SomeKSPlayer

A-65A "Hazard" Tilt-Wing SSTO (top) and A-65B "Danger" Tilt-Wing SSTO (bottom). I've put in quite a lot of effort into the designs of these craft, with what I think is a perfect balance between efficiency and aesthetics. The A variant uses 2 Kodiak engines for RATO VTOL, resulting in a lower dry mass and greater efficiency. Based on the multiple times I've flown this craft, it averages around 5.4km/s-5.4km/s of deltaV in LKO, enough to land anywhere except for Eve and Tylo. The B variant relies on raw jet power to VTOL, using 4 Panther engines alongside the 4 RAPIERs and 2 Whiplashs. Because of the super high stationary TWR, it is a lot easier to fly compared to the A variant, though it suffers from slightly lower vacuum TWR and a less than aesthetically pleasing engine array. It averages around 4.9km/s-5km/s of deltaV in LKO, once again enough to land everywhere except for Eve and Tylo. Both can however, perform a round trip to Laythe with no mining/refueling, which was my original intent when making these crafts.

Hmm I went for the brute force jet VTOL approach to get this thing into suborbital trajectory above the atmosphere before circularising using the nukes, would your approach of an SSTO flight style be more efficient? Also when using only 2 nukes the TWR is far too low to do anything with Tylo which is why I opted for 4 with 3 being detachable.

Been able to get this thing into orbit with 7.7km/s of deltaV with a relatively high TWR for a nuclear powered craft, the TWR is >1 on Tylo when the fuel levels are below 2100. Looking at a previous post on this topic it takes 8.1km/s of deltaV to perform this mission with pretty much no margin but I'm sure that "cheating" using the EVA pack can make this possible.

Been working on this design for quite a while now, trying to find the perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality and I think I've finally done it! I would have liked to put together a video but I don't really have the time and skill to do that. To be honest I don't think this is even impressive anymore as more game changing updates have come. Imgur album detailing entire journey - https://imgur.com/gallery/FHxrjDr Takeoff - Landing on Laythe -