Goddess Bhavani

I revamped the entire cab section of my truck to make it look more realistic and modern. Mrs. Kerman took it out for a test drive.

Hmm with all the talk of Russian bias, I don't particularly find Russian armor interesting or noteworthy. Sure the light tanks and T-34s do have sloped armor but that can be defeated with the right cannon and positioning. Historically the Russian tanks did have the advantage, on paper, but due to poor training and communications were inferior to the Panzers. And heavy tanks like KV-1 were nearly immune to early war Panzers and KV-1s should be OP defensively anyway! In-game, good gunnery and observation skills on the part of the player make Russian tanks easy to knock out.. and I dislike that KV-1s are matched up with Tigers early in the mid game. Instead of complaining the Tiger is OP I just devised tactics against it like disabling the gun which is quite easy to hit, then let teammates deal with it. I play American steel mostly, for the extremely fun AAMGs and certain US tanks seem to be incredibly durable and some early war ones are so weird they are fun to brawl around with. Later on, Shermans are sweet tanks, despite their well known weaknesses, and good Sherman drivers are a force to reckon with in both WT and World of Tanks. I prefer the pace of War Thunder, yes, it's slow, but that's how tank battles play out - play smart and stay hull down. WoT is way too quick and arcadey.

A Facebook group post of a Kerbal wingsuit inspired me to make a powered version of the wingsuit emulating the famous Jetman. I also wanted to streamline deploying Jeb "Jetman" Kerman and give him a place to stay in between performances so I wanted a vehicle that had both the flight-ready wingsuit plus a crew module so I didn't have to switch between multiple objects to fly the wingsuit, which consists of a command chair strapped to the tiniest rocket motor, a 35cm mini aerospike from the Sounding Rockets mod. To construct this vehicle I simply ripped out the fuel tank from a fuel truck and put a B9 crew tank in its place like a modern Supercab type truck, then used the remaining chassis length for a flatbed section with a upturned ladder to allow Jeb "Jetman" to climb up into his tiny chariot of awesomeness. This vehicle is termed the Mobile Lunch Platform as it combines the positive virtues of both a RV and a truck-based launch platform for drones, miniature aircraft, cruise rockets or whatever you could fit on the flatbed section. I will be conducting flight tests and producing the Jetman themed video later this weekend, due to a busy work schedule.

Jeb "Jetman" Kerman's custom Mobile Lunch Platform! Our KSP facepork group posted a wingsuit, so I made a smaller one powered by a 35cm mini aerospike from the Sounding Rockets mod. There's about 5 minutes of fuel for the tiny rocket on low throttle. Not tested yet, due to busy work schedule. But wingsuit checks out perfect in FAR.

Strange formations of glowing lights and disc shaped aircraft were seen spotted in the night sky over KSC. Does anyone have X-COM's number?

edit: I've got the latest version on kerbalstuff. Can't wait to try it out!

Check out the latest in Mighty Morphin' Power Kerbal aircraft design from El Cheapo Aerospace! Guaranteed made by the lowest bidder with no safety features to bog you down! The Switchblade is inspired by the Northrop patent design of the same name, but make no mistake, the F/A-37 Talon is the size of a jet fighter but this one is a flying freight train with an orbital mission takeoff weight of 100 tons! It is a rudderless, forward swept variable geometry design that allows for dynamic shifting of center of pressure to maintain full controllability over a range of flight conditions, from overweight takeoff to hypersonic dash and even a backwards swept 'stability mode' for re-entry. It uses a double joint setup of docking washers to eliminate aeroelastic bending and other sorts of bending associated with IR parts. The wing sweep is infinitely adjustable and can be used to precisely trim the craft, however wrong wing sweep position or improper flight assistance setup can cause loss of control. Which makes this design a bit of a widowmaker at first but properly fetching to look at! Grab the craft file and view the sample flight profiles at KerbalX: http://kerbalx.com/crafts/1525

