StevieC

No, I meant 3 concentric rings of 1.25m diameter engine mounts, not 2.5m engine mounts. I should note Musk emphasized only the center 7 engines of his booster design have gimbals; both outer rings are fixed-mount engines with no gimbals, to lighten the booster's total dry mass. This is part of why I think the 1.25m engine size would be more appropriate: Reliants on the outer two rings, Swivels on the 7 center attach points.

I've actually been attempting to figure out what the largest number of engines is I can fit into the 5m diameter fairing without clipping any parts into each other.

SpaceX's layout is 1 engine in the centre, surrounded by six engines, then a small gap betwixt that and a circle of 14 engines, and finished out 'round the edge with a ring of 21 engines 1+6+14+21=42, but that's not exactly symmetry-friendly. For a more symmetry-friendly KSP thrust-plate, I recommend omitting the single engine from the centerline. That way you can have 6 engines in the center ring, 24 engines around the edge, and a ring of 12 engines in between the center and edge? 6+12+24=42

I've tried, and it has not worked in 1.2pre

Some of us would consider it worth sacrificing fuel to prevent Kessler syndrome, is my point.

One other feature that would be a godsend is a way to specify the periapsis that you want to have BEFORE the circularizing burn. That would be helpful in preventing expended lower stages from accumulating as debris.

Another feature that would be a godsend: Select another vessel as a target, and you're automatically set up to launch at the appropriate time, heading, and other parameters for a direct-ascent rendezvous with the target craft, at which point docking will be relatively easy. (direct-ascent rendezvous saves me so much fuel)

How feasible would it be, to indicate in the VAB, how many seconds it takes for a part (such as a solar-panel, landing-leg, or antenna) to deploy, and (when applicable) to retract? This would be especially useful to know for retractable solar-panels if they are located in a way that requires one to retract them before an engine-burn to prevent the engine's exhaust plume from damaging the solar panels. To keep the electrical charge as full as possible, it's helpful to know how long one can keep the solar panels extended before needing to retract them for the engine-burn. Similarly, knowing how long landing-legs take to deploy could be useful for timing when to extend them for a landing.

I'm here, but mainly waiting for the biplane cockpit to regain its crew entry/exit hatch, to allow me to use a biplane to visit the island airfield and get the full completion on the Anomaly Surveyor contract for the airstrip.

I still think that Sikorsky's willingness to test-fly his own experimental helicopters puts him in serious contention for the title.

I'm distantly related to Jimmy Doolittle, that said, I'd call it a tie betwixt Otto Lilienthal, and Burt Rutan. I actually met Rutan and got his autograph at the Oshkosh Air Show in 2000. Met Chuck Yeager there, too. Another strong candidate would be the late, great Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson, who was the founder of Lockheed's "Skunk Works" division, and the man behind the Lockheed Model 10 Electra, the P-38 Lightning, the P-80 Shooting Star, the F-104 Starfighter, the U-2, and the SR-71 Blackbird. Rutan and Johnson are the only two people in history to win aviation's most prestigious award, the Collier Trophy, more than once. They are both two-time Collier Trophy winners, and the only two such people in all of aviation history, thus-far. My 4th nominee would be Igor Sikorsky, who is unanimously called the father of today's modern helicopter. He was the first aviator to attempt making a helicopter with only a single lifting-rotor. All helicopter pioneers prior to Sikorsky used paired lifting rotors that would spin in opposite directions to counteract rotor-torque. Sikorsky's big innovation was using what amounted to a sideways-thrusting propeller on the end of a tailboom to counteract the torque of a single main lifting-rotor. He test-flew his experimental helicopters (which had nothing to protect the pilot from being hit by the rotor-blades) wearing his business suit, and a black Homburg hat on his head.

so how likely is this mod to switch over to using the part-animation that's going to be part of stock in KSP 1.2?

