MunGazer

That was fun to watch , the commentary between Bill and Carna was funny. It looks like some kind of flying fantasy creature. The only violation of the rules is from exhaust damaging components, but I've decided to adjust my rules so that this will be allowed for basic certifications. So it counts

Ha, well good luck - - - Updated - - - Cool! Yes, very time consuming. - - - Updated - - - lol nice. Yeah doing it from IVA would be pretty impressive, I haven't tried that yet. I've been slowly working on a super-heavy lift modded VTOL that was originally supposed to have a winch on the bottom and be able to recover things, but the huge high bypass fans are really slow to respond and it's hard to get a stable enough hover to operate the winch precisely to pick up cargo using kerbal attachment system and the electromagnet.

It's ok, I don't mind if you take your time with things. Not many people have enough time for this kind of project, and even if they do a unique and well made craft can take several weeks worth of development. Wow that is an amazing concept! It must take a lot of hard work to make a transforming VTOL. I look forward to seeing more of it

I loved the design - a TRANSFORMER! More than meets the eye! At first I was just like ho hum, another wacky dragonfly looking thing. Then *whrrrr* it transformed and my jaw hit the floor. I hope you get the final approach stability worked out, and thanks for sharing. Edit: Hope I didn't sound insulting about the dragonfly profile. I only meant to convey my sense of surprise with the transformation ability, the wing concept is cool.

Ok, thanks Vegetal. I updated for your craft name and congrats on grabbing the lead again. - - - Updated - - - Cool, I take your word for it on the B9 part. I'll be open to it as well. Good luck on the builds.

Raster Prop Monitor is fine and because it doesn't affect the mass, drag, etc. of parts I won't count it as a mod. Regarding cameras, I'll also consider them assistant informational/piloting tools as well. I'll update the rules to allow for cameras and Raster Prop Monitor. Yes, you're welcome to do a Division 3 entry with the said items. - - - Updated - - - Hmm.. K-21 RCS Jet Thruster. Cool, I suppose then that if Darren9 or any others would still like that division added for that particular mod, and intent is expressed to make an entry using that particular part, then consider it done as far as adding the division.

Huh? Which entry are you referring to? Or maybe you sort of meant nevermind? - - - Updated - - - Yes, it's still on. Holding this challenge was a decision that's been in the making for months now, because I knew it would be something I'd need to be persistent with and that it would take some degree of dedication. After some time, I realized that I do come and visit the challenges section of the forum frequently enough that I knew I could manage hosting a challenge. So far it's been a lot of fun seeing the diverse entries. It's turning into somewhat of an art gallery. So yes, I do plan to be here for the long haul on this one. You can take your time with it, or jump to it.

Very impressive run rocketeer. I updated you as being in first place, and your original entry was archived in the basic cert area with the tag [Former speed run].

You also make good points here. RCS is, as we know, primarily intended to orient things in the vacuum of space, and as such, separate tanks with the weight, required space, and structural considerations of fuel with their containers become an additional part of the equation that, when it comes to splitting hairs for VTOL realism, to some degree cancel out the realism attained by abstaining from reaction wheel torque as a means to orient the craft; in fact, I could see how reaction torque would be, as The_Rocketeer said, a step closer to the diverted air through tubes from the main jets used in real VTOLs. I understand Darren9, however, that your intent is likely just for a greater hurdle in the engineering aspect of the challenge, something you've demonstrated a great deal of proficiency in with your first entry. If there was a realistic VTOL puffer mod that required you to plan the layout of those puffers (which would be an important factor in the overall design of the craft), I'd quickly add a division for it. In this challenge, I had hoped mostly for creativity with regard to design as opposed to realism. For me, one of the beautiful things about ksp is that it strikes a good balance between the hard work and amount of time spent in engineering and the sense of accomplishment and fun you get to have with the finished product of your craft. That start-to-finish pipeline can be pulled or compressed to either have things be vastly complex or stupidly simple, and everything in between. This allows people with varying levels of leisure time, interest, and ability to enjoy a custom fit ksp experience.

