Andetch

I will try and add some fins and attempt to recalculate trajectory to include the grav turn and let you know. My design has proven very hard to steer as it is a load of Kickbacks with very little weight..... Kickbacks like going straight up by nature. In theory if it is so much better to do a grav turn launch, and given that my craft is within 1,000 m/s of slowing into the jool orbit, with the grav turn I should get closer to orbit, or maybe even into orbit. Of course, if it doesn't work I will be forced to invoice you for the ship

I am sharing this ship design and some data because.... Why not. It is completely stock, and I have done many things with it/them. I have tried to keep them as small and simple as possible. Two craft here, Speed 3k and Speed 3ka. Very hard to fly, probably going to get a lot of people saying how they a) can't take off without flipping and b) can make it so much better (I hope) Speed 3k is purely jet powered, and was my attempt at getting a good air fuelled speed attempt. Speed 3ka is with rocket capabilities (watch to disable the LF feed in the LF/OX tanks and turn it back on when you need it). Attached pictures are of my final speed test on 3ka (2455 m/s). Sadly as pictured I went into a spin I couldn't recover after loosing the nose and thrust However, I have taken it to orbit and back. It is more than capable of landing as long as you try not to hit a mountain at mach 2. FLIGHT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND SPINS ARE LIKELY!!! It is not advisable to have the nose any further than 7 degrees from prograde unless out of the atmosphere!! I look forward to seeing what the KSP community thinks of my efforts. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxP5XMEnEjPiWjE5blFPc2dELTQ https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxP5XMEnEjPiWjE5blFPc2dELTQ http://imgur.com/a/t3yza

Well whatever the numbers (I am more seeing what I can actually do rather than what the numbers say) you gotta hit the water...... Trust me on this *moves to hide the memorial to all the kerbals that tested this theory. Usually hit around 50 m/s, and they do need the jetpack to slow down.

I searched the forums, and didn't find exact references to this..... Anyone ever gone skydiving? I discovered this when I was playing with super fast planes and my design broke up mid flight resulting in my pilot being in a cockpit that was not attached to anything at 20kms. Remembering stories of WWI pilots (who were never issued parachutes as top brass believed they encouraged cowardice) faced with similar situations I decided to exit the cockpit, and to my surprise the pilot was okay after falling into the sea... It seems to me that as long as the vehicle is subsonic you can get away without burning up. Supersonic skydives tend to end up in the kerbal disappearing in a puff of logic. Attached are the screenshots I took. http://imgur.com/a/DmoqO

I have already noted this. I have a design that goes to Jool and nearly returns to Kerbin for a flyby, and the main vessel is only about 10 parts, four of which are solar panels, 1 is a battery.....1 fuel tank, 1 mkI capsule, 1 engine, 1 parachute and 1 antennae. Sometimes I add small science items. It was a major headf**k getting over the fact that more fuel and power doesn't mean going further!

Also, thanks Snark for posting that link to me, it was a very interesting read, however it didn't 100% confirm or deny what I am doing as they focus on objects inside Kerbin's gravity well, and not interplanetary. When I first started playing KSP, I tended to err towards straight up and turn left designs (I would climb slightly towards a 90 degree horizontal heading, but within the first circle on the nav ball) but this was more due to launching heavy, not aerodynamic craft. With my miners, that have all the aerodynamic qualities of a ton of bricks, I tend to fire them up around 250,000 metres and then go into orbit as any attempt to turn them inside the atmosphere results in flipping over, and a lower altitude orbital burn doesn't tend to safely (with loads of fuel and height to spare) establish an orbit, however since I started developing, and succeeded in flying spaceplanes I now go back to older designs and launch them with a grav turn (go 40 degrees by around 10 - 15 km) and Wow, the effect is well noted! Initial designs that needed to use rcs to slow into minimus orbit now arrive with enough to land on minimus and meet the fuel fleet. So I agree that when staying inside Kerbin SoI grav turns are the only way, however I still get the feeling that going into any kerbin orbit is not needed when flying a light probe to interplanetary destinations... Heck I have even managed a Kerbol escape trajectory this way, although I admit I didn't fly it there I reverted (I like to experiment in what is possible)

Yeah that is quite a lot bigger than anything in this thread, or that I have made to fly. I tend to use a plane made from less than 20 parts, maybe 15... I haven't counted. KISS principles. However, I must admit my planes are useless for things other than LKO and air breathing speed runs!

I got straight up. It is dangerous trying to get 36 Kickbacks with very little payload weight to do anything other than go straight up. I don't really see how what I am doing is so inefficient, as I only tend to accelerate up to approx 3,000 m/s to achieve the encounter, with the KSC facing Kerbin prograde. I am sure I am saving something in terms of delta V here, but maybe not. I use the same (or at least a very similar, just added coms and switched a skipper for a mainsail) ship to take tourists to Minimus and the Mun as I do to take them to Duna, so I don't have such a comparison to make. My tourist ships get refuelled at Minimus, then Ike, then again on arrival to Kerbin, and I don't use any mods so it is hard for me to work out exact delta V figures

I have an SSTO that can handle re entry on a MkI pointy cockpit..... It is just a case of slowing down onto the correct sub orbital trajectory and keeping the nose gently moving around the prograde. Do not try aerobraking with it. Admittedly when I jump the pilot out of the cockpit for some freefallin' they are glowing (you can drop kerbals into the sea quite safely from around 20,000 metres if you're subsonic, just sometimes I occasionally do if I miss the KSC on landing, purely for amusement)..... But SSTO is a lot about your piloting skills! Also, why everyone make everything so big?