I've noticed that certain abbreviations get tooltips automatically assigned to them in the forum posts, such as LKO being given the tooltip "Low Kerbin Orbit" and was wondering if such tooltips could please be added for RTLS (Return To Launch Site), and ASDS (Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship) and possibly for the space-shuttle abort mode ATO (Abort To Orbit)

One feature I'd like to see in GravityTurn is a function to make it shut off the first stage's engine(s) and trigger stage-sep automatically with some fuel still left in that first-stage, so that when either StageRecovery or FMRS is installed, the first-stage will have enough delta-V left to make a propulsive landing. In the case of FMRS, perhaps even enough for a SpaceX style RTLS or ASDS recovery. How do you get tooltips to show for abbreviations like LKO there?

does this mean I can use KRE now in KSP 1.2 without any problems?

On the bright side, even if nobody does update this mod to fully utilize the improved functionality of stock KSP, the parts should still work, generally-speaking, yes?

Just as long as the biplane's open cockpit gains an entry/exit hatch soon, is all I ask.

IFS was just updated to work with the 1.2 pre-release

Here's hoping that your HGR Community Update Pack is equally painless.

Will the EDO pack be compatible with TAC Life Support?

I've made a .cfg file that adds MechJeb functionality to the Dragon Fuel Tank @PART[DragonFuelTank]:NEEDS[MechJeb2] { %MODULE[MechJebCore] { MechJebLocalSettings { MechJebModuleCustomWindowEditor { unlockTechs = flightControl } MechJebModuleSmartASS { unlockTechs = flightControl } MechJebModuleManeuverPlanner { unlockTechs = advFlightControl } MechJebModuleNodeEditor { unlockTechs = advFlightControl } MechJebModuleTranslatron { unlockTechs = advFlightControl } MechJebModuleWarpHelper { unlockTechs = advFlightControl } MechJebModuleAttitudeAdjustment { unlockTechs = advFlightControl } MechJebModuleThrustWindow { unlockTechs = advFlightControl } MechJebModuleRCSBalancerWindow { unlockTechs = advFlightControl } MechJebModuleRoverWindow { unlockTechs = fieldScience } MechJebModuleAscentGuidance { unlockTechs = unmannedTech } MechJebModuleLandingGuidance { unlockTechs = unmannedTech } MechJebModuleSpaceplaneGuidance { unlockTechs = unmannedTech } MechJebModuleDockingGuidance { unlockTechs = advUnmanned } MechJebModuleRendezvousAutopilotWindow { unlockTechs = advUnmanned } MechJebModuleRendezvousGuidance { unlockTechs = advUnmanned } } } } I admit I cribbed this from @sumghai's cfg files for his SDHI Service Module pack. Similarly I also cribbed his TAC Life Support patch to build a carbon extractor and a water purifier into the Dragon Fuel Tank (the Carbon Extractor and the Water Purifier parts in TAC itself each way 5 tons, while the ones built into the SDHI service module don't add any extra mass, so I like having them built into the Dragon Fuel Tank) @PART[DragonFuelTank]:NEEDS[TacLifeSupport]:FINAL { // Standard TAC-LS Carbon Extractor using the Bosch process MODULE { name = TacGenericConverter converterName = Carbon Extractor conversionRate = 8.16 inputResources = CarbonDioxide, 0.001703210064733, ElectricCharge, 0.039783051310155 outputResources = Oxygen, 0.001713537562385, false, Waste, 0.000001209166498, true } // Standard TAC-LS Water Purifier MODULE { name = TacGenericConverter converterName = Water Purifier conversionRate = 8.16 inputResources = WasteWater, 0.000014247685185, ElectricCharge, 0.007123842592593 outputResources = Water, 0.000012822916667, false, Waste, 0.000001994675926, true } }

Squad is still faster than VALVe.

Small request: Slip in a .cfg to detect if MechJeb is installed, and if it is, make the Dragon fuel-tank also capable of serving as a MechJeb autopilot control module?

Edited my post literally mere seconds after seeing that you'd already answered, and I feel like a grade-B idiot right now.

nevermind I'm aa derp