evader

What? My ship didn't make it in? It's things like this that create evil scientists. * turns to the dark side and dedicates his work to the creation of weapons of war rather than peace * But in all seriousness, congrats to those that made it in.

Updated with download link and now comes with a launch stage for those who refuse to use hyper edit.

If you can't beat em, join em! I gave it another go at saving my failed destroyer capital ship design by adapting the ammo rounds from the T-54 tank for space. For zero gravity warfare, I had to compact it down in size to store in the ship, added a probe, SAS gyro stabilizer, PB-NUK, and kept the RCS thrusters for remote reloading but this time I used the tiny sized tank and added a docking port jr to snap the ammo into place after reloading. Reloading is now faster and the ammo flies super stable, able to penetrate armour plating (your success will vary). Its docking port casing explodes away when the separatrons activate, just like a bullet. I believe the key was in not using radial decouplers that stay attached on the side after separation which can off balance the round causing it to fly erratically. The ship was not only up gunned, its barrel length was shortened now that accuracy is no longer dependant on the cannon (which is now more of a rocket launch tube). Cargo space was slightly increased and it now holds 9 rounds + the 2 long range missiles from before. The video shows a hit from 1.5km away.

Obligatory test of MK3 cannon in space. I created an over engineered, super laggy "pocket" dreadnought with fighter hanger bays and flak missiles. It held about 14 of these large shells in a revolver configuration. The 600+ part monster was warping as it turned and the lag proved too much to bear. In the end when I finally managed a hit, it bounced off like a harmless nerf ball. I tested those rounds by warping the T-54 to space. Its rounds have by far the best velocity for their size compared to the anything I made but without guidance ability it was very difficult to hit in space so I got no screenshots to show it. In the end I managed a hit that stripped the entire front of my destroyer up to the structural plates. It was still operational, although with damaged primary armament. After the failure of the MK3 cannon in space, I tried different missiles. Some with I beam filled flak warheads (they're more like grape shot missiles than flak) that at best got lodged in the barrel of my destroyer and warped it. I then tried something to that extent except it was more like a space mine. Only works at slow, close proximities (or at higher speeds as a kinetic round but it's not practical to store in a ship when a smaller missile will do). It triggers flames all around, destroying anything unarmoured without a direct hit. I call it the morning star seeker mine. In the end though, I've found the target seeking missiles in my 1st video (the side mounted ones on my destroyer) the most practical for space combat. They're more like semi lock on at longer distances as they need manual compensation to account for orbit distortion.

Just realized this is true after testing your claim. I guess it's more of an air cannon than explosive artillery. This led me to believe this has no benefits over I beam rockets until I up scaled to an MK3 cannon. The results were more than satisfying. Accuracy improved too.

Its accuracy is horrible. The MK1 tube leaves too much of a gap with the oscar sized cannon round & results in the shell tumbling with about a 40 degree random horizontal field of fire. Perhaps a sabot case would increase accuracy.

It's alright, that was just a bait topic to show my 1st weaponized capital ship I've made but yours had way better results. All cannon-like creations are welcome in this topic.

Yes it was.

so rather than doing the smart thing and asking around the forums, I thought I'd make my own cannon experiment with explosive primers. My original capital ship is an ion powered/conventional booster hybrid with PB-NUKs producing all the power needed. I replaced it with the single huge engine for this video because all those PB-NUKs slowed my PC to a crawl. P.S.: this is a shameless plug to get featured on spacecraft Fridays

My first foray into capital sized ships. Introducing the all stock, unmoded Dynamo ore hauler. It launches like a standard rocket and is not military. However I knew once in space, solar panels were not going to cut it if I wanted the futuristic capital ship look so I took a great leap forward and went all PB-NUK. With 30 ion drives, this generates the same thrust as a single NERV engine. However it has so many PB-NUKs that it runs them all at full power without losing electricity. It was able to generate the remaining 300 dV needed to stay in orbit from ion power alone. This is the design that will surely spawn an ion tech arms race. Comes equipped with surveying sensors.

Welp, time to dust off my old ship from a couple of versions back that I used to takeoff with such force that it would hurl itself to Duna. I removed extra parts like the nuke engines, science equipment, & jet fuel. It still carries 2 drogue chutes and an MKI antenna (or whatever the low tech one is called). Ship's name is: liquid fuel only produciton MKIIf but pay no attention to its name since it was modified to carry a little oxidizer for the last leg of its flight. Note that the 1st image is from an earlier attempt & the last 2 are from a later one.

Introducing the 2 stage Helios star fighter. With a whopping 30kN thrust (1/2 a nuke engine's thrust) produced by 15 ion engines crammed into a relatively small airframe, this fighter can engage dogfights at a snail's pace . It has a high enough T/W ratio to power up to a complete Kerbin orbit using its ion engines once rocket propellants are used up at ~95km altitude with only half of the orbit achieved. It can cruise at a sustained pace with maybe 3 ion engines constantly running or with all on for a couple of minutes. PB NUKs & solar sails make recharging fast (provided military operations are not taking place beyond Dres). It can take off from Kerbin & reach half way to Duna without refuelling or refuel at a capital ship and now you've got a real fighter with 2 R.A.P.I.E.R.s to engage during dog fights. Warning: will need a hummingbird's slender beak sized docking extension to reach the docking port Jr. tucked all the way between those gull wings. And yes, those are training wheels for the boosters that are needed to keep this craft stable during takeoff.