So, I have been experimenting with sending tiny to small objects to other planets in one* burn phase, going direct from the launch pad at ksc to interplanetary trajectory without messing around going into a Kerbin orbit. So far I have done a flyby of Duna, Eve and Jool this way. The question is - Does anyone else play around with this technique? My set up sends a Mk I capsule, plus a small science payload, solar panels and comms. Haven't got it to go into orbit of a target planet yet, but I can almost get it to a Kerbin orbit returning from Jool. *The craft does use 2 stages, one SRB stage, then instantly onto a LF/OX stage for final course setting - you need to be able to turn the thrust off to not overshoot!

It can have solar panels to charge, albeit slowly. I abandoned to concept of a charging module due to it being a pain in the butt to get it to work easily. Too much roaming long distances! Since this I have really went the other way in KSP ship design, and instead have gone for smaller, simpler designs, the sort of things that can reach Duna for less than 100K

Q/e for forwards/backwards wsad for turning, (one set ws or ad is more effective). The reaction wheels are what power the vehicle and spin it around. So yes, it needs a lot, but maybe not all of them. It will destroy the launch pad when rolling off, but if you're gentle the runway is ok. It can be destroyed. It will start breaking up at a ground speed of 20m/s, but is fine around 10 - 15 and handles surprisingly well! Edit - I have actually just added more reaction wheels so now it has full 360° motion. It is like a giant hamster ball!

Firstly, no ship file yet as I haven't followed about how to post the ship file correctly, and will assign time to learn away from ksp playtime later. It is my creation, however any similarities to something already posted are purely coincidental. great minds think alike! Here is just a few images of a concept I have successfully tested on Kerbin for an explorer rover that is un-flippable! Well not strictly true, it is designed to roll! Some feedback would be appreciated, and also if someone wants to try figure out how to actually get this thing to space, that would rock! It does have a few solar panels for charging, but maybe will need a charging thing to dock with - easy enough! http://imgur.com/a/0FTZi

Thanks. I have been living in a cave, well a bamboo hut, for the past few years... Imiguwha? Found it! http://imgur.com/a/XWlXX No mods. I am still not bored of the un-modded game so haven't even looked at mods!

How'd I attach an image?

I have updated and still is the same situation. Have found the Kerbal tourists in the persistent file (would it be better from the quicksave file instead?) and am posting requested data. Seeing as I have no idea what the code actually is, am posting as No Syntax or highlighting as whether it be A, B, C, or D...... Meh CONTRACT { guid = c315c706-875f-4d8a-9b8f-b3149476fc5d type = TourismContract prestige = 0 seed = -1796846641 state = Active viewed = Read agent = Kerbodyne deadlineType = Floating expiryType = Floating values = 108000,184032000,0,0,0,0,20,10,41741174.6187905,41686510.4023439,225718510.402344,0 gender = 0 preposition = around the Sun homeDestinations = False tourists = Dofal Kerman|Mituki Kerman PARAM { name = KerbalTourParameter state = Incomplete disableOnStateChange = False allowPartialFailure = True values = 78000,0,0,0,0 kerbalName = Dofal Kerman PARAM { name = KerbalDestinationParameter state = Incomplete values = 13000,0,0,0,0 targetBody = 0 targetType = Orbit kerbalName = Dofal Kerman } PARAM { name = KerbalDestinationParameter state = Incomplete values = 13000,0,0,0,0 targetBody = 0 targetType = Flyby kerbalName = Dofal Kerman } } PARAM { name = KerbalTourParameter state = Incomplete disableOnStateChange = False allowPartialFailure = True values = 78000,0,0,0,0 kerbalName = Mituki Kerman PARAM { name = KerbalDestinationParameter state = Incomplete values = 13000,0,0,0,0 targetBody = 0 targetType = Flyby kerbalName = Mituki Kerman } PARAM { name = KerbalDestinationParameter state = Incomplete values = 13000,0,0,0,0 targetBody = 0 targetType = Orbit kerbalName = Mituki Kerman } }

I should probably get around to updating... Just.. Updating means taking time out of runtime in game, hehe.. So much to do! So many tankers need refuelling, fleet thirsty so little time.. Hehe. Will update, and post later the requested screen shots.

So, been playing on ksp 1.2.1.1604 (Linux Player), and have come up against a bug? I have a fleet for ferrying tourists, no pilots used all remote guidance with good comms (designed the bus in question to be capable of duna return journey albeit with a refuel at when I finally get a mining rig there to do it - Duna 1 has not yet even got to Duna but I like to plan ahead), with re-usable buses to go to the destinations. I have completed tourists to orbit and flyby the sun before. However, now the orbit the sun just doesn't complete for me now. I have some tourists I landed already having not realised it didn't check off that one, however the flyby the sun is checked with a green tick. I now have a bus orbiting the sun, with tourists on board, and the fly by all completed, but not the orbits. The bus has no intercepts with kerbin or anywhere else in the next few years (warped ahead to see if they needed more time in orbit), and I can't see the issue. Any idea's would be helpful, as I have scoured the threads looking for something similar.... Many Thanks Xx