Sage Sagan

So full of awesome Blackheart! Wings are great. I think you were right, the outside of the wings being tiled all the way up looks great and makes sense from a re-entry standpoint as well. The top surface concept is also fine and will look very trim..... Loving the logo, absolutely outstanding..the bat is cool and the font is spot on. I really like the fact that you haven't tried to make the bat look bad-ass, fruit bats are not by nature famous for being vicious...unless you are a Papaya. I think the ailerons will have to run straight across from their narrowest point, the idea is to keep the rear as obstruction free as possible to facilitate docking. Or to play on the bat theme a little I think Daemoria might be working on some custom control surfaces along these lines but if not then I think the stock large control surface re-scaled and re-textured would do the job very well.

I like the idea of separating at the fuselage line but wont that make the wings hard to config as they will be providing lift and lateral stability? The skid landing gear works great on the prototype, I wonder if LLL industries would allow the config from their skids to be used on our design. If you can model custom flaps that would be great, the stock small control surfaces work well but they are a little long front-to-back and could possibly get in the way when docking to complex structures.

This is all looking kickass, Daemoria. I'm not sure that I could return to the un-inspired,running dog mundane rockets of those other agencies once I have these! One thing I note is that there is no hangar module for storing small craft inside large interplanetary vessels. Just as a random example if a mission involved a Laythe landing by a yet un-released micro shuttle it would be nice to be able to store 2 shuttles in bays within the large craft..... Just seen your Titan interplanetary...6m bay huh...that should be enough room for a squadron of Shuttles

Greetings perspective Pteron purchaser, As you can see from this R&D thread work on the Pteron is proceeding at a pace. This weekend saw prototype flight tests, which apart from some non-lethal ground interaction incidents were a complete success. As you can see from the images this is a very early flight and testing prototype. Fruit Bat Industries is awaiting delivery of the final fuselage elements fromhttp://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/69923-Singularity-Research-Initiative-dev-thread Singularity Research Initiative who are the Komposite fabrication contractors on this project. Placement of docking collar and OMS motors is approximately correct for final design. It has been pointed out that a Sun-roof on an orbital re-entry vehicle may not be optimum from a safety standpoint, the opening roof will be omitted from the final design but may be offered as an after-market extra. Thanks to LLL aerspace and RLA for providing prototype construction materials.

Oh yes the ailerons, I actually like how the smaller stock control surfaces look with this design. I think they would need to be re-textured in the same gray you are using for the tiles. Yes that is the Mig-105 spiral, it's such a shame that 40 years after the Spiral flew we are just now getting back to small,re-useable spaceplanes I.R.L Yup I think that the Wings should be one part with the fuselage and then break at line "B" for the Winglets to attach.

The winglets will attach separately from the main lifting-body,I think it will be necessary for control and aerodynamic config to have winglets for yaw control and stability. The question is, do we separate the wings from the body at line "A" in which case they will have to have lift/stability working in two planes? Or at line "B"? meaning the fuselage and the horizontal wing surfaces are one part and the vertical sections of the wings are 2 attached parts. i think the second approach will be more straightforward.

Play around with a few, As long as Bat wings are involved and the word Pteron then we are on the right track. I like the rear RCS ports being surrounded by heat tiles, RCS thrust can damage things and heat tiles are tough. The heat tiling needs to come around the back of the wing onto the top surface of the winglet and drop lower on the leading edge fuselage juction

If Blackheart is happy to do it then yes, he is doing the texturing. I think his take on the shuttle so far is stock enough but also has a really clean look that I like. Completely understand that your own project takes precedence, I am one of the people eagerly awaiting your mod! Whenever you get the uv-map done could you PM Blackheart and I with a link to the file download, including, if possible a 3-D file of shuttle as I want to look in to the possibility of getting a couple of 3-D prints done.

the Kerbal Space Program logo persists but 25%-35% smaller. Fruit bat industries is for the description in the CFG and for advertising materials:), you don't need to include it in any logos on the shuttle. You are right about the font, it isn't clear enough especially at the size it will be on such a tiny craft. What do you think of the one SpaceX is using in the dragon logo? I'm sure they wont mind .

By all means try it with Helvetica, also if you wanted to try half of the bat wing with your earlier logo idea that might look cool also. I am completely open to suggestions on this project,progress has exceeded all my expectations so I am a very happy ideas guy overall. Shuttles might but ...space x think capsules can go wild..

Loving the texture blackheart, the little beauty is really taking shape! The tiles look great, I really liked the radial heat tiles that Daemoria's texture had...any chance you would try a version with radial, larger tiles? It MUST say rescue either side of the hatch in high vis lettering, sorry to obsess but that's how I am. Other than that loving your work. The logo is cool but I had in mind a bat wing when I first sketched out the wings of the shuttle,something like this but tidier. Also The Shuttle is cute and flies, just like a bat. Taking a longer look at the shuttle I think the side windows maybe need to shift more onto the sides of the fuselage, just a little.

