colmo

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2007/02/do_astronauts_have_sex.html 'In space, no one can hear you moan.'

Quite right - I\'ve little idea what goes on under the hood. :-* - If you thought I had a fair few helicopters already.......

I was meddling with the carrier to put a few cameras on it - an attachment node or two on the tower would be handy to plop a rotatron/hinge camera assembly on. With a MechJeb or command module, editing the carrier to have fuel onboard, and a load of props and rudders, I dream of setting sail with this behemoth.... Idea: If the game starts implementing multiple launch sites (e.g. KSC2), being able to launch from an aircraft carrier would make perfect sense......

Providing you dodge the topology, there\'s no lower limit really. Under 2km on the Mun and you risk hitting a peak..

That also rules out using cylinders as shock absorbers. It looks like this might be the way to go for a custom suspension - very doable with a truss and rotatron: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torsion_bar_suspension

Would these settings also work on the cylinder, to make it freely telescoping like a driveshaft? If so you could have Rotatron-PHinge-PHinge(@90 degrees to first hinge)-Cylinder-PHinge-PHinge(@90 deg). Add two opposing rotatrons on the end on the same servo group as the first rotatron, and you can have a suspension hub.

It would have the considerable advantage of leaving it under the control of any ASAS or MechJeb units. Functionally, it would be identical to a pair of linear RCS ports, right? The only disadvantage would be that it\'s a digital, not analogue, control, but my torque-twist rotatron idea didn\'t suffer for that, and neither would this. I\'ve been meaning to do an ASAS specced for helicopters - the present one locks controls too solidly, and the avionics unit, not enough. Edit: I had a rummage in the .cfg files and found that regular props have specified fuel type and a hint they can have negative (i.e bidirectional) thrust : fuelType = liquid maxThrust = 50 minThrust = 0 This approach would require multiple throttles to be workable - maybe channel mixing as in RC planes and helis? Meanwhile, RCS units have no specified fuel type, but you could cheat and make fuel consumption zero (after all, planes and rockets get control surfaces for no fuel cost), so possibly negating the need for an RCS tank?

While it\'s a very minor item in the list, the Metal Slab doesn\'t work - I can\'t get it to attach flush to a horizontal tank, it attaches at a 30 degree angle.

SasquatchM\'s Probe Retrieval challenge prompted the design of this rescue vehicle, based on an adaptation of the CK SuperHeli : CK Sea HeliRescue MkII: Controls are rotors only for flight, prop only for water and land, normal directional controls work on all surfaces, and to reverse the claw towards the probe, blip the main rotors with S pressed. The normal plan for a retrieval is to fly out to the object (with an aggressive pitch forward and full throttle, it can do 170m/s), land, manoeuvre (A and D to steer), grab with the claw, lift clear of water (if the object is too heavy, leave it, just go easy on the throttle) and sail back, then drag onto land. Flying with something in the claw is likely to cause a crash due to imbalance. Requires HSTW pontoons and landing struts, Damned Aerospace and Damned Robotics. The MkII is identical to the MkI aside from a miniscule centring of the grab arm and the addition of winglets to aid control.

I was using MechJeb last night to fly helicopters and space planes. The main things to watch for on ascent auto-pilot is that you set the \'turn\' alt to 0km as you don\'t want to point nose up, change your ascent path to nearly or entirely horizontal, and then make sure it achieves the altitude you set. When it tries to circularise orbit, it\'ll keep the craft aloft indefinitely, fuel allowing. Not very pretty, blipping the throttle on and off like that, but effective. If it fails to make altitude because it tried coasting to apoapsis, it\'ll crash. You are warned. Smart A.S.S will keep a helicopter flying if you set a negative pitch value to keep it moving forward. Fooling MechJeb to fly a helicopter using the CIRC orbital function meant the chopper went as high as it could (ignoring the specified PE+AP value) on full throttle, so not fuel efficient.

Does the same thing happen for hinges? If so, we could make CVDs / universal joints using two powered hinges in series, one bending perpendicular to the other.