Congrats on your success! Sounds like you worked at it diligently. No doubt you've picked up some skills along the way. - - - Updated - - - Wow, crazy stunts there. Apparently it will in fact hang. You don't have the time for this challenge? What if I told you I had a job opening for you as a KSP vtol pilot making 100 kerbucks per hour? j/k. - - - Updated - - - Good point, and you're right, real life VTOLs (jet powered) use puffers here and there to maneuver during hovers. I'm on the fence about adding a 5th and 6th division... if others mention something about wanting it, I'll implement it in the interest of competition. So we just need some challengers for you . Until then, I tell you what... if you make an entry in one of the original divisions that follows the reaction wheel free discipline (other than the torque provided by the command pod used), it will just have to serve as a sense of personal accomplishment for you and, if I decide to implement the other division, you may optionally transfer that entry to it. That way, your efforts on such a craft in the meantime won't be wasted. Is that alright? My preference for now would just be to have it as bragging rights and/or your own touch of style for entries. - - - Updated - - - I listed your entry in the basic certification section for now, and I apologize if my instructions weren't clear regarding a video being required for speed runs. The reason I'm mandating that is just in the interest of high level competition and to add an element of enhanced spectatorship to the challenge. I went back and adjusted my verbage to hopefully help reduce any further misunderstandings. That being said, interesting design approach for speed, seems like you were going for minimized drag and maximized TWR, that may be the smallest ship we've seen yet.

Yes, you are. I might even make some of my own entries just to share for fun.

Very good point there, and I agree with you. This is the first challenge I've posted so I'm sort of feeling things out a bit. Speaking of video capture - I had been using fraps for quite some time + windows movie maker. Recently though, I discovered that Windows 10 users have a free built in video capture tool that works exceptionally well. It doesn't hit my framerate as hard as fraps does, if at all, and the video quality is pretty good for how much memory it uses. And, it's already in a windows movie maker friendly format as opposed to the avi from fraps.

Actually, very good point about it saying landed at the admin building. I didn't think of that, call it being derpy on my part. And I believe you about the hangar, so I'll accept it. Gosh, I almost want to say there are no rules. I feel like an evil tyrant! Oh and, interesting things about your craft. It struck me that it uses the cargo bays for landing gear, that's unique. Seems to work just fine. And oh, but internet points can be redeemed for real money! j/k. Also, that VTOL is compact enough that it could probably fit nicely into a rocket payload bay so it could be useful in other scenarios as well.

Haha, right on man. - - - Updated - - - Welcome to the forums . One of the hangar screens can't be accepted (too far outside of the hangar), your runway takeoff surface speed exceeds 5 m/s, and you're missing a screen shot of the craft sitting on the admin pad. Would you mind re-doing your submission? To help with the reliability of screen shots, I'd recommend using Kerbal Space Program's built in screen shot button, and you can find the screenshots folder in your kerbal space program game folders.

Entry acknowledged and listed. I seriously thought you were going to eat dirt coming out of the last hangar . There were a few things I noticed that I wanted to give you props for. 1. Nice music. 2. Excellent craft with regard to both function and looks. 3. Really awesome how you used the lift engines to decelerate. As far as a better pilot going faster, meh, your performance was pretty sharp. Faster times would likely just come with several more practice iterations for almost any person. - - - Updated - - - Absolutely incredible performance. I almost on the first part it was like going up on a roller coaster. Not only was that lightning fast and well engineered, but I seriously doubt I could land the same craft as effortlessly as you did without a great deal of practice. I'll list you here in a sec. edit: originally, I had a rule (way down in the huge additional rules/guidelines section) that you could accelerate time in your video editing for portions of the run outside of the points of performance, but not clip out sections of it. However, after seeing your video and realizing that it's not a big deal, I've updated the rules to allow the over-water portion of the flight to be clipped out.

In those circumstances, it would be complete and I'd accept the entry. The rules are there as a guideline, but exceptions can be made on a case by case basis. I don't like forcing people to waste their personal time by having to make another entry over an infraction that is minor and doesn't defeat the overall purpose of the challenge. Regarding the most recent entries, I'll be home soon to look at those. edit: I added an addendum to the rules to let people know it's ok to re-try hangar pass throughs as long as there isn't damage happening.

No worries, I went ahead and listed you and gave leniency because you had the discipline to read the rules quite thoroughly. I am able to read between the lines enough with most entries and identify legit crafts/attempts. It's really cool that you're using that VTOL in career mode for actual career Kerbal rescue missions, and it's a great design. Thanks for the entry.

