Interplanetary SSTO cargo delivery planes

[Overfloater]

This will be my craft showcase & repository.

Main focus is 100% re-usable, independent interplanetary cargo planes for Laythe & Duna.

(These are all inspired by pa1983/G4Virus' spaceplanes)

Download Craft files

Astroliner XI

Experimental plane. Was supposed to be exactly like my standard cargo planes, only 4 times smaller. But the dead weight wasn't 4 times smaller, so it can only barely put a 4t cargo on Laythe.

Flies fine, but short on delta V.

Astroliner X "Saturn"

This is an experimental plane, and not my most successful one... but still gets the job done.

Fuel system is different from my previous planes, and requires manual transferring when the back becomes heavy.

Also, making a tilting tail was a bad move: in flight, when the tail flaps tilt, they tail bends the other way and counteracts the flaps.

Apparently making a tilting cockpit (like G4Virus) would have worked better, because when the flaps tilt, the cockpit would bend along with them thus increasing the lift effect.

Has plenty of delta-v, but flies awkwardly.

0.24.2 Legacy crafts:

Legacy crafts are ones I no longer maintain, in favor of newer ones.

A major change has been implemented in 0.25, putting these crafts out of commission.

Astroliner IX "Altair":

Light cargo transport for Laythe and Duna.

Can lift 20 tons, consists of 407 parts

Design inspired by Pa1983's Falcon XIII, only my plane is much smaller and consists of a quarter of the part count!

Astroliner VIII "Nova":

My most resilient cargo ship, very solid and maneuverable.

Heavy cargo transport for Duna & Laythe.

Can deliver 25 tons to Laythe, and 40 tons to Duna.

Consists of ~700 parts.

I am using it for setting up extra-planetary bases.

Vehicles can also be loaded manually, by docking ports located directly under their center of mass.

And I'm not kidding about "100% reusable"! Craft doesn't have to be recovered.

Just re-fuel with a tanker by attaching it to one of the ports, put more vehicles inside and you're ready to go again!

Astro-Cruiser:

Small, private spaceplane, has room for two. Used for performing extreme feats like landing on Laythe & Duna in a single trip, landing on Eeloo etc'...

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That will be it for right now, but I'll keep updating this thread from time to time.

Edited December 17, 2014 by Overfloater

[Overfloater]

0.23.5 legacy crafts:

I no longer update these crafts due to certain incompatibilities, and in favor of newer ones.

Astroliner VI "Venera":

My 1st attempt at a small cargo plane. Base version consisted of 433 parts, and could just barely deliver a 7 ton payload to Duna.

So I made the "B" (long-range) variant which is much better suited for the task. Should also be compatible with Laythe, but I never tested.

Designations:

A - light cargo to Duna, Mun & Minmus.

B - Long range - Duna & possibly Laythe

C - Tug/Supertanker

D - Heavy lifter

Astroliner V "Mega Comet":

My 1st attempt at an interplanetary cargo plane.

Made of 701 parts, flies O.K., but looks like a box ;-)

Has delivered a 20 ton cargo to Laythe, establishing the 1st part of my Laythe base.

Astroliner IV "Comet":

Made this plane before I learned how to properly transfer between planets xD

I thought i need to keep subtracting dead-weight and keep adding fuel, until I eventually made this -

A plane that lands on Laythe, then Duna, and returns to Kerbin. and All that without re-fuelling! (my "Astro-Cruiser" is much better at this though)

Also carries 4 passengers along with 1 pilot.

Has one major problem: Easily loses yaw control and impossible to regain it. So no veering left/right!

Designed specifically for landing in crappy places (Duna). So landing gear is spread wide, and has very high lift rating to allow comfortable glide in Duna's thin atmosphere.

Astroliner:

My 1st single stage interplanetary plane.

Built using all the dirtiest tricks: stacked intakes, control-surface spamming, parts inside fuel tanks... you name it!

Piloted by three, carries 8 passengers, and able to carry a payload on it's back.

Edited October 25, 2014 by Overfloater

[Overfloater]

Land vehicles

My most recent and best land vehicles.

Astro Jeep 2 & 3:

Wanted to make something better looking & performing than my dull original Astro-Jeep.

Uses my experimental "structural-pylon" powered independent suspension.

Absorbs shocks, but unfortunately does not perform well under physics-warp....

Demonstration can be viewed on the "Astroliner IX Altair" video. (Link: Land vehicle sequence)

Astro-Truck 2.8:

May look very similar to the one I used as cargo on my 2nd Laythe delivery, but...