Sure it looks ugly but the robotic mining rover crams the ship's engine, science, and ISRU, all inside a half sized MK3 cargo bay. It took some creative engineering to make it fit while being light enough for the ship to VTOL from Kerbin and reach orbit. The engine acts as a booster when climbing steep hills in low gravity environments.

Thought I'd refine this some more to eliminate a problem where the rover would get stuck getting out of the ramp. Drill moved to front in order so it doesn't get cought on ceiling when rover rolls out on ramp. The NERV engine is now internal allowing full power to be used without center of gravity issues. 2 PB-NUKs added as well for outer solar system travel (1 on rover & 1 on ship). Liquid fuel tank in tail fin replaced by Rockomax X200-8 fuel tank as part of rover and rear thuds replaced by additional tandem aerospikes for increased aerodynamics and fuel. Added gravioli detector to hold all science equipment there are (except for prospecting instruments). Eliminated extra weight by removing pair of rover wheels, external command seat, and replacing rover cupola with probe core (crew size reduced to 1). Replaced deployable heat sink and 1x6 solar panel by the big sail solar panel which has a built in heat sink for the rover when drilling & making fuel. Z-200 replaces 2 Z-100 batteries. I think I reached the limit of this air frame's design since I'm close to having unlocked the entire tech tree. I cannot claim this as single stage to anywhere because I meticulously test my craft to know its limit. The farthest I got was a flyby of Moho after refuelling in Kerbin orbit, Minmus, and finally Gilly (though that was nearly impossible due to its low gravity). The farthest successful return trip was from Duna. Moonraker v C7 can be downloaded here.

Uploaded craft file due to request. Warning: this craft has trouble descending due to all its lifting surfaces. It literally lands like a feather once it gets up into the air.

With KSP 1.05 I thought I'd replace the communicator antenna cargo bay doors from the previous version with a proper cargo ramp. Little did I know that it would lead to a personal distance record for a SSTO design. Able to take-off using VTOL while carrying a full sized ISRU, drill, and all science equipment up to the gravioli detector from the tech tree, this space plane was able to refuel in orbit, hop to Minmus to extract fuel, and make it to Duna (after many failures & quick loads of course). Sadly for the rover driver, he had to be abandoned with the rover to make it back to Kerbin. At least a surface sample was brought back. Although longer than the extended cab version due to the cargo ramp and having only the internal cargo space of the standard type, it's able to lift a heavier payload than the 12 engine jumbo jet winged version shown a couple of posts back. It does this all with a 3/4 of the engines. The ISRU, drill, antenna, and science equipment are all contained in the rover. This means it can visit multiple biomes for extra science points. It can even perform ore conversion while detached using its small holding tanks but works best when docked back with the mothership. Its main flaw is the NERVA placement on the tail which can only run at 2.4kN when in a vacuum and no monopropellant is available. That's almost as low as an ion thruster but many times heavier. I have further tweaked the craft since these screenshots were taken to include an external type seat for the rover driver for the return trip and better placed parachutes to land the craft on its wheels rather that doing a faceplant.

[video]https://youtu.be/lN1KvloTlFc?t=7m14s[/video] The Bartini A-57 was a cancelled Soviet supersonic flying boat designed to deliver a nuclear bomb. It would have acted as a mothership for the Tsybin RSR strategic reconnaissance fighter. It could be outfitted with skis but I used wheels that get jettisoned instead. Submarines would refuel it on the way. This is my first dedicated replica attempt but I did not follow the design exactly. I usually created inspired designs rather than actual replicas in the past. Unfortunately this design failed to achieve supersonic speed, topping out at around 230m/s (after unloading all its bombs and attached craft) at which point it started wobbling like a slinky. [IMG]http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/576820758907440824/EEE9AD02AC717F81FB65614876BBE83B8C0231F6/[/IMG] 2 missiles were used instead of a nuke. They can be guided if cycling craft and then piloting them using the stayputniks. [IMG]http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/576820758907419644/F27D86F0FF8DE20CB278893CECE055EF9ED968EE/[/IMG] This craft had sort of lift engines (not quite VTOL) designed to unstick it from water during takeoff. I haven't been able to find where the real ones were so I stuck 6 wheeslies which did the job. [IMG]http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/576820758907441959/3D64E62C39F082F61310E66EAB1118B5C5169BE4/[/IMG] RSR fighter armed with 2 smaller rockets. [IMG]http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/576820758907442295/44CA4DE53A03A4A0878B89D06DC15FAA2FCA8A79/[/IMG] 5 Jaguar engines. Earlier I used whiplashes but the Jaguar's thrust vectoring helps with water takeoff. [IMG]http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/576820758907419911/DEF23B04F21A016AB1D9B44AD7AF628DC8354541/[/IMG] Unloading the fighter. [IMG]http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/576820758907421122/4519807177C33A85EBA0FB6B7315E343AB981111/[/IMG]

