KT-3A Freighter

[Frozen_Heart]

After the KT-1 and KT-2 both turned out to be very successful, I decided to go bigger...

The KT-3A is an upsized mothership with a massively improved dV and payload capacity compared to its predecessors, capable of hauling huge payloads to Duna and returning for reuse. Going both ways the KT-3 can haul over 300 tons to the Mun and back, and over 100 tons to Duna and back.

The KT-3 is perfectly balanced and 6 reaction wheels make it pleasant to manoeuvre. The shape prevents tumbling during aerobraking, though the fact that it contains many low drag parts means you have to dive much deeper into the atmosphere than would be expected to slow down enough.

Launch is easy with the pair of boosters, though I'd recommend that you get a good height due to the average TWR of 0.44. Some fuel is needed from the main ship to complete the orbit so refuelling is recommended to get the most out of the KT-3. Once in orbit any cargo can be attached onto its several docking ports which are spread around the ship.

For testing I decided to set up a Mun colony after the failure of previous attempts. The new joint system proved easily adequate to prevent an wobble at all during the burn despite only using standard docking ports! The payload consisted of; 4 satellites, 2 landers, 2 rovers, 2 rocket cranes, and Rune's surface base pack. Less than a quarter of the fuel was needed to go from LKO to LMO where base deployment could commence.

Stats:

Parts: 110

Mass: 113 Tons

Height: 4.6m

Width: 4.9m

Length: 24.1m

Cost: 146, 000 Kerbits

TWR: 0.44 fuelled

Nodes: 4 jr, 7 standard

Powerplant: 8 LV-N

Seats: 5

dV (m/s) / payload (tons):

8345 - 0

8000 - 2.5

7000 - 12

6000 - 25

5000 - 43

4000 - 70

3000 - 115

2000 - 185

1000 - 492

Happy haulin'

Launcher included.

Download: http://bit.ly/18uQgGC

[Volcanix]

100 tons to Duna sounds really nice! And it also looks pretty nice! Good to see you've kept on working on it, heh

I would recommend you to do a thread where you put together all your ships

[Frozen_Heart]

100 tons to Duna sounds really nice! And it also looks pretty nice! Good to see you've kept on working on it, heh

I would recommend you to do a thread where you put together all your ships

I'm waiting for a launch window to do a Duna trip. Going to take as much as possible in one go.

I've been tempted to start putting all my ships in one place for a while but decided against it due to not wanting to go near rocket builders. Bad things happened there a while ago...

[panzer1b]

I like the design.

Your engine shield actually resembles the one i use on most capital ships (except that wings are structural panels usually for me), always had a thing for hexagonal engine shields, makes things look less monotone and goes away from the very popular 2-4 way symmetry. Im also impressed you managed a respectable level of dV out of something that looks pretty nice. While they function well in terms of dV, strapping a command pod to a couple jumbo64s and a nuke cluster behind that doesnt exactly look very good....

GJ, id also like to see your other 2 designs that were of similar style. While i dont use other peoples craft myself (i kinda have a thing for making my own custom ships for my own games), i will probably borrow some of your ship to strap onto my stuff.

[Wabbit]

This thing is massive

love it!

[Frozen_Heart]

This thing is massive

love it!

I'm planning to further increase the size and dV of future versions. I'm getting back into the swing of building things so I reckon at least twice the payload to Duna is possible with later ships.

Also hoping to add internal cargo bays and vertical engine pods for landing on worlds with gravity similar to Minmus.

[Wabbit]

I'm planning to further increase the size and dV of future versions. I'm getting back into the swing of building things so I reckon at least twice the payload to Duna is possible with later ships.

Also hoping to add internal cargo bays and vertical engine pods for landing on worlds with gravity similar to Minmus.

That would be awesome. Have some rep for your craft!

[Azimech]

Beautiful! What are you going to build next?

[DMSP]

I really like this craft, and I don't want to Necro, but how did the Duna mission go?

Also, could you give us downloads for the Base, Rovers, Dropships and Landers?

DMSP, hope you keep building!

[Frozen_Heart]

Beautiful! What are you going to build next?

I'm waiting for the larger wing panels in 1.0 before building larger craft. If I'm lucky I can use them to reduce the part count.

I really like this craft, and I don't want to Necro, but how did the Duna mission go?

Also, could you give us downloads for the Base, Rovers, Dropships and Landers?

DMSP, hope you keep building!

The Duna mission... was a disaster. :/ I sent some habitats down and failed to land even a single one of them. I did get a rover and lander down and so drove around a bit but couldn't set anything up long term. Had to return to the mothership and head home.

I've always been bad at landings.

Also the rovers, dropships, and the lander are just thrown together craft and with a bit of thought anyone could do better. The base is Rune's surface base pack. Check it out here.