This strange ad was seen floating around the kosmonauts' lounge recently, but so far no one but Jeb volunteered to test it as certain crucial flight controls like the "rudder" appeared to be missing! Also, where's the button to transform into Megazord mode? Moar 4KPotatoPics:

Did 3 straight days of orbital flight testing for the Northrop Switchblade SSTO and the craft file is finally ready for public release The craft file and description is at KerbalX: http://kerbalx.com/crafts/1525

For something that has so many parts potentially moving at high speeds, this craft is quite reliable. If anything fails it could autorotate down to earth and land with parachutes with little control input The only downside is the poor fuel fraction degrading launch efficiency but hey.. helicopter rocket. No one ever dares to fly or build such a thing IRL

Hahaha +1 for actually attempting to look at the whirling madness of the triebflugel. Launching is quite simple (though as the designer of the contraption, that's to be taken with a grain of salt).Spin rotors to max RPM at "flat" pitch relative to the horizon. Once rotors are whirling like mad, gradually tap the correct pitch control key to add "collective". You should see the ship ascend slowly. Tap the key to increase lift and gradually transition to about 40m/s ascent rate. For the orbital test I ascend vertically to about 4000m and fire off the rocket engines. Keep pushing pitch as the ship accelerates and the rotors will act like a giant propeller and add a modest bit of efficiency. At some point around 100-120m/s, to prevent loss of control, feather the rotors fully to act like fixed wing mode. It'll be quite obvious when to transition to fixed wing mode because the pitch will be so coarse there will be no purpose spinning the center section.I didn't specify which key to increase or decrease pitch... if you notice the rotors can be made to spin either way but I usually prefer anticlockwise direction where ; decreases pitch and ' increases pitch.

Yes. While Stock Revamp makes the task of explaining the mod list when sharing the craft file a bit more challenging, due to how it affects certain attach nodes, I find I cannot live without the nicely streamlined parts and the way the basic jet engines and annular aerospikes look incredibly good. To other posts: I think to date there is only one licensed helicopter aerobatics pilot in the whole of the USA or maybe the entire world. We could say that the Harrier and upcoming F-35B STOVL Joint Strike Fighter are "aerobatic capable VTOLs" - Harriers have demonstrated some cunningly effective use of thrust vectoring during aerial combat, while F-35 would likely be restricted from doing such things in hover mode. Operational tilt rotors like the V-22 Osprey probably are prohibited from aerobatics as aboveposted, structural issues, and let's just say the size and complexity of the craft makes it dangerous to push hard around the sky. There have been various accidents during the prototype stage due to exceeding flight envelopes, which gave the Osprey a bit of a bad reputation in some circles, despite its overall excellent safety record in operational service. Still a bit of a sitting duck vs small arms fire though. If you grab the craft file for the turbocompound tilt rotor in OP, you can see that there are certain areas of the flight envelope where pushing too hard or over-speeding can cause fatal loss of flight control. I had read that smaller tilt rotors like my other favorite, the AugustaWestland AW609 are more agile, but I haven't heard of them doing all out aerobatics.

Qa'pla! A modder in our KSP Facebook group released his Bird of Prey model just for fun. Jeb looks really happy on "The Chair" doesn't he?

This is a continuation of my previous "X-Wing" rotary rocket design, with a higher fuel fraction and cargo bay, attains 80km LKO with no payload. The craft is not intended to carry any payload currently, just test the feasibility of a SSTO rotary rocket with VTOL capabilities from a jet powered rotor system (yes, it's a Triebflugel, for those familiar with "Luftwaffe 1946" themed designs) Download the craft file at : http://kerbalx.com/crafts/1410 Please note ; and ' keys control rotor pitch via Infernal Robotics Parts. Check the linked KerbalX page for mod list and other technical details. Caution: Requires complex manual controls at different stages of the orbital mission profile. Partial or total loss of control may be expected during transition to/from fixed wing flight. Re-entry must be done pointing "forwards" only. Don't be afraid to crash a few times. She's a handful to fly! The real life Rotary Rocket was rated a very difficult and dangerous aircraft to handle, according to test pilots. The Roton ATV project did not progress far enough to test the rotor system at high altitudes and speeds, so everything about this type of craft is unknown. See KerbalX page for more information.

