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When it rains fire.

I do not really know what to say about this. It is "kerbalish". And pancake wings work pretty well.

I am not completely aware on how KSP handles "multiple crafts in atmo" in 1.1.3, but docking inside the atmosphere was quite tricky before due to the fact that crafts exceeding a 2.5Km distance from the controlled one were simply obliterated by the game. There are some workarounds but they are hard to pull off even on Kerbin. I am not so positive this solution is feasible for a Eve craft - not efficient enough. Take a look at this clip (not mine, but really a masterpiece) If I misunderstood and you want to dock "suborbital but outside the atmo", I have the same thinking - it is not efficient enough.

I have a few that can fit, alas I have pics of a full mission just of the bigger one. It is a "Mun and back" mission and the craft was worth around 34k. The smaller I actually have that can complete this mission is worth around 24k but I have just a still pad pic.

You can reach around 1200 m/s with a ramjet and a 25 to 30t craft at 20000m depending on the ascent profile. When reaching 20000 add the nukes, the ram will go out at around 24000. Try with a lower ascent profile (around 5° pitch). Giving your intakes a -5° AoA will let you exploit a little bit the operative ceiling of the ramjet (500 to 1000m). Try to give +5° AoA to all of your wings, overall lift will be greatly improved. 1 lift per 3t is a good ratio on Kerbin. Horizontal speed rules for planes, as soon as you are above 25/27km you might even go with a 0° pitch to reach orbit. Try to minimize overall drag, anything that is not useful for ascent/descent should be inside a bay. (i.e. solars, RCS thrusters) Do not forget that nukes can not use fuel that is not directly connected to them, so you will have to manually move the fuel (fuel lines and struts add too much drag to be viable for a craft like that, less is more). 2400U of LF should do the trick, leaving you in orbit with around 2000 m/s d/v left (twr 0.70). Your "prime" will be between 8000 and 15000m, try to maximize your speed inside this region. Do not be impatient, as long as you are gaining speed and height that's a good way to go, even if it looks really slow compared to a rocket or to a sportier plane. Hope this can help - same as previously stated, I am pretty sure this could be done differently and maybe in a more efficient way.

"Terrible" meaning too fast or too slow? Or what? (told you it was nose heavy )

Snark, I am sorry to "steal" the thread, but why not adding ventral fins just like MiGs? I know that could be a pain in the "u know what" for landing, because we do not have any actuator that could fold'em, but it could be a possible solution to the roll/yaw issue too.

I do not know if you already reached orbit with that, but I think you should discard a ramjet for a nuke (just my opinion, KSP is never "absolute").

Give your canards a few AoA (5° or less) - it should be enough to move the CoL forward to the CoM (the CoL should however stay behind, just a little closer), the craft will be easier to pilot and more stable while you re enter. I can not see any oxidizer onboard - nuke engine?

How does the center of mass look if you empty the fuel tanks? (and in my opinion the center of lift should be a little bit more toward the center of the plane - is it not nose heavy like that?)

It is really wonderful.

I use the Mk2 cargo bays - the pics below are quite "oldish" but the concept still works. If you flip you just have to open the bay to get back in the correct stance. Moreover the cargo bay is tough and can handle hard hits. With 1.1.2 I had to modify the wheels layout (alas no pics of it) - Did not try yet on 1.1.3.

Prograde. Fly safe

Oh my... Infiniglide is back?

My last suggestion is to try to use alt+click to attach the parts. But, alas, this is KSP so it might be useless. Good luck.

I experienced the same issue: even if it does not look like (and you used simmetry, angle snap and all the stuff available) it might be wrongly attached - just try to rebuild that section in the VAB; it is usually enough to solve the problem.

How long did you use to play, Al?

I think that the FAT wings will explode around 45000m on Eve while you are re entering. They do not have enough heat tolerance (max 1200° if I remember correctly). It is hard to save them re entering on Kerbin from LKO. You should try with Big-S parts.

I noticed this a few versions ago with a Eve ship - it will not completely solve the problem but it will give you some edge.

Alas eyeball is the only tool available.

Put it "inside" and attach it to a cubic.

You can go "orbital" with a 0° degree pitch - horizontal speed rules for planes.

You need to unlock "unmanned tech", tier 7.

Well, I have some "numbers" I can share - they are all based on my experience and style, so they are not absolute at all - I use a very slow ascent profile: I pitch up 5° at take off and I keep it like that; pretty boring but quite effective to me. I usually add at least 400U of LF per rapier, it is more than enough to manage my slow ascents and to save a few for a safe landing. Then I add a minimum 900/1100 LF+O supply. It is barely enough to get to LKO, if you want to improve the range you need to sacrifice the payload. I managed to lift planes a few kilograms in excess of 25t (6 to 7t payload to LKO included) with a single rapier, 60t with a twin rapier (12t payload) and more than 130t (32t payload) with a quad engine craft. I do not have anything bigger but I suppose it is possible to exceed 275t if you make it a "okto". Ram/nuke propelled SSTOs of the same weight have better range but worse payload, they are usually my choice to ferry kerbals around while I'd rather have a rapier propelled cargo. Drag is the most important thing to take into account: a couple of exposed solars or RCS thrusters can really set back the overall performance - I try to hide any possible drag source inside a bay. RCS thrusters can work in very narrow and apparently closed environments. Control surfaces are a drag source too. Not to mention struts and fuel lines. Less is more. I try to have a lifting surface of 10 per 30t of craft weight. All my crafts share a few design tweaks regarding AoA - wings have got a +5° AoA while intakes get a -5°: the craft is supposed to be climbing with a 5° pitch, so the wings will have a relative AoA of +10 improving the lift and the intakes will have a perfect 0°: improving the engine feed will raise a little bit the effective ceiling in open cycle. Do not forget that your craft is supposed to get back to KSC - there are some components that can handle heat better than others, in my opinion the best is the shielded docking port so it should be your preferred nosecone. Same for wings - FAT wings are pretty good at "goin' up" but they suck at "goin' down" due to their low temperature ceiling. Big-S wings can withstand a "worst case scenario" way better. There are, of course, several alternative choices. I hope this can help. Cheers and good luck.

Could it be a clipping related issue? Never seen anything similar before though.