Hi all, Couple of things 1)I was decided on the chopped(short) version from the moment that I saw it, it really was like Daemoria looked at my scrawled caveman-esque doodlings and said "is this what you meant? Monkey?" I said "....oook". It is cuter than a whole bath-tub full of kittens but that is a side affect of it being just the right size for 2 kerbals and nothing else. 2) It is not just a rescue vehicle*, rather a great way to move 2 kerbals any time. I think the fuel will be limited by some semblance of reality and to conserve mass,as I said it will be R.C.S fuel for both docking and de-orbit motors and very little else so if you want to ferry kerbals UP to your station some kind of auxiliary propulsion/service model will be required. 3)The IVA will be very straightforward 2 RPM screens(hopefully) Alt, airspeed, nav ball and a joystick no banks of switches or doo-hickies. Research conducted after the F.R.U.1000 (Fecal.Recycling.Unit) disaster on board KIR space station showed that in-experienced Kerbal crew were daunted by complex flight decks and failed to evacuate before the pollutant reached them. 4) Daemoria, love the banded heat tiles and the expansion gaps between them but I really would prefer them flush with the fuselage where they meet the upper texture,then the chunky size will look just right I think. 1 more light required on the tail below the attach node where the clamp"O"tron will fit, I couldn't show this on the image. If you don't want to take another run at the top texture I would completely understand but something a little more "spaceship white" would be cool. Other than that it is literally perfect...Daemoria, take a bow for the crowd I am working on concept sketches for the skid landing gear. Working around the ideas of looking cool, being straightforward and fitting inside 3 boxed shaped recesses in the main fuselage only.Trying to keep the wing configs simple as possible, the main body will be hard to config for a noob like me regardless so the wings, at least should be easy. As a side benefit if the wings get ripped off during a particularly fraught descent then the remaining lift in the fuselage and really robust landing gear might make for a live kerbal. Also writing up PART file and probably having too much fun coming up with marketing and background material for the description. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate everyone's enthusiasm on this thread, very motivating in a good way. Any UNITY import wizards lurking out there feel free to offer your services either on the thread or PM me.. Eternal gratefulness awaits and prizes more precious than gold. *Although it will have "RESCUE" written on it....twice.....in big letters...in yellow with black edging Edit: had a go at the landing gear, in case it isn't clear a section of the heat tiles form the skids and are part of the landing gear module or could be integral to the fuselage model...is that even possible?

Ok Blackheart, point taken. The skids are what I had in mind originally and I should stick to the original vision. Did you mean the top edges of the winglets need head shielding? Because the lower leading edges are already heat finished in Daemoria's rendering.

Sorry I didn't mean heat tile all over,rather tiles on the bottom and white heat resistant top side like the Kliper in the O.P. I am still a little shell shocked by how awesome the shuttle looks, the second render is so spot on. 1.8 tonnes seems fair for the weight. The Pteron is built of Karbon fibre komposite and will only contain enough monoprop for docking and a de-orbit maneuver. So wheels or skids?

WOW WOW WOW. That is so awesome...I love the model. Now I am going to risk offence...I love the shape but I really had a heat tile look in mind for the whole thing white upper black lower.Or in keeping with the rescue vibe perhaps black and yellow hazard stripes so when Kerbal search and rescue are looking for the shuttle...I am so amazed with this model Daemoria, it is exactly what I had floating in my head. Blackheart, the length is fine..the sketches were definitely a starting point but not iron clad designs. I like the shorter proportions a lot more, it just feels right for the for the idiom of the thing and to be honest my maths may have been slightly off! So to some up, AMAZING work thank you Daemoria Texture time Write config and description(yay I can actually do that) Daemoria, landing gear? What do you think? I really am a fan of the landing skids idea. Skids are great for mechanical simplicity I.R.L, they are heat resistant and look cool. Everyone else s opinions more than welcome...what is the thinking wheels or skids?

Thanks, I wanted it to look kerbally but now I'm torn...the shell shape has merits but so does the Klip/Chaser idea. Oh well I guess it boils down to whatever the person doing the 3-D model is most comfortable with.

