totm june 2018 Work-in-Progress [WIP] Design Thread

[Servo]

I finally got a working model of my crusader hinge! I'm not sure if it works while flying, but I think it should.

Down/cruise mode

Up/takeoff/landing mode

A pair of landing gear help it go from down to up, and the force from the wings should make it go up from down.

The hinge is a pretty standard cubic octagonal cage around two small SAS wheels. There is a large amount of SAS in the wing section, but that's only a backup at the moment.

It's a good thing the Crusader is a massive aircraft, otherwise this would never have fit.

[Castille7]

Rail Car System

I was not planning to reveal this so soon, but someone asked what was I building next.......soooooo here is what I have so far with a Cable Car System that I am calling a Rail Car System because I will be using a Rail until KSP can provide some Cable, Chain or Rope, if that never happens that's not a problem because KSP is awesome as is. Anyway the Master Plan is to  have a Boarding Facility and connect these towers together, some with curves and then have the rail drop into an Exiting Facility. This is the high hopes of this project and as we know we don't always get what we want. I will try my best to stay focused on this project for a longtime to see this System in action from boarding on one end then exiting on the other, we'll see how it goes. As always I will give an update on this Thread from time to time until it's complete. At this point I am still not happy with the Running Gear, I've tried many wheels and configurations and none are working too well, this one in the pictures below is one that is working for now.

Spoiler

 

Edited January 18, 2017 by Castille7

[Torquimedes]

4 hours ago, Servo said:

I finally got a working model of my crusader hinge! I'm not sure if it works while flying, but I think it should.

Down/cruise mode

Up/takeoff/landing mode

A pair of landing gear help it go from down to up, and the force from the wings should make it go up from down.

The hinge is a pretty standard cubic octagonal cage around two small SAS wheels. There is a large amount of SAS in the wing section, but that's only a backup at the moment.

It's a good thing the Crusader is a massive aircraft, otherwise this would never have fit.

Looks like it docks in both positions so you'll have full control over the control surfaces too.  Congrats on making it work!

[klond]

16 hours ago, Servo said:

I finally got a working model of my crusader hinge!

 I was hoping you were still working on it.  Persistance pays.  Send link when ready, I wanna fly it (after a full pre-flight inspection of course).

 

14 hours ago, Castille7 said:

 Fantastic!  Straight up jealous.  Your bridge experience should really help here.

 I see the you used the small long intakes as guides for the rail - very nice, lightweight, should help control twisting.  Any problems staying centered? I spose if you're gonna connect multiple of these, the structure will have to be wheeled.

[Castille7]

On 1/18/2017 at 0:19 PM, klond said:

 Fantastic!  Straight up jealous.  Your bridge experience should really help here.

 I see the you used the small long intakes as guides for the rail - very nice, lightweight, should help control twisting.  Any problems staying centered? I spose if you're gonna connect multiple of these, the structure will have to be wheeled.

Wow! Thank you for the compliment  and yes staying centered has been difficult, right now it's crawling slowly and I am going to try a double rail setup that might help with better traction. The wheels were barely working and I am working on that as well. I will try a few ideas that may change the appearance.

I would like to take this time to mention if anyone would like to try their ideas at making this idea happen please feel free to do so and there will be no hard feelings here, I would enjoy seeing others ideas on something like this.

Edited January 19, 2017 by Castille7

[Servo]

9 hours ago, klond said:

 I was hoping you were still working on it.  Persistance pays.  Send link when ready, I wanna fly it (after a full pre-flight inspection of course).

It's almost there. I've got it to raise the wing when stationary, then lower it in-flight (at speeds of above 100m/s), but as of yet, I've been unable to get it to raise the wing while in flight. I find it really ironic that that was the part that I wasn't worried about working.

On the runway. Wing toggles up easily when not moving.

With the wing up, it takes off really easily at 35m/s. Action groups toggle the wing back into the down position. At this point, it's actually really stable. I've taken it up to 250m/s and 3x time warp without trouble.

[Frozen_Heart]

Finally getting round to doing the first flight test of the Co-122 Corvette. Launcher is a bit scrapped together so hopefully this works...

Will do a Mun mission with it and use all the docking ports just to work out all the kinks as there is always some, after that will finally be ready to use.

 

[He_162]

4 hours ago, Frozen_Heart said:

Finally getting round to doing the first flight test of the Co-122 Corvette. Launcher is a bit scrapped together so hopefully this works...

Will do a Mun mission with it and use all the docking ports just to work out all the kinks as there is always some, after that will finally be ready to use.

 

 

Aren't all non replica launchers scrapped together?

[septemberWaves]

45 minutes ago, He_162 said:

Aren't all non replica launchers scrapped together?