It features my most successful suspension so far, made of 3 metal plates (like Vagani's method) but not formed into a spring shape.

Here's a test drive:

http://youtu.be/GgncOKmOeTw

Standard rockets

Explorer 4:

Universal (except Eve) lander!

For landing on several bodies in one mission.

I'll keep updating occasionally...

Edited September 20, 2014 by Overfloater

[Hammaneggs]

Wow, amazing planes! It has been a while since I have seriously played this game, maybe now that I have a better computer, I should pursue true spaceplanes instead of old jets.

[LABHOUSE]

I made a smaller plane just to fit in your cargo planes...

I tried to copy one of your planes, how do you get the col and the com to get close I cannot do that in my copy of it.

[Red Iron Crown]

Subscribed, big fan of your stock spaceplane sorcery.

[Vagani]

I've always wanted to try these out, but keep forgetting, they look so clean and elegant, I really do have great liking for these

[CG_Kerbin]

Looks really good cant wait to mess about with this

[Doge]

The Altair is pretty cool! Was the cargo bay design originally made by pa1983?

[Overfloater]

I made a smaller plane just to fit in your cargo planes...

I tried to copy one of your planes, how do you get the col and the com to get close I cannot do that in my copy of it.

I usually make the fuel tanks in one line, put adequate weight in front and back, so the mass center doesn't move.

If lift center is too far behind, add more wings in front... if it's too far in front, put more wings behind, simple as that.

Subscribed, big fan of your stock spaceplane sorcery.

I'm glad you are :] just don't have too big expectations, I don't update frequently...

I've always wanted to try these out, but keep forgetting, they look so clean and elegant, I really do have great liking for these

Yeah? I've been putting an eye on your land vehicles as well... ;-]

The Altair is pretty cool! Was the cargo bay design originally made by pa1983?

Actually this is my only cargo-bay that doesn't look like his. You can check his thread again for comparison.

[endl]

Do you do requests?

im honestly in awe of your designs, im currently trying to make my own version of a "Astro-Cruiser". my goal is to create a crew transfer ship that can dock with my Kerbin station located 150k in orbit with enough fuel for a return flight. im trying to transport 5 MK1 Lander cans in serial position + 1 cockpit ive gone through several configurations around this "core" i was wondering if you could come up with something that can work for me. something with a fast rate of climb would be amazing if you can pull it off.

im still trying to figure out how the joint works on the tail section of the Altair, how the hell doesnt it fly right off before it catches the docking ports?

[Prof. Endwalker]

Wow! I tip my cap to you, Overfloater. I barely see an interplanetary SSTO that doesn't air hog (or at least doesn't show the intakes.) Good job!

[Kestrelio]

You sir are brilliant. Curious as to how you managed to design the cargo bay to open/close with stock parts though.

[Rune]

Derp. This was not supposed to be this tab. Well, I had it open because I wanted to comment on an awesome collection. So there, commented ^^'

[endl]

You sir are brilliant. Curious as to how you managed to design the cargo bay to open/close with stock parts though.

the back is held together using docking ports and a radial coupler which somehow acts as a hinge without breaking, the thrusters on the tail lift the back after decoupling until they catch the docking ports higher up and get stuck there. its a pretty brilliant idea im just surprised he made something work as a hinge thats the real brilliance to this design.

[UnplannedLithobreak]

I honestly had no idea that [stock] cargo bay doors were possible in ksp. I can't seem to be able to find any threads detailing how they work/how to go into making the various types of cargo bay doors. Would anyone mind directing me to a thread (if it exists)?

[brezzell]

Overfloater,

Your work is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your work. Your cargo planes really got my intrest in KSP going again. I hope you are working on something new for .25. I made a few Duna capable cargo planes of my own based off of your videos. (Thanks again!!!) But I still dont have the SSTO mastered. Do you have any tips on how to increase lift?

A few weeks ago, there was a post about your favorite you-tuber. I don't think you got the love you deserved. If you have the time, could you make a video about all the dirty tricks you use?

1 more thing. Cupcake broke the 4th wall for me when he started speaking in his vids. It may sound silly, but he went from being a god in my head to human in about 2 seconds. I hate reading text in videos, however, I hope i never hear your voice. So I can leave you up there all high and mighty on Mt Olympus.

Thanks again sir, please post again soon, im going through withdrawal.

[UnplannedLithobreak]

Overfloater,

Your work is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your work. Your cargo planes really got my intrest in KSP going again. I hope you are working on something new for .25. I made a few Duna capable cargo planes of my own based off of your videos. (Thanks again!!!) But I still dont have the SSTO mastered. Do you have any tips on how to increase lift?