To be honest I preferred the shape in the OP as well, I was floating the Shell idea in case I had to attempt the 3-D modelling myself...a shell shape being far easier to make. I always imagined the shuttle as a Kliper/Mig 105/Dreamchaser hybrid with a slightly more humped back to accommodate the clamp o tron. I also prefer the nose on my original sketch. all the other non visual comments, size,internal RTG and R.C.S OMS motors etc I stick by though.... edit: I just realized who you are Daemoria, I think your stuff has real visual style... I would be honoured if you can spare the time to take a pass at this, I will try to sketch a definitive design and post it upedit: More sketching

Hello again, so I have been musing and sketching...I feel all of your pain at what is coming. So as i see it the Pteron looks like an artillery shell with wings and windows pretty much, I know that it should probably look more lifting body if it is one but that's why it has winglets. :DThe fuselage would have a lift rating like porkjets MK2 cockpit and the winglets would mainly be for stability and yaw control. The rear view is an attempt to show the winglet and lower fuselage shape, also the OMS postions....man I really suck at drawing. Hopefully this gives some idea of shape and length(2.2m ish). Oh and a fuel cell/RTG built in. As stated previously this is really all about simplicity, I really like some of the shuttles on the forums but it seems like they are a little over designed for moving a couple of 1.2m tall green guys from orbit back to Kerbin. So, in summation help from anyone with modelling, import or really any useful skills would be awesome.

Yup I do have a concept in mind, I just need to improve on the sketch in the OP. As to using KSO parts.. I think they would be too big (this is a 1.25m scale shuttle, really little). I would love to have internal landing gear but that is all dependent on the kind souls that can help me with blender etc( Love Porkjets work for instance). This is all about simplicity, ease of use and cuteness.

Thank you Blackheart that is the point, it also draws on the Japanese egg planes for it's cuteness. I realize that there is no landing gear shown, In my head it lands on a tricycle skid undercarriage (LLL has some). Wheels would be cool also either internal or for simplicity re-scaled stock landing gear

Yes there is but it is much larger and more complex and is difficult to launch(and it has no front window). This is all about smallness,low part count so multiples can be kept on a spacestation and it can be launched on a 1.5m stack.

Fruit.Bat.Industries Open Flight tests...Sign up Update Beta Release 09/09/2014 https://www.dropbox.com/s/85og3xdhark7com/Pteron5.rar?dl=0 Creative Commons License Pteron Mini shuttle is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. I love Helldiver's KSO, but it got me thinking about the WEKA and the idea of a REALLY small lifting body shuttle(1.25m scale) for crew return and emergency returns from orbit. So after a few abortive attempts at Blender which resulted in the kind of design that should be drowned at birth, I decided to draw on a napkin at work(aren't those always the best designs?). The idea would be to keep a very low part count, so ideally it will consist of only 6-8 parts i.e. Fuselage,right and left winglets ,docking port,two oms engines. The OMS engines would be R.C.S fueled so they can share the same internal R.C.S. tanks as the thrusters. The shuttle will seat 2 Kerbals in a tandem configuration with hopefully RPM displays(2), as a place holder the MK2 cockpit IVA could be used as config is similar. The shuttle, when fueled would weigh in at around 1.8 tonnes and due to it's size will fit in a 2.5m fairing which makes it much easier to launch especially for FAR uses. I picture it as being slightly wider that a MK2 cockpit. This is not shown on the sketch but the docking collar will fit on the rear The compact size means it should fit in a 2.5m cargo bay for carrying on larger ships etc. So the thing is that I am so bad at 3-D modeling I thought that I would come on the boards and ask for the help of the best community in gaming, is there a 3-d modeler out there who can help me with this? I also need a texture person, it has to have the right tiled look...think Kliper The things I can do are: write all the descriptions and amusing notes, test like a demon and of course have the idea for a tiny teeny, oh so cute shuttle. More inspiration Edit: Some of the amazing modelling work of Daemoria: and the texture and logo work of Blackheart:

Playing around with rovers and other uses for the bays and passenger section it occurred to me that a short, neat way of ending the MK2 shape is sorely needed and should be relatively straightforward. There are lots of long, tail style 1.5m to MK2 adaptors I mean more of an end covering plate or a short MK2-1.5m...or both would be really nice!

The Wings and Shock-cone intakes are from Taverio's Aerospace http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/0-18-1-taverios-pizza-and-aerospace/ I just found the changeover to closed cycle operation was happening too low for my liking with stock intakes, with 4 shock intakes I get to around 28000m before the engines switch. I came in 300km short of KSC on my last re-entry and there was plenty of fuel left for the long, slow, flight home. The plane is actually very safe to fly Starwaster,although I haven't carried a payload yet.

I just wanted to say how awesome these parts are! They allow some graceful and very practical SSTO's. I used a right angle docking adapter on my space station with a standard docking port married to the "spud" pod for docking window action. Bit of an SOB to dock but it works well. Google plus is being difficult https://plus.google.com/photos/115887036249449370005/albums/5981556954283637409/5982503250670671858?pid=5982503250670671858&oid=115887036249449370005 Gallery of glamour shots.