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No Rules Circumnavigation Race


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I may have to try this. I was gonna pull a bit of roundy-worldy anyway for fun, and this'd be a great time to experiment with a vehicle that drives, floats, and maybe even flies... I wanna go around the world never exceeding 10km.

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hmm interesting I think I will try to go around the globe in a sea plane and see if I can do it unsupported I.E. no refueling stations, I will see if my kethane mod will work on a sea plane.

I will post my images here of the test craft I build and see how they do.

[

Edited by OgreMagi
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I've started work on my seaplane design (determined it would be best suited to the task). KSP Interstellar Mod will be used to provide power generation, Firespitter props and floats, and that's as far as I've gotten in the parts list.

We'll see if I can manage to go roundy-worldy in a seaplane that never needs to land. Of course, inevitably I will have to land, but I'll try.

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This is really fun. I've taken about 10 passes at it. I'll be satisfied with 3rd place at 23:10 (Stock + MechJeb + KER)

Flight: Launched West and tried to hold altitude around 55km at a speed of about 3600m/s Surface.

Start: about 18,300 m/s dV, NO asparagus on the bottom:

Finish: 2,000 dV remaining after a nice 13g crash dive.

Edited by FleshJeb
added imgur album
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Got one for your Electric Flight category! Powered by a Fusion Reactor, but to make up for that, I carried two Kerbals and used a real cockpit. Oh, and no autopilots or time compression. This was real time.

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Read the descriptions if you want to see the story, otherwise, take it as a challenge submission. I apologize for the huge amount of pictures.

Now I must simply head back into the SPH and build a better one to trounce my time. I wanna knock an hour off of it at least. 6 hours, 3 minutes, 26 seconds of long flight, and it was enjoyable.

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So I was goofing around and made a BattleStar Galactica Viper replica. Then I thought, what the hell, and decided to try an tricked-out, extended-fuel version for the race. Smaller is always better in KSP, right?

Held it at 35km and 2250m/s at a slight nose-down angle, except for 5 minutes where I had to coast to conserve fuel.

Yes, I drained all the oxidizer out first.

Time 33:36. Next time I'll remember to go West.

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After much deliberation and preparation, my hydrofoil circumnavigation is now underway!

First off a presentation of my route:

It's exactly the same as Spacek531's route, except without the refuelling stations dotted all along the way.

hydrofoil_circumnavigation_start_finish_by_aeroqc-d7kgf1x.png

The Start/Finish Line

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First waypoint

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Second

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Third

hydrofoil_circumnavigation_waypoint_delta_by_aeroqc-d7kghnv.png

Fourth

hydrofoil_circumnavigation_waypoint_epsilon_by_aeroqc-d7kghwp.png

Fifth

hydrofoil_circumnavigation_waypoint_zeta_by_aeroqc-d7kgi47.png

Last

Now about the whole refuelling station thing? Yeah there aren't any. Whenever I need some fuel I'll just call in ordnance, because I can.

hydrofoil_circumnavigation_ibrm_by_aeroqc-d7kgibw.png

With this: the Intecontinental Ballistic Refuelling Missile a.k.a. IBRM.

Complete with a 300 unit jet fuel payload and an Advanced Grabber Unit for easy docking and fuel transfer (yes, somehow the AGU can transfer fuel, but hey it's to my benefit).

Last, but certainly not least, the star of the whole sh-bang:

hydrofoil_circumnavigation_hydra_l_by_aeroqc-d7kgjda.png

The Hydra-L, perfectly fit for adequate land travel and superb "flight" over water.

Top Speed: 150 m/s (291.5 knots)

Fuel Capacity: 300 units

Crew Capacity: 1 Kerbal (with IVA view)

Here it is in the water.

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At rest.

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IVA

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In Motion

I'll post an update whenever I reach a waypoint or when I need refueling or if something funny happens, because it's KSP.

Kraken-speed Jonke Kerman, I hope you packed an extra helping of patience.

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Update: Waypoint Alpha reached heading for Waypoint Beta

hydrofoil_circumnavigation_update__1_alpha_reached_by_aeroqc-d7kgvut.png

Alpha has come and gone, gonna need a refuel.

hydrofoil_circumnavigation_update__2_damage_taken_by_aeroqc-d7kgwj1.png

Well *****, I lost my back radial, things just got real, I guess now is a good time to stop and refuel.

hydrofoil_circumnavigation_update__3_tragedy_by_aeroqc-d7kgxor.png

And then this happens literally seconds after... RIP Jonke Kerman, you shall be remembered...

Or not.

Time to restart, since I forgot to quicksave at the waypoint. I'll make a point of changing the pilot though, for story sake.

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  • 1 month later...

Top Ten of the Speedy Guys trying their best not to 'bend' the universe.

Rockets are winning (no surprise there) But is there room for a jet to take the lead?

Note that #2 was a combo rocket / plane.

I'm sure that a 'rocket with wings' can do this with less fuel than an old-fashioned rocket.

Northstar1984 23:00 20 Mn Nuclear Pulse Rocket

zarakon 23:03 - rocket launch / glider "landing" (I use that term loosely)

FleshJeb 23:10 - Stock Rocket

Rakaydos 24:34 - multi-stage rocket - Thruster landing

totalitor 28:33 - multi-stage rocket - Thruster landing

Voculus 30:58 - Jet - but mad props for landing at KSC runway

MarvinKitFox 31:00 "Speed(no y) Gonzales"

FleshJeb 33:36 in BSG Viper "Next time I'll remember to go West"

flipmcf 33:19 - brute force rocket, probe, parachute.