Depends who's designing them. Some players brute-force their way to orbit, whilst others try to think out their launch vehicles quite carefully. That being said, most people whose launch vehicles get quite popular are either replica-makers or spaceplane engineers, so I see where this thought comes from.

[Servo]

I have been making progress! I got a successful flight where I took off with the wing up, toggled it down, then back up and landed. That was only over the length of the runway, though. I have yet to be able to make it snap back up in flight without spazzing out and breaking other than that short test.

I'm currently using two pair of small landing gear to force the i-beam in the middle up and down. However, when I try to lift the wing, the I-beam clips through the octagonal strut I'm using as a stop and it breaks.

 

*EDIT*

I got it to work! Pictures coming tomorrow. Test flight included takeoff, acceleration to Mach 1, three cycles down/up, then landing. No trouble with the connection, though it takes a little finesse sometimes.

Edited January 20, 2017 by Servo

[Servo]

Fully working model of the Crusader here:

Also, I started work on a B-1 replica (with variable geometry) and found it much harder. What sort of horizontal hinges do you guys use?

Also, Sabre:

[ForScience6686]

 

I present the B-1 tanker.  Designed for mid air refueling.  See the F-1 as well and try it out yourself.  This greatly increases the ease of performing mid air ship to ship transfers.

https://kerbalx.com/ForScience6686/B-1-Refueler-WIP

This is my first shot at tweaking parts, nothing to crazy, just smaller versions of stock parts.  Much easier than I thought it would be.  I plan to take this further and refine it to look and function better.  But the concept checks out.  I'm sure there's an easier way for me to get people the parts I make, any advice on that would be helpful.

[Redshift OTF]

Not sure if any good but I'm fairly happy with it:

[Thingymajigy]

lel looks a tad familiar

[Servo]

33 minutes ago, Thingymajigy said:

lel looks a tad familiar

 

Pure stock? If so, that's really awesome!

5 hours ago, Redshift OTF said:

Not sure if any good but I'm fairly happy with it:

Very slick! I really like that wing design. I'll be repping that as soon as I get my likes back.

 

I've started work on my next project, something that was way too cool to pass up.

The Northrop YF-23 Black Widow II. This is an extremely rough draft right now, but I just wanted to get a sense of the scale and elements required to make this beast.

Yes, that is an engine hanging out the bottom. I said rough draft and I meant it.

[Torquimedes]

23 hours ago, Servo said:

Fully working model of the Crusader here:

Also, I started work on a B-1 replica (with variable geometry) and found it much harder. What sort of horizontal hinges do you guys use?

Also, Sabre:

Feel free to dissect my F-14 for ideas if it helps.  Looks like you could build a "wing glove" around where the B-1 wings attach, and a "wing deck" over the outboard engines to keep the wings on track.  Should be lots of space in the center to mesh the synchro panels also.

I am very looking forward to that Sabre!

[He_162]

A sneak preview of a 700 +/- 10 parts count rocket, weighing 6537 tons, and having a payload of 1000 tons, this rocket has a 15+% efficiency in any 1000 ton payload, and a 14%+ efficiency in 900+ ton payloads.

Check out all the parts saved on autostruts...

Keep in mind, stats shown are in pictures are not finished product stats, and any and all pictures are WIP from the incomplete build.

Here is an explosion to take in, rather interesting.

http://imgur.com/a/XUHFr (click for album of explosions)

[Servo]

10 hours ago, Torquimedes said:

Feel free to dissect my F-14 for ideas if it helps.  Looks like you could build a "wing glove" around where the B-1 wings attach, and a "wing deck" over the outboard engines to keep the wings on track.  Should be lots of space in the center to mesh the synchro panels also.

I am very looking forward to that Sabre!

Thanks for the suggestion! I was having trouble with lateral stability, but adding a track for the wing to sit on helped a lot.

 

*Edit*

Scaled the size down a lot, and got it to dock.

The actuation is really slow, but the big gear are the only ones that have the range that I need to swivel it all the way.

Edited January 22, 2017 by Servo

[septemberWaves]

Some preparation for my long-term submission to the Apollo Applications Program challenge. I won't be using any of these vehicles (except possibly the Serket IB) until after the Captor program is complete, but it's good to design and test technology early.

Pyrope Command/Service module. Designed initially to be able to ascend from the Munar surface and return to Kerbin directly, then modified for a Munar Orbit Rendezvous mission profile. The service module is partly composed of a service tank, which has space for small payloads as well as containing the fuel cell (and monopropellant to fuel it), battery, and MechJeb core.

LES and landing system test.

Launch abort pad test. LES ignition.

LES separation.

Parachute deployment.

The capsule lands safely without sustaining damage.

Pyrope command/service module on a Serket IB launch vehicle. Inside the payload bay is the orbital module, which extends space for habitation and work on missions in Kerbin orbit.

