RedDwarfIV

Think about it. Minmus has been there long enough to get tidally locked. If it had been venting, it would not exist now.

Though to be honest, is it really better to have to use exploits to do that sort of thing rather than an actual game feature?

Looks too big for SSTO.

Socially Awkward Penguin moment... This has been done many times before...

Yeah. The weight is different, and there\'s no fuel. Also, new version: I left it to fly whilst I posted this. I guess it handles upper atmosphere badly:

Not an exact replica.

You\'re absolutely right, it is difficult to get a shuttle into space. Its control surfaces will mess with you, and this can seriously upset it. However, using gimballing engines, and putting the orbiter stages at level with the shuttle will make a lot of difference. The biggest problem you are having is that all your engines are in the centre, and far below the shuttle - this gives the shuttle a very high centre of gravity, resulting in tipping over. You need to bring the centre of gravity to, well, the centre of the ship, and then you need to make the ship as short and wide as possible. Imagine the difference between trying to balance a stick on a stick, and trying to balance a frisbee on a stick. Clearly, the frisbee will be easier - because it is short and wide. I can also recommend removing the ASAS, and adding normal SAS to each of the orbiter stage collumns. If you don\'t want the orbiter fins moving, then don\'t have ASAS. Normal SAS should compensate. This does mean you can\'t use gimballing engines, but gimballing engines are less powerful anyway.

Limiting? I built this in it.

Great. Now I\'m going to have to build a scale-realistic Concorde just to prove I can do a high-quality uber-massive aircraft. Awesome job.

@Sasquatch. Now THAT is how you build a VTOL with style. Awesome.

I wonder... VA\'s Ibis. Could it be modified as a Munar rescue vessel? I\'ll see if I can find out.

So first spaceplane and first heavy spaceplane are \'small\', then?

The Veto Vulcan is a single stage to orbit spaceplane with a passenger capacity of 12. Whether it could reach Minmus and return will be assessed, although VA can confirm that once in Kerbin orbit, just 354.8 Kg of fuel remains. Its space engines, being nuclear, have high thrust with high efficiency. It is uncertain whether this efficiency is enough for activity away from Kerbin orbit. It is almost certain that a smaller version with no passenger capacity culd reach orbit with far more fuel on board. However, such a vessel could not easily double as a science ship - wheras the Vulcan can do so. This vessel has the space for experiments that might normally have to be done on a much more expensive, and [technically] non-reusable space station. It can also act as a shuttle for space stations. The craft utilises a cranked arror wing configuration with a T-tailplane. Reentry and landing capabilities have not yet been assessed.

Are you going to add any more achievements to the list?

Drogues only.

Nice. I had given up on the idea of such a large VTOL. Although that may have been because I was trying to build a tilt-jet, whereas your engines are fixed. I would have thought it would be an STOL, but you\'ve done very well making it balanced. Though what the video shows is a Vertical Takeoff Short Landing. I\'m sure it can VTOL though, if it was leant backward far enough.

It\'s more to do with the fact that the force needed to make the blades turn is huge. You would need both speed and torque. And a heck of a lot more of it than any modern day engine or motor could give you.

So far as I can tell, the challenge is to build a craft solely purposed for flying by its wings flapping. Having engines takes away the point, since all you\'ve done is make a jet aircraft with not enough struts to stop the wings flapping up and down.

For this challenge, the requirements are: -Vessel capable of both atmospheric and spatial flight -Vessel must have engines, although does not have to use them after reentry. -Vessel should not be able to jettison its main engines [unless this is a safety feature, say, there is an entire engine pod behind a Kerbin emergency lander vehicle, and it st capable of landing with engine pod still attached]. -Vessel should be capable of Munar or Minmus landing, and return to Kerbin. Otherwise, there is no point to its being a spaceplane. All SRBs and external fuel tanks are extras, arrange them however you want. Or don\'t have them at all. Its your design. You may use any kind of capsule, although C7 and especially the Mk3 cockpit are recommended. Special categories -Fastest mission [Kerbin to Mun/Minmus to Kerbin to ground] -Fastest atmospheric flight -Cargo capacity [What can it drop? Probes? Fuel tanks? Bases?] My example entry: The Veto Aerospace Ibis. It was the first \'large spaceplane\' [that is, a spaceplane using a Mk3 cockpit] to reach Minmus. It was unable to return to Kerbin due to pilot error, but the fuel remaining was sufficient. In testing, it has been proven capable of reentry, atmospheric flight, and landing. Modifications such as extra fuel and cargo are possibilities.

So, are First Spaceplane and First [Large] Spaceplane achievements? *[Large] meaning any spaceplane using a Mk3 C7 cockpit

More SAS. The design works, but you do need something to keep it on course. Why it would pull left is something I don\'t have the answer to. Can you post an image of your craft?

Hey, welcome to the Forum. @Psst. Put your wings towards the back.

It has been theorised that this is how the Moon came about.

You could try using the Project Babylon mod, that puts your craft on top of a tower. However, it sounds more like your station is just too heavy and is collapsing on itself.

The way an orbit works is by moving fast, so as you fall towards a planet, you just miss it. So the faster you are, the more you miss it, and the higher your orbit. Basically, a certain orbital height, say 100Km, might require you to be going 2400 m/s. A 200Km orbit might require 3600 m/s. The two are proportional. As one rises, the other must too. My advice is to ignore the speed, and focus on getting a circular orbit at the altitude required for geosync.