V8jester

Thank you! I'm not the only one who has seen this movie! But have you guys seen the original with the proper voice actors? The original movie was so much better than the more recent re-mastered version

Reaper Drone

Just added a new thread in the tutorial section for mid air refueling if anyone is interested Air to Air Refueling Tutorial

Air to Air Refueling Like a Boss This tutorial is meant to provide you with all the tips and tricks I've learned from other forum members, as well as new ideas I've been working on myself. Some terms you'll need to know before you begin are: The flying gas station is called the Tanker. The hard line from the tail of the Tanker is called a Flying Boom. A flexible hose with a cone at the end is called a Drogue Line. The plane being filled is called the Receiver. And lastly the ridgid snorkel on a Receiver, used to capture the Drogue. Is called the Probe. Probe and Drogue - In the real world this came first (kinda) and is in some ways more forgiving for beginners to engage the Drogue with a Receiver plane mounted Probe. The downside is if you bump the Drogue it'll flop all over the place until aero forces stabilize it again. This method provides a flexible line connecting both planes to allow a larger bubble of movement while refueling. In KSP this is the easier way to dock two or more planes together but if performed in an "Undocked" state. Which allows independent control of each plane. (You will most definitely crash if both planes are "Docked") There is no ability to transfer fuel between the two planes when using a KAS winch in "Undocked Mode". This is great for cinematics and screenshots, just not for actual fuel transfer. Additional Info / Pictures Of The Assemblies: Flying Boom - This is a rigid connection between both planes. In the real world this was developed second. In order to transfer more fuel in a shorter period of time. In KSP this is the most functional as this is the best way to remain in control while actually transferring fuel. Once you "Dock" both planes together they will fly as a single plane. In which case, most of your pitch control will come from the Receiver plane. So often the connection of the fragile boom needs to be reinforced by Quantum Struts, immediately after docking has occurred. If you don't reinforce the connection immediately after docking, the planes can twist apart within seconds depending on the design of the planes and the boom. Additional Info / Pictures Of The Assemblies: V-22 Osprey, Refueling from a KC-10 Extender And Now, Onto The Tutorial The mods I suggest using to perform this task are RKE Kanadarm for the Flying Boom, and also for the Probe tubes. The reason these are the best parts to use for the tubes is they are physics-less and don't flex / separate under loads. KAS if you are using the Probe and Drogue method. IR / IR Rework if you want to be able to move anything. Also MechJeb is recommended as it makes aligning the two planes much easier - Using "Spaceplane Guidance" If you're looking for a scale appearance, my custom cfg's to rescale as well as increase the force and range of the magnets in a Squad Docking Port Jr. And as a bonus, the B9 Aerospace Shielded Docking Port if you have B9 installed. If you use RKE Kanadarm tubes or any other physics-less parts. Be sure you never attach a Quantum Strut directly to or from a physics-less part. It will lock the craft in place during flight, and cause all kinds of Kraken like behavior. Instead attach a physics enabled part to the RKE Tubes then the Quantum strut to that part. I also suggest building planes that require very little effort to stabilize. Meaning when in flight the input visualizer in the lower left hand corner of the screen should be as close to center for, pitch, roll and yaw as possible during flight. Also another good check, is a plane that will deviate very little on it's own with the SAS / RCS turned off in flight. I suggest enabling as few control surfaces and gimbaled engines on the Receiver craft as possible. This will aid in fine control while approaching the Tanker. The steps to reproduce this on your own are: (1) Load the Receiver and move it off the runway - I suggest Vessel Mover for this task. (2) Return to the Space Center / SPH and load the Tanker. (2-A) (Drogue Method) - Before take off, with both planes landed. Use a Kerbal to "Unplug" and then reattach a KAS Winch Line to the Drogue. In "Undocked" mode - If you're using lights on the Drogue, press (Alt+F12) to bring up the cheats menu and enable infinite electricity. (3) With both planes now loaded, take off with the Tanker - Use the " [ " and " ] " keys to switch between planes. I suggest using MechJeb "Spaceplane Guidance" to hold a set altitude and heading - Don't fly too fast or you can outrun the Receiver. (4) Switch back to the Receiver and launch it as well - Also use MechJeb spaceplane guidance but set the receiver altitude 10m lower than the Tanker. Be Careful to stay within loading distance I think that's something like 2.5 Kilometers. (5) Match speed, and fine tune course alignment of the Receiver with the Tanker using the keyboard / joystick inputs in tandem with MJ Spaceplane Guidance - This is where the work begins. (6) Deploy either the Probe and Drogue or the Boom at this time from the Tanker. (6-A) (Drogue) If you use my cfg's be careful how close together multiple drogues get. The magnets are ridiculous. (6-B) (Boom) I like to use one or two Quantum Struts to reinforce the boom back to the Tanker at this time. (7-A) (Drogue Method) Once docking has occured, the engines on the Receiver will automatically throttle down but MechJeb will continue flying the Receiver. - Return throttle on the Receiver to just under the level used to initially catch the drogue, You want a slight amount of tension on the KAS winch line. And allow MechJeb to stabilize the Receiver. Engines and Mechjeb's Control of the Tanker will be unchanged. As long as the drogue is attached in "undocked" mode to the winch line (7-B) (Boom Method) Once docking has occurred, you'll need to quickly enable the Quantum Struts. Before an "Unplanned Disassembly" occurs. I like to assign the Boom to Receiver Quantum Struts "Activate" command to the "Abort" Action group. Next, control will default to the Tanker and the engines of both planes will throttle down together automatically, MechJeb will begin flying both planes together as one craft automatically. You need to decrease the engine output of the Reciever and then throttle everything back up. You want the Receiver to have a little less power than the Tanker. You can do this by disabling individual engines through action groups, or through engine right click menus as demonstrated in my video bellow (just don't shut them down completely like I did - Puts a lot of stress on the boom). Then allow MechJeb to stabilize both planes. Fuel transfer is accomplished by holding (Alt) and (Right Clicking) the tanks you wish to move fuel between. Remember this only works with a "Docked" Receiver. When you undock the two planes MechJeb will resume control automatically, of the Receiver and Tanker Independently. With whatever settings you input prior to docking. When you're on final approach with either a Flying Boom or a Drogue Line. The best way to maintain good speed control is by flying too slow, and using afterburners for short boosts to accelerate toward the docking port. Then coasting on the normal engines to slow back down again. Or, set your speed too fast and then use airbrakes to slow down. Pulling the Receiver back away from the Docking Port. Either of these methods works, and it just comes down to preference. Another good method is a plane with a fair amount of drag with quick throttle response. So as you throttle down the Receiver will slow down quickly. Larger planes are actually a little easier to dock as they are slow to make changes with control input. Slow and sloppy is good, quick and jerky is bad. Just be sure your boom is built strong enough to hold everything. Videos Of Both Methods: My Custom .cfg's And Suggested Mod Links AC-130 Spectre, Refueling from a KC-135 Stratotanker

