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James Kerman

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Everything posted by James Kerman

  1. James Kerman
    Spaceplanes have more dry mass than conventional rockets so it's always harder to build cargo capability into them. How close to orbit are you getting?
  2. James Kerman
    I'm sure you'll get there if you work on the design.
  3. James Kerman
    Nice!
  4. James Kerman
    How much mass can it get to orbit? You might be able to carry an exploration rocket to orbit with that!
  5. James Kerman
    The forum has a family friendly policy so vulgar or profane words are substituted by a filter (2.2g in the forum guidelines). Please avoid using these terms on the forum. The Pegasus looks pretty big!
  6. James Kerman
    P9
  7. James Kerman
    Hi @charles9, your question has been moved from Gameplay Questions to Add-on Discussions, a great place to ask about mods.
  8. James Kerman
    P8
  9. James Kerman
    Yes, I'm in Western Australia.
  10. James Kerman
    9.16 for me too! You shouldn't need ISRU, if your spaceplane can get to Kerbin orbit you have more than enough to do Minmus.
  11. James Kerman
    Okay then, you could try building a rocket that can refuel the plane in orbit, You should have enough to fly to Minmus, land and return with full tanks. [edit] Make sure to add a docking port to the spaceplane.
  12. James Kerman
    Have you learnt how to dock yet? It's easier than building spaceplanes and it really opens up the system for all kinds of interesting missions.
  13. James Kerman
    It sounds like you are getting the hang of it! How much DV do you have left once you are in orbit?
  14. James Kerman
    Oh, I forgot to add in case you were unaware that you can see your AP/PE during flight by clicking the manoeuvre mode button in the bottom left so that you can precisely time engine shutoff:
  15. James Kerman
    You have many options, you can build it bigger and add crew capability while keeping a probe core in control and I think you can solve some of the stability issues if you add a reaction wheel. I mostly play career mode so the main use I have for spaceplanes is for crew transfers to and from my space station in Kerbin orbit because it saves funds compared to a 2 stage rocket.
  16. James Kerman
    First celebrate, then iterate (meaning improve the design). What is your next goal for the spaceplane?
  17. James Kerman
    Command pods are a lot tougher (and also heavier) than probe cores, I'm sure one would have survived your landing.
  18. James Kerman
    Great success! I consider any spaceplane that does not kill kerbals successful! I think you will be a great pilot once you get some more experience.
  19. James Kerman
    It's okay, I think the plane is just stalling (I don't think it would want to stay airborne at 8000m and 40m/s). Once you get under 10000m or so, push the nose down to gain speed and keep airborne (if you have no liquid fuel left) and look for a flat surface to land. If you can keep the speed up it should be controllable.
  20. James Kerman
    Did you land it?
  21. James Kerman
    All design choices are trade offs and spaceplanes have a higher dry mass than conventional rockets because you're carrying a lot of extra stuff that is only useful in atmosphere. You will need to experiment to find a good balance for whatever your mission is. Another option is to add a docking port and refuel the spaceplane in orbit because 3400DV can get you to lots of places in the kerbol system.
  22. James Kerman
    Congratulations! Now it's time to try descent!
  23. James Kerman
    Try stopping the engines when you get an apoapsis of between 75-80km and then use your final propellant to burn there (just before apoapsis).
  24. James Kerman
    Minimal orbital speed for Kerbin is 2279m/s. 3400m/s is roughly the required DV to get to orbit but I think you'll need a little more to account for drag. I think you are really close to making orbit.
  25. James Kerman
    Is this not in meters per second?
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