Angelo Kerman

Ok, sounds like I need to re-adjust the lift multipliers back down. I'll get to that next week. Meanwhile, my latest promo:

I slightly adjusted the lift multiplier from 40 to 42. Try lowering it again. I also increased the torque on the gyro ring.

In honor of finishing up the parts pack, I built a rocket-powered airship to see what happens when the craft goes sub orbital: Liftoff! Coasting upward. As expected, static lift isn't being generated. In the 2.0 release I upped the airship's heat tolerance (but kept the crash tolerance low) so that it could survive atmospheric entry. You never know when you want to take one of these things to Duna or Eve or Laythe... Hooligan Labs comes through, and generates static lift once again. The airship is safely floating above Kerbin after her trip into space.

I finished the Heisenberg 2.0 release and posted it to Spacedock. In honor of finishing up the parts pack, I built a rocket-powered airship to see what happens when the craft goes sub orbital: Liftoff! Coasting upward. As expected, static lift isn't being generated. In the 2.0 release I upped the airship's heat tolerance (but kept the crash tolerance low) so that it could survive atmospheric entry. You never know when you want to take one of these things to Duna or Eve or Laythe... Hooligan Labs comes through, and generates static lift once again. The airship is safely floating above Kerbin after her trip into space.

@DStaal That was a test release... I don't have the mod uploaded to GitHub just yet, or the latest promo done, but.... Heisenberg 2.0 is now available! Get it on Spacedock 2.0 Kerbin Exploration Initiative At last, the dream is alive! Named in honor of and inspired by @EJ_SA's K.E.I. mission, this release pretty much completes the parts pack for the Heisenberg airship. Now you can build airships, flying aircraft carriers, and even large rovers! Special thank you to @Shnyrik for allowing me to use his flying aircraft carrier screen shots. New Parts: Flight Deck System - HL-10 Hangar Deck: The Hangar Deck has space for 4 kerbals and it has doors that can be retracted. Its cavernous bay can easily hold a stock FL-14400 fuel tank with room to spare. Flip the part upside down and you have a drop bay. The Hangar Deck forms the cornerstone of the Heisenberg Flight Deck System. When building an airship, simply open the doors and attach the flight deck components on top of the part. Finally, it has a name tag that you can change. TIP: Docking ports work great for attaching aircraft and rovers to the hangar deck. - Hangar Bay Hard Top: When attached to the Hangar Deck, the Hard Top provides a seamless look for your airships. - HL-10 Flight Deck: When attached to the Hangar Deck, it provides a place for your aircraft to land. It has a large name tag on the top that you can change. Finally, it holds a variety of different resources. - HL-10 Elevator Deck: Also attached to the Hangar Deck, it has a large elevator to lower your aircraft to the hangar deck or raise them up to the flight deck. You cannot attach parts to the elevator itself, but you can attach parts to the sides and edges of the part. NOTE: The Hangar Deck crew hatches WILL BE OBSTRUCTED when the elevator is lowered. - Flight Deck Extensions: The extensions let you build the flight deck over other parts of the hull. The Type 1 and Type 2 Extensions have a large name tag on the top that you can change, and the Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 extensions let you switch between deck markings and no deck markings. NOTE: The attachment nodes on the extensions are oriented vertically BY DESIGN to ensure that the flight decks properly attach to the hangar deck. - Flight Deck Fairing: This part helps close the gaps between your flight decks and airship hulls. TIP: You can attach an extension onto the deck fairing. The attachment node is at the back. - Cargo Lift: You can use this part to lower cargo and small vehicles from the hangar deck to the ground. Like the aircraft elevator, the Cargo Lift cannot have parts attached to it. The Cargo Lift's speed can be varied (25% is good for lowering kerbals to the ground), and its maximum cable length is 200 meters. NOTE: The cargo lift isn't perfect