Doke

That one quick burst was pretty impressive. I really can't work out the gunnery AI; sometimes it makes really clean shots like that, sometimes it sprays everywhere, sometimes it misses really obvious deflection shots and then takes an improbable potshot.

Sad to see the chibi Flanker go down. That Shingo is a tough customer -- but not tough enough for my K-3B 'Arctic Skua'. Leaner, meaner, less likely to randomly explode: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qm4zgfnlpmo8wdz/K-3B1%20Arctic%20Skua.craft?dl=0

That's a very nice looking plane. Unfortunately, there's only so much lift you can get without drag. You could probably afford to drag those main wings out a bit further, though (not sure, since I haven't flown it yet). Also, I think you need a cockpit and an alternative to that rapier if this thing is meant to compete (should be easy to arrange, by the look of it). Or is that a nosecone at the front there?

This looks awesome! Downloading now. Since you did ask for suggestions: how about a VYa-23, as seen on the Il-2? Or any Soviet 23mm, really.

@Henge That's very kind of you. The plane is as much accident as design. Having used only stock, yeah, I guess I'd rather get the crappy stock landing gear if I can. Plus, it would probably mess up my area-ruling if I changed them. Regarding tinkering: knock yourself out. It's always interesting to see the way other people design things. @Crisk That's awesome, thanks! I'll give it a try. Regarding DD: agreed that it can be a bit fiddly. That said, I don't think it's as useful if you're flying the plane yourself with an analogue controller. In my case, I set it up so that the AI would have a chance in the dogfighting contest.

@TheHengeProphet thanks for the offer of help, but I think I've got it figured out and wouldn't want you to waste your time. Also, I didn't realise DD uses a single profile for all planes. It saves settings in the craft file, so I had assumed they were unique.

Thanks for the tips. I'll give it a try later. EDIT: It turns out the problem was much more simple. The asymmetric cannon and electronics arrangement was causing problems. Fixing that makes it landable (and means I have to tweak a bunch of other stuff, but the problem is solved in principle).

What a nailbiter! And a tragicomic ending. I agree that the D-6 is a cool-looking plane. It's also ridiculously agile. OK, here's an updated craft file for the K-3 with only one each of chaff and flares (sorry about that) and, ahem, a bit more fuel. https://www.dropbox.com/s/g596gk07kk338uj/K-3%20Skua%20A%20%28dogfight%29.craft?dl=0

I had no idea! Thanks for this. It's going to make using the editor a much more pleasant experience in the future. I just gave it a quick try, and it didn't seem to help my landing much, though. I thought it might try lowering the plane's attitude on the ground, but that didn't help either. I'll need to give it another try later when I have time. Yeah, I'm a sucker for those old MiGs. Those old Soviet planes always seem to be one part rugged simplicity, one part elegant efficiency, and one part borderline insanity. Perfect for KSP! Good points about the stall. I also wanted to improve stability in level flight and on the ground, but it's entirely possible that the new tailplane is the actual cause of improvement and I can delete the dorsal fins. Actually, a large number of the design elements of the plane are down to my attempts to make it easier to land. Drooping nose, wide landing gear and hence wing geometry... I can't complain, because the alterations have always resulted in a better plane, but I do hope I work out how to land it eventually...

Glad you liked it. The AI can fly it passably without Dynamic Deflection, but only if you tune the max elevator deflection down to about 20 degrees, which may hurt it in that 250-400m/s zone. Stalls were nastier before I replaced the tail fin with an all-moving one and added those little dorsal winglets above the gear nacelles, which was my layman's attempt to improve lateral stability and add a sort of wing fence to hold off stalls. Regarding landing: that's actually been the biggest challenge. The problem for me is always the same: the plane rolls to one side or another while on the ground. I assume the problem is the gear alignment, but I haven't been able to fix it yet. I don't expect too much stealth capability from what is basically a 21st century MiG-21 The idea was to follow a similar design philosophy to the Fishbed: a fast, cheap(ish), ground-controlled interceptor. I suppose the official line would be that it uses its datalink and passive sensors to launch low-altitude ambush attacks or something. Not sure how well that would work in reality.

@TheHengeProphet thanks! Let's try: Here's a WIP craft file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ibmv80cje8urg1y/K-3%20Skua%20%28intercept%29.craft?dl=0

I like these designs. Very... Kerbal. OP, have you tried putting a fairing (nosecone+decoupler) over the nuke? You might be able to squeeze a bit more delta v out that way. I usually do that on my SSTO nukes, even when they're facing backwards.

Allow me to present the K-3 Skua, a 'generation 4.5 and a half' multi-role fighter-interceptor. It's fast, it's compact, and it's mean. (next time I'll try PNGs) Handling isn't great when carrying a full load of 10 missiles, but most of those are intended to be launched outside of visual range. Flying clean, or with a half load, the Skua is surprisingly nimble. I'm using Dynamic Deflection, which may or may not need tweaking (along with structural strength), but it can manage 9-15gs at most speeds over about 200-250m/s. It likes to go fast. The original idea was to do a 'proper' 5th gen fighter, but since those kept exploding, I'd thought I'd try something more practical. I've learned a lot along the way, and have a few ideas about how I might make something more advanced. p.s. How do I link to a gallery while making the post display a picture, like everyone else does?

OK, got it right this time. I've set the 'firing delay' or whatever it's called to 1, because I find the AI isn't always trigger happy enough for my taste. I can change it back to 12 if that's a problem. https://www.dropbox.com/s/wk9mwrwbdu3gxpo/K-3%20Skua%20%28dogfight%29.craft?dl=0

If you're still accepting entries, I'd like to give it a shot. Here's a link to my K-3 'Skua': EDIT: Well, this is embarrassing. For some reason, I had thought that the engines were supposed to be set to 50% like in the 5th gen challenge. I'm going to need to do a bit of tweaking before my poor Skua can handle itself with full thrust.