Nich

Ya but for 2 million kerdits seems like a tight budget to hit. I would think multi stage Eve lander where last stage is capabale of SSTOing Duna. Then just refuel it as needed.

I like that docking technique I will have to try that sometime. I will calculate the cost later tonight when I get home.

I was simply going to do a 3D CL/CD vs alpha vs mach graph. I suspect alpha(CL/CDmax) will not change much with mach but if it does I was going to use my gut to pick an optimal AOI for my SSTOs. I still have not looked at the files but is sounds like there is only 1 set of tables for all wings so at the end of the day wing selection is purely ascetic and stability. Then all you need is enough lift and thrust to get off the runway.

Refuel is not allowed ISRU and mining is allowed. I have already attempted an SSTEverywhere "Neagle Infinity" however I messed up the COM/COL shift and on empty reentry lost 4 kerbals (and someone else also lost 4 kerbals) So if I fixed it I would have to add in -400ish points) - - - Updated - - - @Vegetal - Correct if rocketeer doesnt fly it again today or tomorrow I will have some free time Friday

Sorry Kuzzter I think the first stage has to be air breathing but not Rappiers. But maybe I am not correctly understanding the rules. I also found a hole in the scoring problem. Going to the edge of Kerbans SOI gives 84,159 points for height alone. but another planet only gives 500. IF I make it into the Kerbols SOI do I get 13,599,840 points? I am thinking best bet is a sling shot off Jool should give about 1/2 billion points or going to the very edge of Jools SOI should give 245,598 points if Kerbol height points don't count *Minimum Screenshots Plane at launch showing a lack of RAPIERS or similar

@Vegetal - Actually you can alter the craft based off his suggestions however his cost will also be incorporated into your development cost. You have earned a Pro builder badge as the flight was successful even though it cant be counted for the official score board. @The Rocketeer - with 18 kerbals to LKO you will have 24 points depending on your cost it will be first or second place so yes we need an official recovery value. I am happy to award the Pro Pilot award though as you completed the flight even with Kraken interference.

So I have not been deducting payload cost however if you want to figure that out and add it to the post I am perfectly fine with subtracting it. If your craft drops off payload I suggest you add a "stock" payload with a known cost for your pilot. Sorry to hear about the Kraken attack. Here is what I am planning on doing. 1. For mid to low scoring entries I will allow simply guessing what the recovery value would have been. Luckily you have a screen shot right at the end so we can just drain the fuel and see the recovery value displayed as cost i believe. 2. However for a potential Top score (1st-3rd) I will require a revert/retry 3. If a second Kraken attack happens the craft will be labeled as Kraken Bait. Also people have gotten into a bad habit of not documenting their exploits. This is fine for already certified Pro Pilots however if it is your first time or you are potentially taking 1st-3rd place please document your adventure so everyone else can ride along for the fun.

Ion craft just are not feasible outside dres without power cells. Believe me I hate trading mass fuel for massless electricty drives me nuts but RGTs and Batteries required are so heave that power cells are required

Depends what they are using but nasa uses CL = L / (A * .5 * r * V^2) CL = cofficient of lift L = Lift A = Area but they may using lift cofficient here r = reynolds number (bassed off speed, viscoscity and cord length) V = Velocity relative to the ambient airflow However what you really want is the CL/CD max. this is your optimal angle for climb. The larger the value the better the wing. I wanted to look into these files and make some graphs but I didnt have anytime last night.

I find it takes 2-3 minutes sitting there for it to complete after collection

I have to agree with Val sounds like a broken cfg. Try removing the radiators they could be conducting heat into the engines. I am surprised your wings are not the first things to blow they look like 1200 degree airliner wings

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/128509-Goddard-Problem-Maximal-launch-altitude-Challenge 600 m/s is the first speed limit at about 6000 m. This increases as you get higher. If you hitting are these speeds your twr is probably too high.

@Spaceplane addict I too lost the giganors while I was finalizing my 70km AP They were directly in the shock cone. Honestly this craft only needs 1 or 2 OX-STATs but without them I have 3405 dV from LEO. Burning the nuke should keep them charged for the trip. I am thinking a no save no revert landing on Duna is out of the question as this craft has a lot of wing but not enough in my opinion for a safe landing. Considering a Jool or Dres crew rotation

@Starhawk - your the pilot in command if you feel the plane is not airworthy feel free to remove them. However I can not allow any additions or off sets. I get done with work early today as well so I may beat you to the punch Oh forgot to mention I loved the monoprop placement on the stingray. No risk of blowing up and control was wonderful I am definitely stealing this design practice for now on.