and might not align with the hangar deck perfectly. Use the fine controls to tweak the height after it raises back up to the ship. NOTE: Be sure to place your cargo within the red box outline on the lift. Bad things will happen if you don't. NOTE: BY DESIGN, the cargo lift doesn't remember if it was up or down when you leave the scene. I don't trust KSP to set things up properly upon your return... New Parts: Bison Gondola System - HL-10 Command Gondola*: It holds a crew of 4 and has excellent visibility. It can be upgraded to not require crew to operate. - Passenger Gondola*: It holds 16 crew. - GondoHab*: It holds 4 crew, but it ties into life support Mods (Snacks, TAC-LS, USI-LS). And yes, that is an aluminium piano on the lower deck. GondoHab can use Pathfinder's Habitation templates. - GondoLab*: It too holds 4 crew, and it has many configurations including a Mobile Processing Lab. It can also use Pathfinder's Science templates. - GondoGarden*: It holds 4 crew and functions as a greenhouse when a life support mod is installed. - Storage Gondola*: It can hold a variety of different resources. - Cargo Gondola*: It has doors that slide open and a ramp that extends to the ground. - GondoDrill: This early model drill is expensive but it lets you extract resources. - Bison Command Cab*: Use it to turn your gondola parts into a rover system, or use it as a cupola to watch the world go by. - Bison Jump Jet Module: It has reaction wheels, a vertically oriented probe core for VTOL operations, RCS, and a pair of jump jets. - Bison Airlock Module* (BAM): Designed to fit on the back of your rover, it provides you with a way to exit the vehicle without depressurizing one of your cabins. If you have Extraplanetary Launchpads installed, then the BAM doubles as a survey station. It can even serve as a command pod if needed. - Bison Stabilizer Legs: These legs help stabilize gondolas while on the ground. NOTE: Stabilizer might slip on slopes. I'm still working on this... - Bison Docking Port: This port is specially designed to dock gondola parts together. NOTE: If you want to create long trains, try using the stock asteroid grabber unit in free pivot mode. A custom part is in the works. - Bison Fairings: There are several types to choose from. * Can be surface-attached. New Parts: Accessories - HL-10 RCS Module: It runs on CompressedAir, which you can create by running the Cyclone engine or by using a Gyro Ring. - Mk1 ISRU Module: It takes up 2/3 of the Storage Gondola, and its resource production is limited at first, but it gets better as you unlock more tech nodes. - Search Radar: It is functionally equivalent to the stock M4435 Narrow-Band Scanner. It's avaiable earlier, but it is larger, heavier, and more expensive. - Buckboard 6000: It's twice the size and twice the capacity of the Buckboard 3000. - TR-2S: It's a customized stock TR-2L that's more expensive but available earlier. This is an interim solution, a custom wheel is in the works. Bug Fixes & Enhancements - Increased torque values on the Gyro Ring. The airship should be better able to stay upright and maneuver now. - The Gyro Ring can now create ElectricCharge by burning IntakeAir and LiquidFuel, and it can create CompressedAir via Atmosphere and ElectricCharge. - Added CompressedAir storage to the Gyro Ring and the Cyclone engine. - For new airships, the name tags are turned off by default. - Added flags to the HL-10L and HL-10M hulls. By default they're hidden. - Added Module Manager & Wild Blue Tools. - Added a custom category icon for the Heisenberg. - Removed the WBIGasStation part module; the ISRU parts now fill its role. - Airship hulls are better able to withstand the heat of the rocket fuel that they're painted with.

I don't know how Hooligan labs will react in space but my guess is above a certain altitude you'll lose static lift. I've increased the temperature tolerance on the parts (but crash tolerance is still deliberately low) to better handle atmospheric entry for.. reasons.. So yes it should be able to fly in space for deployment on another planet. Certainly the gondola parts are airtight. :)

OOO, back to Minmus he goes!

Needed a short break, and did some random musings:

And just some random musings...