A few weeks ago, there was a post about your favorite you-tuber. I don't think you got the love you deserved. If you have the time, could you make a video about all the dirty tricks you use?

1 more thing. Cupcake broke the 4th wall for me when he started speaking in his vids. It may sound silly, but he went from being a god in my head to human in about 2 seconds. I hate reading text in videos, however, I hope i never hear your voice. So I can leave you up there all high and mighty on Mt Olympus.

Thanks again sir, please post again soon, im going through withdrawal.

You should toss over some images of your Duna-capable craft. A craft file would be 2-trillion or so times better. Sometimes getting more lift is just based on where you're looking.

[Overfloater]

Do you do requests?

That shouldn't be a problem. The astro-cruiser's ascent is slow only because I needed it to carry the least amount of dead weight possible. That's what you get if you want extra long range capabilities.

You were asking for a 5-passenger plane for LKO? Sorry I didn't respond earlier, I suffer from a major case of lazy-ass. xD

That would be extremely simple to make. Is the 5 "lander-cans" in a row really a necessary configuration?

Do you have any tips on how to increase lift?

Thanks Brezzell, i'm glad you're enjoying yourself here ;-]

Here's a couple of tips,

1st - add only the wings(no flaps yet!), make sure you have many flat/horizontal ones. While doing that make sure the center of lift is in the proper position (just slightly behind the mass center)

THEN you add control surfaces - concentrate them far behind, and far in front of the plane,

(adequate amount) and on both sides at the edge.

I'm hoping to cover everything in a tutorial video sometime.

could you make a video about all the dirty tricks you use?

I think I covered everything in my building videos, although,

in my older designs I had the control surfaces & air intakes inside fuel tanks o_O

1 more thing. Cupcake broke the 4th wall for me when he started speaking in his vids. It may sound silly, but he went from being a god in my head to human in about 2 seconds. I hate reading text in videos, however, I hope i never hear your voice. So I can leave you up there all high and mighty on Mt Olympus.

Thanks again sir, please post again soon, im going through withdrawal.

HAHAHA got it ;-D

I'm still trying to think of ideas on how I'm gonna make a KSP aircraft tutorial. With my luck, by the time I make it, SQUAD will probably upgrade the aerodynamics! x-]

[brezzell]

You should toss over some images of your Duna-capable craft. A craft file would be 2-trillion or so times better. Sometimes getting more lift is just based on where you're looking.

Hey Sir,

Here is a link to the Craft file.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sbzgkajocwi7eyq/SSTO%20x5-3.craft?dl=0

[Iansoreta]

Finally, a new thread with freedom to discuss everything about gameplay in KSP. Thank you, Overfloater! Are you going to use KSP 0.25? Everyone's using KSP 0.25, including Scott Manley.

[Castille7]

These crafts look like so much fun! thanks for taking the time to post the videos! love'm

[DMSP]

Hi!

Can you post some of your payloads, like the one you put on Laythe in your "Astroliner XI SSTO - Tiny cargo to Laythe" video?

I love building ground bases, and things like the Payloads in your videos would be epic to have!

Your craft are epic +Rep!

Thanks, DMSP.

[Overfloater]

Every payload i used in a video should be in that zip folder.

Some are separate (which were loaded manually), some come along attached inside the ship that carried it.

The tiny payload was just something I quickly slapped together... check the craft called "Astroliner XI (1)", it's in there.

Older crafts are in the folders ("0.24.2", "0.23.5"). The planes are outdated, but the payloads should work fine, except ones that had a brown SAS module which got smaller in 0.25.

You can just grab the payload and save as a sub-assembly.

Thanks for the feedback DMSP.

Edited December 17, 2014 by Overfloater

[endl]

overfloater do you only work with stock your planes are great but the part count is pretty insane on some of them.

if you play with at least one mod i would suggest KAS you can build alot more interesting rovers

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thats my ssto for duna xfer i havent tested the xfer part but it has a large fuel capacity so im sure i can make it (i built this one for use with far). the rovers are a crane for base building a fuel xfer rover and a science scout.

some other mods that might be helpful are near future solar/electrical, scan sat and remote tech for challenge, also modular rocket system might have some useful adapters for balancing parts/engine configurations such as the first pic i have a 5 engine mount 4 sabers and 1 nuke per wing otherwise you wind up having to radially attach them which adds more parts and is harder to balance, like the last pic

Edited December 17, 2014 by endl