WDude4k

Ah, yep. Once I removed the broken file it all went back to normal. Thanks!

So, sometime a few days ago I lost the ability to load ships in the VAB. I've also been messing around with it a bit, and don't think the save function works either. Ships I had made before this "glitch" are still there, and I can load them from the SPH. I'm not really sure what happened to cause this. Any ideas? Edit: I went ahead and checked the functionality of the VAB in different profiles, and everything worked there. It's only in my main career mode profile.

Oh hey, I was watching that over 9000 video the other day. Was cool watching the tech tree get unlocked in 1 go with only essentially the 4 basic stock parts. Aside from that I'm going to be working on a different design before I try and get an airplane into space. I figure If I can get some other big craft up without worrying about the ascetics of the c-17, then maybe I'll have some ideas about it. Thanks for all the help guys.

Ugh. Maybe I'll stick to smaller SSTO's for awhile. I can do those just fine.

Could the excess drag be caused by the fact my ship is built out of wing parts? Would that cause more drag than say if I built it out of 2x2 panels? Edit: Nevermind about that ^ I decided to just drop the nukes and outer engines, and drain most of the fuel. This left me with the fuel directly in the center of the plane, and the 4 engines in the cargo hold. I was able to run up to 28km and get about 1200m/s. Once confirming that the main body is sound, i tried adding back on the 4 nukes and about half of the fuel. Now I'm back to having trouble getting above 10km quickly. It will climb beyond that, but who wants to fly for 5 hours getting to 30km.

Getting up to 1200 m/s is probably the fastest I've got, without adding in rocket engines. Also I'm not sure how I feel about rapiers because they just eat fuel. I did try replacing a few jet engines with rapiers, but I don't think it did much for me. Edit: Just from some testing, it takes 175x4 thrust at a 45 degree angle to keep my ship from diving back to earth at 20km (going about 600-650m/s). About 130x4 thrust at 45 degrees to keep me up at 25km (going about 750-800m/s). At 25km I'm lacking the air to keep the engines at the required thrust. That is 4 super sonic jets at about 75% thrust, maybe 70%. I can maintain 120 out of the 4 engines at that height, but it's just not quite enough. Is it worth adding a few extra intakes that I toggle at high altitudes?

CoT and CoM were still slightly off, but after shifting fuel around for awhile and making subtle adjustments to the engines, everything is lined up. I'm still having issues with getting enough speed and turning out into space. Is it just a matter of thrust then? More engines!?

Would you call me crazy if I told you I was planning on taking this puppy out to duna? I'd like to keep some nukes for deep space delivery.

I wanted to update where I'm at having read all the comments. I went ahead and moved some engines around. I've moved 4 of them into the cargo hold, and added a 5th in the very center (for the added benefit of letting it go till it flames out). As shown, the CoT is much closer to the CoM and I compensate the rest of that gap by turning off the outer most engines as I gain more altitude. My problem now is at about 32km. Even with the available jet engines (1-3 depending on throttle) + nukes firing I'm losing altitude. I can't turn the behemoth too vertical or it starts flipping, plus I don't think I have enough force with those engines to do a straight vertical push anyway. Any Suggestions?

I actually have Something around 36 of the ram air intakes. They are mounted on the 3 inner fuel tanks. I Suppose I could always add more though.

Hola Kerbonauts! I've recently built a C-17 (plane) and wanted to try and turn it into an SSTO. I've made some progress, like adding rocket engines, but the thing can't pitch up past 12km. I shall keep testing and messing with control surfaces. Ideally I don't want to add much more to this other than control surfaces due to it's bulk, but I'm open to suggestions. Let me know if anyone anywhere has ideas I'd appreciate it. Thanks! Some Pictures: ^The Forces (as of right when posting this. Chances are they will be moved slightly within a few hours of the post) ^Take off! Great control on all sides. I could even do a loop if I so pleased. ^Here is where I've actually lost the ability to affect the climb. This guy is leveling out and I can't stop it. Call in the crash cart 'cause he's flat lining! ^Clear! *zap* Edit: I have made several adjustments to.... everything. CoT and CoM are lined up, but I still have problems getting past about 35km.