Hotel26

Siggel Kerman test flies the new Arrow... [click the first and then use arrow keys for a slide show] Arrow clocked Mach 1.8 on the first flight. Landing is surprisingly easy given that fourth fin in the tail. (Personally, I detest fighter planes because they are such an inefficient method for transporting Kerbals and the energy losses on turns (that pilots insist upon repeating!) are so wasteful. But I was watching a YT clip on aviation mishaps (737 Max) and took the click-bait to watch one on the Dornier 335 Pfeil, which is a mighty beautiful aeroplane. Next thing, Siggel was climbing into one and strapping up...) [Arrow is scheduled to roll off the KerbalX production line next Friday.]

Pole Star Craftyard Description A stock space station called Pole Star. Built with 112 of the finest parts, its root part is Size4.Tank.04. I’ve had Making History for over a year, but this is my first build using its parts, viz. the super-huge S4-512 fuel tank. 9 of them to be precise. This is my supercessor to Krux. It is one gigantic fuel dump. No smoking! It has 5x 2.5m docking ports. Rugged construction to keep the Kraken at bay. It comes with its own booster assembly and enough dV to propel itself into orbit around the Mun. Launch vertically to 8km and then commence a gravity turn. Keep all Mammoths firing until an apoapsis of 120km is achieved. Then jettison the first stage and the nose cones. Use the lone Rhino to do the rest, including the final inclination adjustment. Fuel capacity: LF: 183,222 OX: 223,938 Built in the VAB in KSP version 1.6.1.

Noting a hive of activity in the area of Mt Keverest and suspecting the UKSR[*] is behind it, Kerbal High Kommand dispatch a Nemesis under the able command of J. and B. Kerman and a squad of marshalls to Mt Keverest to check on what is going on: The R28 flag has gone a "floater" here but its true elevation is 6,689m, just 75 below the summit. Additionally, it's quite easy to taxi the Nemesis to the top as well, which is exactly what Jeb & Bill did next, since neither like to walk when a perfectly serviceable aerospace vehicle is available and already warmed up. For reference, the R10 flag is located at: lat = 61.617920 lon = 46.088389 alt = 6579.5 * Union of Kovert Sinister Republics. (No panic, though: turns out it was just a KSP Forum Challenge being run...)

Tadpole Craftyard Description 1:Panther 2:boost 3:flaps Vs:42 trim:+1 A stock aircraft called Tadpole. Built with 22 of the finest parts, its root part is Mark1Cockpit. Conceived as a 6t test bed for the Panther engine, this machine was never destined to be published. Jeb insisted. Vs 42 m/s, 740 m/s at sea level (dry) and 1022 m/s on boost. Dial in +1 on trim ahead of the landing to get a slight nose-up tendency (with SAS off) at landing speed. (To reboard, 1. don helmet, 2. jump, 3. spamming the ‘Grab’ key (F).) Built in the SPH in KSP version 1.6.1.

Yes, this is why I am double-quoting the "ILS", because there's no real guide slope. It's more like a localizer approach, except, of course, you know, Kerbals. And I used "ILS" mainly to make sense of the CAT-III, "auto-land". It's more like a CAT-III GPS, if anything like that existed. In other recent news, the KAA has just: issued a NOTAM that all enroute arrivals to KSC landing at night must perform an IFR approach (just to keep pilots current) approved a short strip for use just below the summit of Mt Keverest. There's a KAA Nemesis there on site to test-fly this strip and possibly set up a GPS approach to it. This strip reminds me quite strongly of Courchevel in the French Alps and Lukla in the Himalayas. And my Kerbin Supertrek has progressed to this point, overlooking the trek's second water crossing:

Using a Nemesis to try out precision approaches. I've also succeeded with a CAT-III "ILS" to R9 at Koney Island, but not landed a back course approach on R27 there. I'm working also on precision approaches without the use of marker flags, too. Rather than just a novelty, I have an expectation that this kind of landing-by-the-numbers could be very useful for landing in rough/tough places, especially with heavy or fragile equipment. (I know there are nav mods available, too, but I prefer something hand-flown, even if it's dialed in through Atmosphere Autopilot.)

