DarthRiko

I found out that Mechjeb has a "Force Roll" on it's Autodock. I'll just be using that for angle-sensitive docking. Thanks for the suggestions.

While my current station has served me well for a long time, it does bug me that the mirrored solar arrays are not angled exactly right. What methods can I use to ensure precise angles when docking? I have considered using TVR Stack Couplers like this to ensure exact 60/90/180 degree connections. However, I am aware that docking port circles create some complications, so I'd like to see what this forum suggests before I actually go for it.

For anyone interested, here is the plane after revisions. Edit: Crap, I didn't notice one of the intakes didn't mirror. You get the idea though.

I've done more tests, and replacing the 15 structural intakes with 4 additional Shock Cones made the difference. I can now establish orbit using only 20% of my Oxidizer, that is plenty to rendezvous with my space station for a refueling. I do apologize for my harshness, O-Doc. While your help did lead me to this vast improvement, it was done in an indirect way that I mistook for carelessness.

Well I did some testing and he is right and wrong. I tested the same plane with three different air intake configurations. The first, being 4 Ram Air Intakes, at a static 30 degree climb from launch, went to 19.5 km before throttling back became necessary. The second was 4 SP+ Shock Cone Intakes, at the exact same ascent profile, went to 21 km. This demonstrates the Shock Cones do work, and are slightly more effective than stock Ram Air Intakes. Third was 4 SP+ Shock Cone Intakes and 7 SP+ Structural Intakes. This test went to 22.5 km before throttling back, demonstrating that Structural Intakes do add to air intake. Fourth test was of 8 SP+ Shock Cone Intakes in a more traditional hogging arrangement. This test went to 24 km before throttling back. This demonstrates that the Structural Intakes are not efficient. I am doing further tests.

That's actually helpful. I'll look into that and do some testing. I wasn't referring to your help. Your post was actually helpful and made a lot of sense and improved my ascent profile. I have not looked into the mods you suggested yet, but I intend to.

Well this started off well with several good suggestions that really helped. Then I get replies from people that I honestly don't know if they even read the thread. I've said twice now that the CoM and CoL indicators are with empty fuel tanks, specifically to demonstrate that I've accounted for CoM-drift from fuel use. I have had zero stability issues. And the last guy states "you're currently trying to do an air-hogging ascent with a non-air-hogging design" while ignoring the NINETEEN AIR INTAKES that I detail in the first post. That's 4.75 air intakes per turbojet.

I decided against a vertical tail, as my planes all have dihedral wing angles (which you can see in a screenshot later down the post). I removed two of the science "clusters" and decreased my mass by 2.4% (which may seem small, but affects more than most realize). I'm going to have to disagree with you on the wight efficiency of LFO vs LF tanks. At 150 LF, a MK-1 Fuselage adds 0.9t to the vehicle mass. A FL-T400 Fuel Tank with 144 LF and 0 Oxidizer adds 0.97t. I'm not sure if I'm missing something, if you could elaborate, that would be quite helpful. I am using stock aerodynamics. Mechjeb handles my air intakes automatically, which includes closing all of them when the Turbojets are deactivated.Here's a couple more screenshots with some updates made (with COM and COL reflecting empty fuel tanks).Two science "clusters" removed, two remain.Docking port added.TopSideFrontBack

I've been working on SSTO spaceplane for quite some time now, and I've hit a bit of a rut in my designs. So I would like some ideas on improving one of them. This is my current design. Note that the COM and COL are show with tanks empty, not full. As you can see, the main body is LF/O with two Aerospike engines, with two LF columns on each side fueling a total of four turbojet engines. There are four shock cone intakes and fifteen structural intakes (from the Spaceplane Plus mod). There exists four of every type of science module. This might be redundant, since some of them are re-usable, but the convenience of not needing to EVA to clean them is worth the very might weight/drag increase. Right now, there is no RCS or docking port. I will add those as improvements are made. Here's my usual ascent profile: Air intakes automatically handled by mechjeb. Activate turbojets. 35 degrees from liftoff to 15,000 m. 25 degrees from 15,000 m to 22,000 m. 15 degrees from 22,000 m until air depletion forces me back to 50% throttle. Usually I will be going around 1650 m/s at this point. Activate aerospikes, incline to 35 degrees. Deactivate turbojets when air depletion forces me to 25% throttle. Once apoapsis is above 80,000 m, cut throttle and wait to circularize. I can get into orbit and return pretty easily. However I don't usually have enough fuel to do anything more than that. I don't have the fuel to meet with my space station for refueling, so interstellar missions are a no-go. So any ideas for improvements would be greatly appreciated.