I wanted to take the goliath into space, just because. I abused the new ramp parts to create a sort of giant MK3 air intake and close it when approaching supersonic speeds to prevent it from melting. The goliath has just enough power to take off without any other engines but needs them when surpassing 700m. The goliath reverse thrust came real handy when landing after descending from orbit. Aerobraking took real long though. [IMG]http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/576820758903067747/351BC7B00B111C0A9BD067992B5EA5755D14D62E/[/IMG] [IMG]http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/576820758903065931/E89B623F155FAABFBDF395CE8C575DA701C46735/[/IMG] [IMG]http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/576820758903066691/C1C1D986C772436326FAD5E468C2831E586D1025/[/IMG]

After barely landing on the mun using the last drop of fuel in a well timed VTOL burst, the refuelling ship made it about 20km from the other ship containing the rover. After mining fuel, I learned the hard way that a ship must always have sufficient SAS thrusters. It handled like a brick so I gave up and attempted my 1st round trip with a kerbal from another stellar body (the mun) in a SSTO plane. After many tries the kerbal finally survived landing but only by jumping out of the cockpit in the last second from the ship which didn't make it. What started as a promising refueller has forever limited the rover version of the ship to a 1 way trip to the mun. This was still a milestone for me since a kerbal from a SSTO trip from another planetary body survived the trip home.

Having recently barely scraping up enough science to research the ISRU converter, I managed to squeeze it, the ore container, and drill into the cargo bay of the standard size variant of the ship. However it proved to be too heavy to stay in orbit once its intended altitude was reached. Has this aircraft reached its limit? Could a SSTO VTOL space plane lift an ISRU converter to orbit? After the design morphed into a runaway trend of more engines, bigger wings, and crammed fuel tanks, the Frog Jump Ship variant J5 monstrosity finally reached orbit. With 10 R.A.P.I.E.R.s and 2 nukes, this craft reached 130x100km orbit. After refueling, mun landing and mining testing will begin. Haven't tested landing through an atmosphere, though I expect the wings will snap off. Perhaps a well timed VTOL thrust will slow it down? (forgot to open rear door before deploying drill in the pic above, doh). Edit: though this variant can no longer be considered a drop ship since its cargo is attached, it is designed to act as a fuel tanker/support ship for the other variants that carry rovers.

After many discarded iterations, the issue of having to jettison the nuke engine was finally solved. I made it part of the rover! The ship itself has been refined as well. Better aerodynamics, more VTOL engines, more science experiments. All in a shorter structural frame. Now with less protruding fuel lines. Rover aesthetics were sacrificed to squeeze it through the low rear ramp door clearance. Fine print: rover manufacturer not responsible for ship crashes due to imbalanced weight.

I tried to recycle my earlier design for use in a Hind inspired successor intended to get to orbit. It's capable of lifting a BTR-80 KTP (Kerbal transporter/APC). The Hind Z "Space Hind" runs out of fuel just as it reaches supersonic speeds. The APC is capable of carrying 10 Kerbals (8 passengers + 2 drivers) and features closing protective blinders for the drivers (it still needs a lot of work look-wise). Unfortunately only 1 Kerbal can exit the APC due to blockage caused by the armour plates. The ship itself suffers balance problems if pitching the nose too high. Everything from the rear ramp door to the radial attachments that block the IVA view have been failures.

Impressive lifting capacity & range! I haven't been able to master reaching orbit after payload delivery. All those extras took a toll on my craft's range but I absolutely just had to have the rear cargo bay door for the aesthetics. With its 6 RAPIERs in a non-uniform vertical configuration, it also has a thrust balancing issue while in a vacuum, meaning the 2 outer outmost ones must be shut down. My rover had to be squished flat to fit in with the nuke. Anyways, if anyone wants to try it out, they can get the craft file here.

Since aerodynamics were introduced in 1.0, I haven't seen any dropships capable of delivering rovers. There have been SSTO space planes capable of reaching other planets but their instruments were attached as one unit. Generally they were large with sleek designs. Earlier I posted my frog jump ship variant G which, unlike variant A, no longer needed to take off like a rocket consisting of stages to reach LKO. However even that was not enough to land on any place outside of Kerbin. My target was to rival Halo's Pelican & all seemed lost until I discovered an extended version designed to carry troop or supply pods. Using the same concept, the extended H variant was developed to hold 1 nuke engine along with the rover in a side-by-side configuration. Now, with refuelling, the mun was within reach: Unfortunately the nuke engine has to be jettisoned so the rover can exit the rear cargo bay door (but it's still SSTD capable even without doing this). It was designed this way due to centre of gravity issues. VTOL capable in both Kerbin & when reaching its destination. Rover can detach & re-attach so the cargo remains secure. Dropship kneels to enable re-loading. I have to say that this has been my most over engineered & complex craft I have ever made. Who knows how far it will reach after researching the ISRU extractor (playing in science sandbox mode).