Good work and I am impressed! Because Skunk was modeled (loosely -- inspired by, anyway) on Dynasoar. Well done making the connection.

Good work. It might have applications, though: quick response, maneuverable, low-level, surveillance photography. The reasons that the U2 and SR71 held a niche for a very long time. Check out https://youtu.be/r-akwRFylmI and my photo-recon plane, Skunk, in action.

This is the currently-running O.T.A.M.A.J.A.K.U.S.H.I project: It's a 6t test bed for the magically mysterious Panther engine. (My lab Kerbals claim building a plane is much more 'scientific' than reading boring performance graphs.) Performance at sea level (or "slightly above it", as I took particular care to word it when briefing test pilot, Jeb Kerman) is pleasantly phenomenal. "It's a kick to fly and a trick to land", Jeb reported after the first work-out, looking quite flushed.

and the difference between a speedboat and a hydrofoil! Not a lot of experience (yet) with hydrofoils, but a critical point in the design seems to be getting just enough "airfoil" to lift onto the foils but not so much wing that the machine takes flight. Judicious usage of Vitos could be just what it takes to get it up on the "feet"...

Lark Craftyard Description nod to Cavscout74 1:engines 2:flaps A stock aircraft called Lark, faintly reminiscent of the DC-3. Built with 35 of the finest parts, its root part is Mark1Cockpit. Inspired by Cavscout74’s Jet-3, but rendered with all stock parts, Lark cruises 312 m/s at 4 km drawing 0.09 kal/s, achieving a range of over 700 km. Built in the SPH in KSP version 1.6.1. Happy Flying!

Rodeo Craftyard Description 7:Juno 8:chutes A stock, personal, jet bike called Rodeo. Built with 14 of the finest parts, its root part is probeCoreOcto2.v2. Range 180km, cruise > 200m/s, ceiling >7km. Please also consider acquisition of an Aquarius transporter (shown below) for efficient delivery of 2 (two) Rodeo jet bikes to your ultimate destination. Rodeo can be landed under chutes or to a pinpoint location via SAS Radial Out hover pilotage. (Gratitude to Snark for the basic idea.) Built in the SPH in KSP version 1.6.1.

This is my wallpaper at the moment and I feel compelled to share. It's the look on Kerman's face that tells the story, I think. This is a Snark VTOL "Doodlebug", which I have since refitted to operate on a lone Juno to produce the Rodeo, a kind of personal jet-bike. I have also been able to sling two of these wee beasties into the Mk-2 cargo bays of my Aquarius transporter, which means they can be transported far afield efficiently. Range is 180km and cruise is about 180 m/s. (My appreciation to @Snark.)

Can't say for sure this is 1.7 because I think it (would have) happened in my Orbit world [1.6.1], BUT: I've noticed that if you use [, ] keys to cycle rapidly between nearby (physics range) craft, you may hear a Poof! in the background and a head count shows a missing ship. (I'm running World Stabilizer in my 1.6.1 mix, so that's a complication.) I've gotten OK at recovering the missing ship from a persistent.sfs (before it gets auto-saved over; or from a quick save) and splicing it back in to the current world. Sometimes I lay awake at night in my bunk thinking about a futuristic AI-based mod that just rides shotgun on KSP and thinks, "Naaaaah! No way. That should NOT have happened. Doesn't make any damn sense whatsoever! OK, I will step in and Fix That." You would perhaps hear an Unpoof sound and see a cheery caption at the bottom of the screen, fading out after a couple of seconds, "Don't Panic". I haven't yet concluded whether the mod should be called Fix That or Don't Panic... Serious take-away: don't cycle between ships rapidly, if that's what you are doing.

Aurora Borealis Craftyard Tick Description 1:power 2:reverse A stock aerobat called Aurora Borealis. Built with 33 of the finest parts, its root part is Mark2Cockpit. Great also for crop-dusting! Built in the SPH in KSP version 1.6.1.

Valentina takes a spin in a brand new aerobat Since this video, I've beefed up the ailerons to bring them up to speed with the elevators. A real hoot to fly, especially "crop-dusting" and buzzing the peaks & valleys in the mountains to the west of the KSC...

