Kerbaltek Aerospace Presents : Kolsys (renamed) - My first official ship submit.

[Ezriilc]

The Kolsys Hybrid is just one ship, but it covers a lot of uses, and does the work of many. It's a great, long range explorer, and can also be assembled into larger ships.

• 
  
• Hybrid Lifter, with Turbo Jets, SRBs and Nuclear Rockets.
  
• Interplanetary Orbiter with 8 Nuclear Rockets and a Poodle for optimum power, flexibility and range.
  
• Heavy Nuke Lander with room for 3 Kerbs, and easy surface access.
  
• Each module is self contained, with its own lander, yet the larger ship is nice and rigid. That is, if you can dock both ports, which can be tricky.
  
• 2 sets of 4-way symmetrical docking ports allow 2-dimensional stacking, and thus very compact and powerful motherships.
  
• Action Groups for engine groups and light sets
  
• Remote Control Units for unmanned flights.
  
• Carries 125 tonnes into stable orbit at 200km.
  
• Heavily tested to the Mun and back.
  

Launch tips:

1. 
   
2. Spin up the jets to ~110kn thrust before releasing the launch clamps - they have plenty of fuel.
   
3. The first 4 stages must be done manually, at the moment of flameout. Don't be tempted to drop the solids too early.
   
4. Turn off the orbiter's Skipper engine (Action Group Key "1") for maximum efficiency in total vacuum.
   
5. It's a lot of parts at 610, and laggy on the pad, but it has only what it needs to do everything you'd ever want.
   

Get it on Our Downloads Page.

Edited September 17, 2013 by Ezriilc
Added direct download links.

[dudester28]

Don't you think you are overdoing it a bit?

Of course not!

If it's worth doing it's worth overdoing.

[Dangerous_Beans]

Why the turbojets, rather than normal jets?

When i was messing around with similar things, i found that by the time the turbojets were making more thrust i was at 15km and getting ready to dump them for the switch to rockets. Also i needed more turbojets as i had to aim for a T/W > 2. With basic jets I could have a T/W of around 1.4, so needed less jets, and they were still making 110kn-ish of thrust when I had to stage them.

Of course my jet stages were there to mostly lift the damn thing to 15km+ altitude, not really for gaining any velocity, so you may be using them differently.

[Ezriilc]

Why the turbojets, rather than normal jets?

A good question that I asked as well. In my one-for-one tests, turbojets left me with more fuel in orbit than basic jets, meaning they pushed me farther/faster. There may be some combo that is ideal with both, but I also wanted it as simple as possible.

Don't you think you are overdoing it a bit? ... If it's worth doing it's worth overdoing.

Ha! Yes, I fully agree. I do hate lag and such complexity, so since they were from an older version, I ripped off ALL the radial air intakes, ALL the canards, and some struts, to make her lighter and sexier, and since she seems no worse for that, I added a small tank between the skipper and the orange tank to eliminate over-heating. The performance might be just as good, and it's a bit less laggy now, with 433 parts instead of 512.

I also discovered the parachute glitch where it won't deploy after being repacked and/or staged and not used - I think. I added the chutes to the Brakes Action Group, since there aren't any wheels, and it's logical, but I also moved them to a separate stage, just in case. I haven't done a lot of chute testing yet. If anyone learns more about that, please let me know.

Did you guys fly it? How did it do? How about now with fewer intakes?

[Ezriilc]

Dangerous_Beans,

Your questions and comments got me thinking about jets again, so I'm trying some combinations of turbos and basics to see if there's something to be gained, and it seems there is since basic jets are so much more efficient.

Please feel free to pass on anything else you've learned. I love hearing about what others have done, because sometimes I feel like I'm not creative enough to come up with the really good stuff.

Having said that, this rocket is my best work to date, and I think it's pretty great, actually.

...

I'm curious to hear what anyone else who flies my ship thinks about it...

[Ezriilc]

I've updated Kolsys twice now for much greater efficiency.

I've also renamed her since there was already a Leviathan ship that looks much better than mine.

Edited September 17, 2013 by Ezriilc