ForScience6686

My lko fuel station will serve to fuel my Ssto to make the trip to duna carrying all crew for the mission. My current tech level limits my Ssto range, but the duna flyer carries its own mining gear for planet side refueling, then will need topped off once back off the surface for the return trip. So there are some benefits of a lko fuel station. I can also top off interplanetary ships to reduce launch weights which helps cash savings and reduced ship sizes.

Not worth it, and some argue a fuel station in lko is not worth it either. But I would recommend leaving it in lko for future missions and lower launch weights.

I believe that is incorrect, it only affects the deployed state. What is the reasoning for inverting? If its a specific control setup then invert it in the settings, but that will affect all craft.

Slight improvement with my new design. This one can hold 5 passengers plus Valentina. The take off is a bit rough fully loaded but some fuel could be removed for quick orbit and return. I also show that very steep re-entries are easily done, but design plays a big role in keeping the highest AoA for as long as possible. 33,920 starting cost - 32665 recovered funds = 1255 / 5 passengers = 251/passenger

Yes you can use crew transfer with the claw. That's what I used for ferrying crew to my island airbase and transferring them (and fuel) to the reused Ssto.

This is exactly why I run the numbers myself, and run vanilla. The mods look nice, but had you missed this you may not have found out until a mission critical point.

I would guess the discrepancy is causing other issues as well with the mass being off. But I would assume this would not affect much except for large high fuel ships. Ker might give you the proper dv, but the game recognizes more mass so dv would suffer.

Stock readout does account for partial or empty tanks. I use this to calculate my dv numbers myself so I can confirm this.

Unfortunately I don't think the game is strong enough in this area. Craft designed to only be used in space would not be able to survive the trip through the atmosphere. Which is why they are used IRL. Which is why I would disagree with this summarization, and for rp purposes I don't ditch until 50+ km. I wish they would implement a damage model that would take this into consideration and not allow you to take your delicate science instruments screaming through the atmosphere without damaging them.

One problem you have is a poor drag ratio. You have a long stack and a small area to induce drag. When you are in the upper atmosphere use the side of the craft to create more drag. And ensure you are coming in tail first once in the thicker atmosphere. Also keep your pe around 20-35km to give you plenty of time to slow down.

Still all the fairing bashing. They still work fine for me. in fact, a fairing just protected an 80t payload to orbit for me. If the payload moves, more struts. If you're flipping, stop getting off prograde and add fins. Forcing the gravity turn mid flight is not a good idea, use thrust to make adjustments.

I use a small Lander with a fuel tank and transfer vehicle in orbit. Hit a couple biomes and return to refuel. That makes for much less weight to land with. I also selected thus method to negate the time for mining. I have a separate setup and can rendezvous with my fuel station to top off if needed. It still took hours to mine all the science, so I don't want to add to that waiting to mine resources.

+1 to the fin advice. I would also suggest you have to much engine on the lander. I would loose the radial engines. Otherwise not so bad, you would do better with the shorter radial decoupler, you'll have a wide enough stance with them to not worry to much about tipping.I would also guess you have too many struts which greatly increase your drag. Ladders as well, you can Eva quite easily on the mun. Beyond that it's pretty much the same as what I would use. Try and keep in mind that you should build the bear minimum. Extra engines increase mass and hinder dv. You should also get familiar with the rocket equation to ensure you have the dv needed and not too much more.

Srb are primarily used before liquid engines. Better fuel efficiency for liquid engines the higher you go. A picture would help but make sure you strut as well as proper placement on the radial decoupler. Use the offset tool to place the Srb com below the decoupler.

I don't have an example, but some tips from what I did similar to what you want. Wheel placement is not a big concern since you won't be taking off with it. I used small wings as my craft was put inside a fairing. So I add angleto the wing to give added lift. I prefer to have power when coming in to ensure I make the run way and when gliding in a terrier has enough thrust for small craft. Other than that there are just too many design possibilities available. But I do recommend testing it thoroughly before putting into use. I would strap a couple srb on and launch it up to test flight characteristics before building the launch vehicle. If you don't have fairing you can strap two planes radially to counteract the lift they will produce, and have a second rescue craft waiting in orbit. Maybe I'll load Some pics of my early rescue craft after work. Although slightly modified as my career has progressed it is based on the same platform and is my go to for orbital rescues including mun and minmus.

I prefer the steep trajectory with a very high aoa. Higher drag up high and as the aero forces bring your nose down it will transfer vertical speed r to horizontal speed. This has worked finefor my small ssto, may not be as good in heavier craft.

Just a guess here, but I've noticed this only on vehicles with asparagus boosters, as fuel and occasionally struts are put on independently. Would that cause issues with aero stability? For example in angle snap mode, it only applies to the first attachment point and attracting the other end usually puts it off center or at an angle. That is my guess at this problem. Fortunately it doesn't hinder launches much as I'm generally on follow prograde through the boosters, but it can make it hard to line up your launch trajectory.

Nice, I knew it could be done, but under4 minutes is quite impressive. Great work nefrums.

Thanks snark, just wanted to rule them out. I'm interested in trying it out myself but can't come up with a good reason to use it...

Are you sure the jets aren't providing the lift? I figured they would remain horizontal while the wings have some tilt.

Since most space planes have the wings far rear, as you hit thicker air you'll be fighting the planes natural tendency to keep the draggy bits at the rear. I try and keep my wings as far forward as possible to minimize this. Think of levers and darts. Also, steep re entry is a better option in my opinion. High aoa all the way down to safe cruising speeds. With planes you have the lift to use to your advantage and can transfer vertical speed into horizontal speed. Wings at 30 degrees to prograde seem to offer the best lift over drag and anything above should be used for reducing speed.

Sorry what I meant was, it seems high if you're having troubles at the mach barrier. On low Twr, I will climb slowly until I break that barrier then increase the climb rate. You have more thrust available at lower altitudes, but you may struggle when in the thinner air. For your second question I won't be much help. I send probes up if I need to bring an item down. Only use the ssto for delivering or rescues, occasionally a lko tourist. The claw may be better but I cannot confirm this.

20 degrees seems high for your initial climb, you could always nose down a bit to get over the mach barrier. Or accelerate over the barrier at lower altitude before making your climb.

I used this approach at eve right before the 1.05 update. Sent a ship with 8 radially attached surface probes and one on the nose. Used 2 sepratrons oneach for the de orbit burn which helped keep mass low. In my current career for grabbing items in lko. I attached 4 decouplers on the top of a 2.5m tank. That way I had three spares waiting to deploy when the contracts came up.

But then you've wasted the point of using the ssto, fund recovery.