...loved it... kudos

...most helpful! Yup. My build checklist has steps to "gizmo-align all gear; disable steering on mains; set control authority axes/limiters; empty and lock off unrequired resources; set action keys; provide craft description including action key usage, Vr and cruise altitude/speed", at the very end of the build. Of course, I do some prototypical testing beforehand to e.g. check the CoM/CoL balance etc, and, in general, how the concept is working out. OK, so I moved Exercise 1 and its miniJumpJet part .cfg forward into KSP 1.7... and it works fine. (OK, the linearRCS component has moved in the Parts tree from 1.6 to 1.7... but it looks like this whole enterprise, as executed, might work only in 1.7...(?)) Onward & upward!

"Love your work!" I'm doing Exercise 1, :), and have placed the .cfg file in "GameData/Snark/JV-6 Vito.cfg". In order to show it in the SPH, I have to search for "jv-6", as it doesn't naturally appear in the "Engines" category. I have RCS on but find no way to start/actuate the engines. I've tried all of HNIJKL... I admit I am Very New to config file magic... able to diagnose my problem, @Snark? (I've tried "Always Full Action", too.) KSP 1.6.1. Any help much appreciated.

(Since no one other than brave Vasily has yet attempted this challenge, I think an Extension To The Rules is fair.) Rule XI: landing gear MUST be fully extended prior to first contact with the ground. (You knew that) Rule XII: no tampering with Gang Star equipment is permitted under any circumstances: particularly NO adjustment of throttle limiters, which must all remain at 100%. Rule XIII: usage of monopropellant is not permitted at any time during a landing attempt.

DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT Further review by the judges have ruled this attempt UTTERLY INVALID (proof or not) because this was evidently a gear-up landing. I've been playing KSP over five years now and this is my FIRST unintentional gear-up landing. DAMMIT. They say there are two kinds of pilots: those who have landed gear-up and those who will. (I must note that the Top Honors Category included Rule 3 as a further challenge precisely to sort out the whiz kids from the rest!)

Komrad Vasily rolls up his sleeves and makes a more serious attempt to Capture The Flag. His score this time: 4.7 after a successful landing... (Keep your eye on the Altitude (AGL) and Vert speed in the RHS KER HUD.) But judges rule for DISQUALIFICATION as a recording engineer only commenced the record 5 kms from the target[*]. (Rules require 20km.) In point of fact, Vasily flew this approach IVA as soon as the de-orbit burn concluded the reduction of orbital speed to 400 m/s. This would have been a legitimate attempt -- but NO PROOF. One more time, if you please, Komrad Vasily!! [*] it was, after all, an early warm-up run and nobody expected young Vasily to get on his game so quickly.

OBS is great; free; runs on Windows (as well as Linux) AND -- if you have any problems with it at all -- just return to this thread and get help! It does a couple of things by default (where it puts the output file and a less-than-optimum resolution for YouTube) that are a slight nuisance to figure out: but then it's plain sailing. I use OpenShot with it occasionally for video editing and they make a good pair. @Delay, I'll PM you about this and, if we get a solution, we can publish it here...

Batwing Craftyard Esprit Cruciform Description 1:RAPIER 2:mode 3:HORZ 4:VERT 5:klaw 6:ladder A stock spaceplane called Batwing. Built with 71 of the finest parts, its root part is mk2Cockpit.Inline. Perfect for cruising between surface bases on Duna or simply for exploration! Batwing is VTOL. And it is perfectly capable of making Duna orbit for rendez-vous and return. Batwing comes with 4x RAPIERs to ascend to space from Kerbin and thence be refueled for the interplanetary transition. Jettison the RAPIERs upon arrival at Duna. Built in the SPH in KSP 1.3.1. [older craft]

This is probably more like a Shower Thought, but... ...while there has been some general concensus formed out In Greater Society that 'likes' have a net negative social value (and even the inventor at Facebook has distanced himself from them)... ...I think we should retain focus on the known fact that Kerbal Space Program is probably the most addictive substance known to mankind: with or without 'likes'. Bearing that in mind, "bring 'em on". It helps keep nerds off the street at night. [P.S. 'react' is just a euphemism for 'like' anyway; we see through that immediately.] [P.P.S. I 'like' KSP. Help!]