Pyrope Munar Excursion Module (MEM). Has plenty of delta-v for a Mun landing.

Testing the decoupling. The descent module is designed for basic missions to the Munar surface and has the potential to carry several kilograms of equipment to the Munar surface in easily attachable KIS containers.

This is the fuel tank and engine configuration for the ascent module.

Edited January 22, 2017 by eloquentJane

[Torquimedes]

3 hours ago, Servo said:

Thanks for the suggestion! I was having trouble with lateral stability, but adding a track for the wing to sit on helped a lot.

 

*Edit*

Scaled the size down a lot, and got it to dock.

The actuation is really slow, but the big gear are the only ones that have the range that I need to swivel it all the way.

Some things I learned from the F-14, in case they save you some time:

After I got the wings exactly where I wanted them, I built the wing glove/deck with RigidAttachment enabled so they wouldn't flex.  I spent a lot of time shifting those pieces one pixel and launching to test the vertical and longitudinal travel of the wings.  Revert, rinse, repeat until I got the precise fit I wanted.  With no actuators or docking ports this was my only option.  Are you using the tiny nosewheel inside the wing to keep it on track? That us so much simpler.  How well does that work?.  

Also note that the wing track pieces will generate lift, so if you choose to blend more of them into your build, they'll carry more of the load of the plane and put less vertical stress on the swing-wings.  They can also complicate the CoL/CoM balance.  For most of development, the only fuel I had was in the "NCS adapter" nose cone to keep the CoM forward.

I am mighty curious to see landing legs as pistons to move wings.  I tried a lot of different ways to use them but ditched them altogether because they were too fragile and induced wobbles.  Maybe your docking mechanism eliminates those problems.

HangarGrid helped immensely for measuring those one-pixel shifts, and for aligning parts in symmetry where I couldn't use mirroring, and even as a measuring grid for the proportion and placement of parts.  Use the toolset you're comfortable with, but don't be afraid to try new ones from time to time.  I hadn't used EditorExtensions until I saw @Majorjim!'s suggestions and now I wouldn't build anything elaborate without it.

 

Edited January 22, 2017 by Torquimedes

[Torquimedes]

On 1/4/2017 at 2:35 PM, Jefzor said:

I improved the Control Freak for better yaw controll (removed the tailfin and made the rudders balanced so the ship doesn't roll too much vertically). I also added an extra air intake, for better static thrust. 

https://kerbalx.com/jefzor/Control-Freak

That is an impressive little bird.  With some practice it can be landed on top of KSC buildings.  I took it down the street and around the corner...

[Servo]

On 1/22/2017 at 11:52 AM, Torquimedes said:

 

Are you using the tiny nosewheel inside the wing to keep it on track? That us so much simpler.  How well does that work?.  

I am mighty curious to see landing legs as pistons to move wings.  I tried a lot of different ways to use them but ditched them altogether because they were too fragile and induced wobbles.  Maybe your docking mechanism eliminates those problems.

HangarGrid helped immensely for measuring those one-pixel shifts, and for aligning parts in symmetry where I couldn't use mirroring, and even as a measuring grid for the proportion and placement of parts.  Use the toolset you're comfortable with, but don't be afraid to try new ones from time to time.  I hadn't used EditorExtensions until I saw @Majorjim!'s suggestions and now I wouldn't build anything elaborate without it.

 

I didn't think to use rigid attachment there, thanks for the suggestion. I'm planning to build a pretty good frame around that out of wings, just to allow the stuff the space to move. Docking the wings is really helpful for control, and was critical on the Crusader. I have landed it with a floating wing (after it failed to reconnect), but it is much harder. Also, time warp + loading quicksaves.

Thanks for the mod suggestion. If I ever need to do anything really fine, I'll check it out.

As for the nosewheel, it was really buggy. I swapped it out for a structural wing panel under the large wing. However, the large wing was quickly scrapped for the composite wing I have in this design.

This is the sort of actuation I'm looking at now. It's still really buggy, so a lot more tweaking is in order to get the positioning down. Given the size of the wings, I don't think that I can make a floating wing system work. To increase swing range, the docking ports are offset across the middle, so the right wing connects to the left pair of docking ports. I think this also makes actuation easier, but I haven't tried it with right-right setups. I'd really like to get this system smaller to fit better in the fuselage, but that seems to be a loosing battle.

Edited January 24, 2017 by Servo

[luizopiloto]

A crane prototype I was working last night:
 

 

[Castille7]

A crane prototype I was working last night:

*snip*

@luizopiloto Now that's slick man!

Edited January 24, 2017 by Castille7

[Castille7]

Title to be revealed soon

This is a little something I am doing between my projects, I will give more details soon

Sneak Peek of my Island

Edited January 25, 2017 by Castille7