Further development of the Rotary Rocket, now capable of LKO but still too heavy to carry a useful payload. Makes up for it with good looks Craft File: http://kerbalx.com/crafts/1410

Hi! The following video was shared to a KSP Facebook group that I frequent to catch up on the latest kerbonaut gossip and to trade ideas for our next weekly insane aircraft builds. The artist is ScribbleFix, who just posted her first ever YouTube video featuring her awesomely accurate speed sketch of our favorite Kerbonaut. As a video would speak a million words for itself, check out the awesomeness below!

This is a fantastic mod. I do all my current youtube videos with it!

Real-world tilt rotor aircraft are excellent point to point VTOL transports but are not known to be maneuverable. Infact the fabled V-22 Osprey currently in service is prohibited from aerobatics or evasive maneuvers. This makes me a little bit sad because I grew up reading Dale Brown's novels "Hammerheads" and "Air Battle Force" where tilt-rotor and tilt-jet aircraft are often seen running rings around the opposition. I decided to bring my old Turbo Compound Tilt Rotor design out for a spin and see how far I can stretch the flight envelope. To my surprise, she could pull in excess of 10Gs with no sweat and swiveling the nozzles about at high angles of attack created some sort of potential for supermaneuverability as Dale Brown narrated in his books. Without further ado, here's le proof (video below) and craft file on KerbalX.

I am a bit saddened to know real world tilt rotors aren't as maneuverable or combat effective (currently) as those super planes depicted in Dale Brown's Hammerheads and Air Battle Force. So I took my old tilt rotor prototype out for a spin and tried an aerobatic routine just to see how soon it would snap a wing. To my surprise, it has become the best ever aerobatic VTOL I've ever built, thanks in part to absurd amounts of thrust vectoring from the tilt-jet/prop nacelles. I can't decide whether to call this a tilt rotor or tilt jet because it's a motor-jet engine setup! Piston engine coupled to the front of a jet like those crazy Russian hybrid propulsion aircraft from 1946! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M48M2NDe0c In case anyone wants to take a look at the craft file, it's on KerbalX http://kerbalx.com/pandoraskitten/XV-1B%20Hummingbird%20Tilt%20Rotor

I'm not using the jet fuel tanks for LV-N fuel.

Good going! The wing planform from the back at least, reminds me of an X-47. I need to use those proper engines too, rather than cramming a dozen 24-77s on the back and calling it an aerospike

I don't think radically changing something with far reaching consequence as LV-N performance is something Squad would want to do considering how vast the 1.0 workload is. That said the present LV-N while unrealistic in certain ways, actually serves as a good primer for a new KSP player that there are such things as nuclear rockets. For realistic stats or more correct nuclear thermal rocket modelling, we can always turn to mods for that. It would be nice to have it run liquidfuel only and this could be easily simulated by modifying one parameter in the part cfg file whereupon you could hook it up to a reconfigurable fuel tank with LF only.

Making a quick getaway after your Great Snack Robbery of 2015 with the denizens of KSC hot on your heels? Why not try the craft in the following video "Gone to Space in Sixty Seconds"?

This is a quick 1 minute plus video showing a improvized linear aerospike test vehicle going sub-orbital after the shock and awe of a Zero-Length ramp launch. This variant of the "Hyper V" test vehicle is the first to attain orbit, after shedding jet engines and associated plumbing in exchange for a heavier fuel load. In the true spirit of "El Cheapo Aerospace", the "GhettoSpike" is made from stock engine nozzles in a linear array and offers all the good looks of an aerospike engine without the efficiency gains! The craft file can be downloaded from KerbalX: http://kerbalx.com/crafts/1381

I built and tested an improved hypersonic test vehicle with the all new second generation Linear Ghettospike engine! You can get the craft file at KerbalX http://kerbalx.com/crafts/1377