Transponders from the administrative building is a great idea. I had never thought about that. Yes utilizing this strategy along with hostile negotiations would drive down development cost. It might even be exploitable to make money. Good thinking. As for the monitiney of flying a plane back I have said before this is an honer based challenge I can not force you to fly the plane back however I am going to require it unfortunately.

I don't have SpaceY installed but it is the same thing as having 2.5m compete with 3.75m. It will never work well. Simply take a 12 part design from the 3.75m scale it up to 20m and you are now delivering 1000 times the payload for the same number of parts. I am pretty sure SpaceY doesnt have 20m parts but I am pretty sure I have seen other mods that do. I think you would have done better without the fueled nose cones as they probably did not provied enough uph to justfiy 2 extra parts. Say only lifting 185t with 10 parts gets you 18.5 I think your best beat for the leader board will be a single S-14400 reaction wheel batteries and nose cone lifted by a decoupler 4 S-14400 and 1 mamath. giving something like 90t lifted by 6 parts for a max of 15t/part for Stock parts. Might have to reduce the fuel in the S-14400 to get the mass down to 82t. Either that or you will have to build on the economics of more payload for 1 decoupler but then you lose the economics of aerodynamics of being behind they payload.

I am not sure what you mean by transponders however yes high altitude tests that take you half way around Kerbin would hurt your score because of the low recovery value. Safety features are a good idea and I had a couple when I was doing initial tests on my first craft. As a bonus at least all you have to do for your pro builder badge is build a plane that is able to make orbit and return safely. Does not mater how well it scores. Unforunitly the way the competition has shaped out the best craft are generally untested to keep development cost down (funny this is how they try to keep cost down in real life as well) All development cost (and heaven forbid kerbal deaths) are added to the (current cost) category which then is subtracted from the Pro pilots score. So it affects the pilots and builders final score. Eventually my first 2 designs crashed while trying to improve them after comments from the thread which caused the negative points to go so high there was no point in entering the new version. At that point you can start a new design and start summing up new development cost.

Personally this should be a stock competition as stock can not compete with SpaceY tanks.

Sadly you have to wait. That is the worst part in my opinion, however I can now add you to the Board Or you can get your pro pilot certification flying any other craft already available.

Ya I was just going to take the craft and reduce the fuel to what he had in the screen shot and call that his cost. If it becomes a contender for top spot I may tack on a 500-1000 kredit penalty for not correctly tracking cost.

@starhawk - Yes the turbo and spike both generate power so I was full when I was in orbit. I tend to use a reaction wheel and main engine for docking so that drained it pretty quick. Had I used more monprop (you had a ton) I would probably have used a lot less. @The Rocketeer - I think 3.2 is a good multiplier for Low Duna orbit (1690 dV) or 6.5 for landing at a Duna base (3000ish plus dealing with landing at Duna). If anyone wants to chime in I am open to suggestions. I would recommend a transfer window time for your pilot and/or a Duna entry procedure so noobs (like me) don't mess it up. - - - Updated - - - @SpaceplaneAddict what were your development cost? To add the badge: 1. go to the first and highlight the one you have earned 2. ctrl-c 3. Click settings in the top right of the forum window 4. Goto edit signature on the left hand side 5. ctrl-v 6. save. Or at least it works for me in chrome. If that doesn't work I will have to figure out the html code version (been a while since I did it that way)

Multicord Thrasher MK2 A little wonky (to much control I suspect) but other then that a good plane made 110x110 Cost 31316 (very expensive payload dropped off) 2 Kerbals to station (4) 3.44 ton payload (12+.88) Total -14.436

Camacho summery (PASS) Cost 949 6 Kerbals to LKO easy could probably get 150x150 (12) 6 more (6) Total = 17.05 Very nice craft. I enabled roll on the canards and yaw on the rudder and set up an action group for Rappier. Landing speed was about 55 m/s made life easy. Breaking the sound barrier was a little hard but not bad.

Sting Ray summery (PASS) Well pilot error I expected this thing to overshoot and I aimed WWAAYYYY too short. Ended up landing on the desert on the continent before KSA. Good craft has no need for airbrakes at all. I should have used a normal decent this craft was very draggy after it was emptied. It doesn't need air brakes you are correct. Lack of solar panels does make it challenging. I turned off reaction wheels until I got to space and even then it was a challenge to dock before running out of electric. I docked with 7.5 electric left. Landing speed is closer to 60 m/s which makes rough field landings very easy. Cost 7287 (-7.29) 6 Kerbals to LKO (12) Total 4.713

It is a shame I cant give you 5 rep :/ congrats