I did some experiments using the Buffalo's Outback backpack holding Lead awhile back, and upon equipping the pack, the kerbal sank to the bottom. I don't recall what happened after that though, I think I had to walk back to the surface because KSP thought the kerbal was walking on land..

Hm, well, @Fengist has 10m submarine parts, all I'd need to do is make a 10m hangar deck in the form factor of his submarine parts, and you'd be able to use the Heisenberg's flight deck system with it...

I sort of have a solution to the linkage problem: The Claw! The upside is that you'd be able to manage inclination changes, the downside is that lining up the cars properly will be a major challenge. Still, I think a claw-like linkage part is warranted...

Way cool, thank you for your service. The Akron and Macon were really fascinating to me when I was a kid, the concept of a flying aircraft carrier was just too enticing. My kerbal version is more a flat top with working aircraft elevator to the hangar deck, but you can flip the hangar deck upside down and recover airplanes using docking ports and Infernal Robotics arms. It would be interesting to have botswain's mates in KSP, maybe they take winch lines from KAS and connect them to ground pylons bolted to the ground.

Well, I slogged through the docking port and finished it. It has a nice feature that will let you auto-dock two vessels together if you're close enough- great for those uneven slopes, but use with caution. I haven't found a way to make the docking port flexible like I was hoping though. Looks like you'll need KAS for that. I also tried out some more wheel designs and still haven't found one that I'm satisfied with. I keep coming back to the stock TR-2L (well, the -2S with stack attachment that I made). I'll give it a day or so, and meanwhile do my final checks.

Ah, good to know, thanks!

@DMagic It looks like you have three separate animation objects: one that extends the port, one that rotates left/right, and one that translates left/right. Is that correct? You need three separate meshes to perform the animation? Also, how does the joint itself flex?

I built a new search radar (equal to stock orbital scanner) and a prototype ISRU and storage container Oh, and finished the Bison Airlock Module It can double as a command pod in a pinch.

Anticipation is half the marketing ploy. Actually, even with the new parts I added, I'm almost done! Here is the new Search Radar: It's functionally equal to the stock Orbital Scanner, but it's available earlier, costs 10x as much, and is 4x heavier. The finished airlock (it can be used as a command pod in a pinch, and it serves as a survey station when you have EL installed) And here is a shot of Valentina performing a walk-around after a test flight to the abandoned island airstrip: There is a Mk1 ISRU in the cargo gondola along with a new Buckboard 6000. The Mk1 ISRU is available early and is heavier and more expensive than the stock mini ISRU. At first you only get the ability to turn Ore into LiquidFuel, but eventually you'll get all the converters shown (the Konstruction templates are only available if Pathfinder is installed). I'm making sure that things like the new drill works properly, the converters are running right, you can use the ladders on the gondola correctly, etc. I also did some doodling with a new wheel today, but haven't come up with anything that I like. It should be as big as the stock TR-2L but still fold to fit in the mk3 cargo bay for stowage. Since the stock TR-2L pretty much does what I want, I made a modified TR-2S for interim use until I create a proper wheel design. I don't think I'll have one before my deadline. The last part I need to make is a docking port for the gondolas. It will (hopefully) have a flexible linkage to let you make long trains with. @DMagic generously provided me with some samples to study so hopefully I will have a new docking port by the end of the week. It isn't mission critical, so if I don't have it done by Friday, that's ok. Friday is my new target to release Heisenberg 2.0. No promises, but I hope to make it.

Thanks! I'll give those a look and see what questions I have. Thanks again.

@DMagic I would like to create a flexible docking port for my Heisenberg airship's gondola/rover parts that uses your flexible docking ports modlet. Users would download your modlet and use the port I make to do things like create trains. Can you shed some light on how I could do this? Thanks for making such great mods.

I can't really say. It depends upon how many airship hulls you use, what type, and how much mass you're carrying. You can find the ceiling altitude by using the Hooligan Labs' Airship plugin while in the VAB/SPH.

Congrats on beginning your Duna mission!