Javamac

Just noticed this hasn't been done for 1.0 and beyond. With heat/ablation to consider, this would be a great challenge to bring back!. I'll revisit with my entry shortly.

That was BRILLIANT! Are you able to repeat that with ÃŽâ€V stats in my challenge? Looks like it qualifies. http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/120934-1-0-High-Velocity-Drop-Pod-Challenge

So my challenge is pretty much an attempt to smash into Kerbin's atmosphere and survive. There's a couple high-score categories to be looked at. Rules: Stock only, No mods, Atmosphere effects must be at 100%, No cheats except unlimited fuel & rcs. To qualify, the pilot must survive splashdown over water. Challenge #1: Tempering challenge - Throw you ship at Kerbin at the fastest velocity you can walk away from! Speed measured at the atmosphere marker (36K), I'm going to set a minimum ÃŽâ€V of 7500m/s Challenge #2: HALO challenge - Deploy chutes/airbrakes/start praying at the lowest possible altitude. Free pair of sunglasses for sticking the landing. I'll be posting my entry shortly. Still perfecting some designs and trying to get good shots. I hope to see some screaming fast entries soon! Have fun.

It was exactly that. Disabling the gimble makes for a smooth ride. Thanks a lot! Now to push the limit.

Good to know, Rain. Thank you. Now it's just a matter of finding the appropriate limits. Don't suppose you've got some numbers off the top of your head?

Hey folks. After a year or so of playing with KSP and several addons, I decided to play around with the specifications of the stock parts to push the limits. I've stepped up the Poodle engine to 22000 and it's breaking force to 20000 to compensate. Also, the MK1-2 Command Pod has been altered to a crash tolerance of 4500. I've also modified the max temperatures of the parts. This makes for a ridiculously fast little rocket, but it has MAJOR control issues. Without SAS activated, it drifts, and any control attempts make it spin wildly out of control and break the ship apart. With SAS switched on, I can only engage the engines to maybe 5% power before it gets a major case of the shakes and wobbles. I made an attempt to increase the torque on the large SAS ring to 3000, but upon activating it, the ship flies apart from the torque. I'm wondering if anyone's had any success with a similar situation, modifying a ship to ludicrous speed and maintaining control. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.