Wow that looks really cool! Looking forward to the next update!

Off center mid air refueling of an X-47 B by a KC-135 Stratotanker.

Works just fine for me.

If I have you calling me a great mind I must be doing something right Dude your KC-10 looks fantastic! If you don't mind me asking, what's the diameter of the main fuselage you went with? The scale of yours looks much closer to the real thing honestly. You should totally make a video of your setup! Have you been successful in mating other planes to the KC-10? I have been working on streamlining the process of mid air refuels, if you want to swap info let me know.

I7 4790K GTX 970 SSD win 10 I see around 40 FPS with two 150 part ships loaded. I also have some tricks I outline on my thread linked in my signature if you have more questions.

Those are b9 aerospace engines.

Freddy, a bit of a "money shot" of your SR-71 cockpit We all are starting to miss you my friend.

SR-71 stopping for gas.

Hey just a quick tip. if you click the share button on Youtube, then copy that link. It will imbed the video on the forum like the posts above

There is also a structural part they work in tandem with. If someone has the name and can beat me to it go for it.

Thanks Ziw, guess I didn't answer that part.

I might be able to fix that. So everything exploded all at once? Or the heat shield went first fallowed by everything else? You also need to be careful of the entry angle. It won't survive every reetry path. oh and somethings I forgot to mention. I like to place a quantum strut between the rover and skycrane. This quantum strut is the. Toggled off with tye action group that also controls the IR cables. Keeps everything from twisting uncontrollably.

Equally, maintaining two versions of the same mod can also be a pain. Removing the unwanted parts is actually something a lot of advanced players do. (Myself included) But it's usually bad form to ask a dev to remove the parts you don't like and just give you what you want. All the parts have a lot of work in them. What I like to do is I I modify a version of a mod. I will then repack my own adaptation into a new RAR / ZIP and then that will be my go to mod I then use.

Since the B-1 did so well I decided to build another B-2 bomber with a few new tricks Trust me the end is worth getting to.

Yes, all the IR parts will become weaker the smaller you make them using Tweakscale. A great mod I use to build arms is "Kanadarm" Because the arm tubes are physics-less and wobble far less than alternative parts.

Press (Alt+B) in flight then select "legacy targeting" Then everything will revert to highlight green and you're locked on.

Ok first off THIS IS NOT MY VIDEO Now that that's out of the way, I really have to give Achroma some mad props for this one. I just found his channel and was blown away. Check out this guys work! The props in the last half of the video are fantastic!

Got a new one for you guys. F-22 Demo Flight.

Yeah CMES is a pretty heavy mod by itself. Usually it's either run it by itself or convert to x64 to run more mods. I currently run this plus an additional 80+ mods in x64. Not trying to harp just saying it works

Think Adept meant, "what does he need just for the heat shield to work" Are you running a lot of additional mods? And what are your system specs? Might behoove you check this out if you are on windows with enough ram and want to run the whole thing. X64 Workaround

Nice use of streamlining on the back of cockpit. Really like how you made it flow into the rest of the planes design. Nice work!