability. I'd consider losing overhead cargo door capability and rigging a KAS winch (or a few) to lift the rover once it's loaded, then switch it to docked, strut it down, and fly.

[Hodo]

Nope, you were never able to do that. No collisions ever happen within the craft hierarchy, and your payload docked inside the cargo bay is the part of that hierarchy, so if it can bend enough, it doesn't matter at all whether you have the floor below it or 50 km of open air, it will move all the same. Collisions only happen between separate crafts, when you are rolling a rover into the cargo hold, for example. If you want nothing to clip through the bay, either use short non-bendable payloads or secure stuff with struts (KAS mod is especially awesome for that since you can set up struts in EVA and re-strut everything as you'd like instead of just loosing all editor-placed connections on the first undocking).

I was able to previously... here is a pic of a rover I carried from Kerbin to the Mun in .21.

In the last pic you can see the rover just after it was offloaded just behind the port side engine group.

[K3-Chris]

Just me or are the sabres all of a sudden a lot more overheat prone now in c? at 75% throttle at sea level they overheat slowly, at 100% they overheat in seconds and MJ can't compensate for it.

[pinolallo]

B9 / MKIV VTOL cargo (32 tons payload).

Was tricky, is not easy to balance such a big bird. Unfortunately is a slow plane, but can bring stuff in hard places (mountains etc etc)

I used the Turbofan with the reverse that is a very good solution for the transition from horizontal to vertical.

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[kaictl]

_______________________________
â–¼ R3.5 // Current version

	* Added new landing gear parts that blend into the parent parts and fit a huge variety of aircraft. Choose between twin-wheeled and single-wheeled configuration, two different clearances and two different colors (allowing them to blend perfectly with all-purpose gray or plated black pieces). All landing gears are equipped with togglable electric motors and can be steered.

I'm not a mod developer, but it would be really nice to have an option for these to be stowed at launch. When I'm putting ships on top of other ships for separation, it's just nice to have those wheels pre-stowed.

Otherwise, an amazing mod. I really like the Van Vogt and and Vonnegut ships. Right now I'm planning a space station to go to Laythe with two Van Vogts, two fuel stations made with KW Rocketry parts, and some rovers and living quarters.

EDIT: (Also dear god docking and refueling using the docking ports on the VV...hard, but actually probably really good when i need to go and push the ships.)

Edited November 4, 2013 by kaictl

[BananaDealer]

B9 / MKIV VTOL cargo (32 tons payload).

Was tricky, is not easy to balance such a big bird. Unfortunately is a slow plane, but can bring stuff in hard places (mountains etc etc)

I used the Turbofan with the reverse that is a very good solution for the transition from horizontal to vertical.

*snip*

Holy Jool... That's one big bird... And I haven't designed VTOLS in awhile...