Thanks for the entry . You had a minor infraction for your point of performance 3 photo (over 5 m/s surface speed) and the mission time is over the 20 minute limit. However, since you stated that you accidentally time warped on the admin pad, it isn't a speed run entry, and I don't like forcing people to re-do things, I'll be lenient here. Also, the highest speed achieved indicates that your craft design had more than enough speed to complete the challenge in under 20 minutes. Therefore, I'll accept the entry - but before I list it, what is the name of your craft? Your craft is very sleek looking. The oval side profile and the vertical stabilizers remind me of an old Buck Rogers space ship. The TWR of exactly 1.00 is peculiar... and I have a question about this for anyone who might know. Is the TWR provided by KER simply adding the thrust of all engines regardless of their orientation and comparing it to the mass?

Yeah that thing does look a lot like a Harrier jet. I added a link to a tutorial video by Scott Manley on VTOLs to the original post at the bottom. Also, the best advice I can give is to learn to fly your craft in Camera LOCKED mode rather than free or chase camera view. For me, just being in that camera mode makes everything easy - flying through hangars and landing on a small helipad with surgical precision. You guys doing this in free cam mode are crazy! lol

Very cool set up. Props to you for being able to control that thing from those free cam views, that speaks to the stability and effectiveness of the design. Listing in a sec. edit: What's your craft's name?

I'm glad you brought that up, it's just not something that occurred to me that people would do for this challenge and I didn't think of it. Although chutes might be a great solution in some instances for other scenarios, I feel that it circumvents the scope of a true VTOL craft in the context of this challenge. I'll be sure to do a good portion on VTOL landing in my upcoming tutorial video. - - - Updated - - - Entry acknowledged, I'll list it once I'm home and I'll assume it's for a basic cert unless you specify otherwise.

Entry acknowledged . Cool craft, I see you like the wildlife inspired themes. Regarding the hangar shot, I'll let it slide since at least I can see you were booking it toward that hangar and close to it. I'll list the entry once I'm home. - - - Updated - - - Thanks. Based on some of the feedback I'm getting, it seems there are enough people that would like to do the challenge but are getting stuck mostly on the hangars. So I've decided as soon as I have time (maybe tonight) I'll put together an instructional video on basic VTOL design and, more importantly, the techniques used to complete the challenge with minimal frustration. I'll put the link to it in the original post once it's done. - - - Updated - - - I like your style, your craft seem to have the pattern of being compact and yet loaded with functionality. The IR swivels and the mini parasite thrusters rock!

Cool. Yeah, the challenge lends well to crafts that are weighted a bit more toward the conventional aircraft end with VTOL capability, as opposed to being ideal for crafts that excel tremendously at easy vertical take offs and landings while sacrificing speed, range, and efficiency with respect to their operational radius. The VTOL spectrum is quite a broad one. I figured if it was simply a matter of just taking off and landing on a small spot, it would have been a little too easy. Although that is one aspect of VTOL piloting and design, having the craft be efficient at covering ground horizontally as well as being able to transition between modes was something that I wanted people to focus on, if not at least figure out how to work around, in this challenge. The flexibility required to perform the tasks, I had hoped, would also bring more sophisticated designs with a broader range of capabilities; think of it as an area 51 for VTOL prototypes. Maybe people, including myself, can get lots of ideas from it. - - - Updated - - - Alright, well done . No worries about the F3 issues, your case is obviously not loaded with anything suspicious. Edit: And just to let you guys know, regarding my schedule and when I can acknowledge entries, I work Monday through Friday 2pm to 11pm central standard time (north america). I should be able to make checks on the challenge daily on average outside of those hours.

The camera method that I typically use has apparently allowed me to circumvent such issues, which is the locked external view. That's what I used in my demonstration video, coincidentally. Press the "V" button to cycle the camera to "locked" mode and in a position that is relatively close to your craft and aligned with it from behind as much as possible without obstructing your view to the point that you can't function. Once it is locked, press and hold right mouse button and mouse around to get a good chase view of the craft. For me, having the camera fixed to the craft's frame of reference makes flying tremendously easier because of the visual feedback I get from the environment in a way that telegraphs my orientation much more intuitively. As far as the actual flying part of the hangar task, if you're having any difficulty there, the best advice I can give is to keep a close eye on the prograde marker in your nav ball. It does a lot to give you a better idea of your local vector, letting you know if you're about to climb or drop too quickly. If you'd like me to put together a quick video tutorial on the hangar fly through part of the challenge, let me know and I'll put one together in the next couple of days.

Yes, that would count as a basic certification. Speed runs require a video (see main intro). I just need to know what division you're aiming for and the name of the craft (see Section C. Part 9). That being said, cool craft! Very minimalist and it reminds me of one of the elongated tie fighters from star wars.