B1LL60 34:12 - Jet - Landed at KSC runway

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I don't have any designs to break into that list, but I'm still working to knock an hour (maybe two) off my time while carrying either more, or the same number of kerbals as my previous design. But I'm planning to do so without carrying a reactor on board this time. I want to feel the fear of the night, to know that the only thing keeping me going is the sunlight, and that once it sets, it's all down to whatever power generation I can pack on the plane to help me to the ground in a controlled and sane manner.

Alternately, I have a design that might make the slowest time ever flown in the challenge, if I can figure out exactly how much 'fuel' I need on board. Still Manned, but it forgoes such luxuries as 'armor' and 'glass' in favor of a true, seat-of-one's-pants experience. After all, if you can't collect a few bugs on your helmet glass, how much fun are you really having?

Before I waste delta-V trying to do it, anyone got a rough idea how much Xenon Gas I'm gonna have to bring 'round-the-world to keep, say, 3 Ion Engines happy? I know I can provide enough solar to do it, but I don't want to carry more than a 10% overage of fuel. A little safety cushion is good, but I'm dealing with engines so weak a fart might make more power, even without needing an ignition source.

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I don't have any designs to break into that list

Midas, you don't need to - you CREATED the electric-powered category. You should poke around and see if you can find someone to compete.

Sounds like you're also considering the Xenon Category.

The reason I posted that was to Bump the thread, and see if I could spawn some new Jet entries that could outpace the rockets. I'm rooting for planes. It'snorocketscience seems to have caught the bug.

Edited by flipmcf
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Having forgotten about this old challenge until now, I dusted off my Dove Mk.4, and did a trial run. Made it around in 37mn 50sec, with half my fuel left over. Not a bad first successful circumnavigation. With a bit more optimising, I think I can get this thing going about as fast as a jet can physically go, and I suspect I can do a faster landing than some entries...although fixing some structural "issues" with this thing will require putting the thing over 700 parts, which is sure to make my laptop love me.

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So on this attempt, I botched the launch setup and lost at least a minute...I launched too horizontally, and lost some control. Had to level out and build up speed then continue the climb. I can definitely save time here....a pure vertical launch will get me up to cruising altitude faster, letting me burn off more fuel faster and end up going faster towards the end of the flight.

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Eventually I did get into a nice vertical climb. I've got plans to improve the SRB setup as well....

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This version of the Dove has 14 engines, of which 8 are clip-on boosters, designed to burn off fuel and make the early part of the flight faster. It's entirely stock as well (only mod I'm running is Environmental Enhancement).

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However, I screwed up and ejected the booster jets too early, losing me maybe 2-6 minutes of time overall.

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Eventually though, I got the thing up to over 30km, where the large wing let me slowly get up to orbital speeds. The orbital camera sucks for flying aircraft, BTW.

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Of course at this point, travelling at nearly 2.2km/s, I now need to slow down. The Dove 4 has a pair of SRBs to act as brakes. I'd tested these the last time I flew this, but not at this speed/altitude. However after a little trial and error with quicksave/loads, I got the drill. These rockets aren't so much for the "slow down" part.....they're actually more to force a descent....allowing me to put the nose down, then blast away with the main engines and get down as quickly as possible. With some more practise, I can also save some time here....maybe 30 seconds to a minute. More RCS thrusters would certainly help.....holding pitch 40 degrees away from prograde is quite hard at 2km/s.

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But here we go. After a wild, shaky ride I flew over my launch clamps and landed.

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I stopped moving a few seconds earlier than this, but eh....I'm not winning any places regardless and the next go at this should work much better. HEading west, getting the launch right, not ejecting boosters too early, and fine-tuning the landing should get me below 30 minutes.

Edited by Fendleton
Fixed broken [img] tag
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  • 2 weeks later...

Started construction in x64 mode on my new aircraft. This undoubtedly WILL have the slowest time on the board. I can't imagine a vehicle going slower than a non-infinigliding aircraft packing an Ion Thruster and a, well, shall we say "secret weapon" in store for how to actually make it work. My hardest part has always been getting Xenon drives airborne from the runway, so I've developed a strategy that doesn't involve rocket boosters or drop-away props.

Two words: Hooligan. Labs.

I'll post again once I've finished started my circle around the world. There's an Ion drive onboard, but I don't feel I'll be using it a lot. It's a Gravity-Class Infinite Glider for a reason, and no, it's not to be confused with "Infiniglider." Very, very different strategies.

------------

And now, Live from Madness Industries Space Exploration, Ground Control has launched a new vessel.

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The journey will be broken into many parts over many days. I think driving or boating might actually be faster... Not sure whether it'll be counted as Xenon Class as I'm out of Xenon Gas, but can fly just fine without it. Even from landing. I'd accept an "Engineless" category or a "Xenon" category placing, though understand that this plane does not actually exploit infiniglide. It's a very much manual experience. I'm alternating between Action Group 2 and Action Group 3 to keep my speed and altitude up. I've consumed all the Xenon a little under 50 minutes into my trip. Estimated Mission Required Time: 16 hours.

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Another Live Update from Madness Industries and the Voyage of Gravity One.

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Leg two's a little short, but I didn't feel like flying for 4 hours straight the second run. I still covered a good amount of distance, though, and I now only have half a planet to fly around. That whole leg was flown, obviously, with no Xenon. Estimate on Mission Required Time at this point: 14 hours.

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A short, but effective journey marks the third leg. Flying tired is always a bad idea, so I landed before the two-second nod-offs hit. Still flying 64-bit.

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Edited by Madrias
Travelled a little further.
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