Like a driveshaft? A strut on a rotaron does that - but only at 90 degrees, so what you need is a universal joint / CVD. It does open up options for gearboxes.

Grats, Semo! I\'ve designed a vehicle to do this but I cannot spare the time to actually do the challenge. The pics below are of a Bigtrak I fished out of the harbour near the KSC Controls are rotors only for flight, prop only for water and land, normal directional controls work on all surfaces, and to reverse the claw towards the probe, blip the main rotors with S pressed. Plan is to fly out to the probe (with an aggressive pitch forward and full throttle, it can do 170m/s), land, manoeuvre, grab, lift clear of water (I don\'t know how heavy it is, hope my vehicle can manage it without tipping - if not, just take it easy on the return) and sail back, then drag it to the tower. Last 8 images in my Kerbal gallery: https://picasaweb.google.com/109249657211261643752/KerbalSpaceProgram?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCK6Ggenh7_2RtQE&feat=directlink If someone else wants to use the vehicle, the .craft file is attached - needs HSTW pontoons and landing struts, Damned Aerospace and Damned Robotics. The MkII is identical to the MkI aside from a miniscule centring of the grab arm and the addition of winglets to aid control.

Now that\'s an idea - get underneath the probe, release a boat platform which will float up taking the probe with it, then sail home. Trying to fly home carrying a load is dangerous, so the boat option is safer. I so cannot afford the time to crack this one. I have a similar retreival problem in the works, except it\'s a Mk1 crew capsule...and it\'s on the Mun!

Ah, thanks Tosh. RTFM blindness strikes again. VAB, here I come. Hope copying ships fron the SPH folder works...I want want me some pontoons on a chopper...

Am I missing something obvious, or do the pontoons not want to stick to the landing gear skids? I occasionally get them on the right way, more often they stick at an odd angle, and most of the time the pontoon will infuriatingly stay red as I sweep the cursor up and down the skid, hitting the C and X keys to see if that will help, which it doesn\'t. Please put me out of my misery!

Had a go at making an amphibious Truck (Tosh\'s Cart mod) with pontoons and a claw and turbofan pusher prop. It falls apart at about 2/3 throttle, killing the crew and spreading debris all over the harbour. Having real trouble getting the pontoons to stick to the skids from the same mod, for some reason.

Oh bugger, better disambiguate the various versions of the Av8R in the OP :/ - Edit: Done - note added. Edit: I\'ve examined the manuals for the PC (no longer available), PC/PS3 and Xbox/PC versions, and several sites selling them, and it appears the throttle sticks on the PS3 version bind to L2 and R2 on the PS3, indicating both are functional. Not definitive, would need confirmation. I can see a second throttle axis being useful for pitch trim (useful as fuel use affects balance), if KSP can be made to allow allow that.

They all have Kd, Ki and Kp parameters in their config. I\'m planning on tweaking them for a helicopter-spec ASAS. http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/~kerbalsp/wiki/index.php?title=Advanced_S.A.S. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controller#PID_controller_theory

My latest creation - a dual-rotor!

I\'ve been wanting to do a dual-rotor chopper for some time, and I finally came up with this. Note that the interleaving rotors never touch. CK SuperHeli MkI This dual-rotor model is designed to transport heavy loads slung underneath. This craft is actually remarkably easy to land. A wee bit of care is required at take-off because it has a lot of power - one-third throttle is enough to effortlessly take to the skies. It\'s a good idea to use ASAS to maintain attitude, though you will note that you can do that using throttle too - under 1/3 throttle, and it flies nose-down, over 1/3, and the nose comes up. Initial plans are for a Bigtrak carrier, with variations for landed or parachute deployment. It probably has adequate power for the Truck from Tosh\'s Cart mod also. Future plans are for a long-range model with extra fuel tanks.

Interesting - the positioning of the cockpit directly under the rotor saved my Kerbals in one crash! Put a landing gear under the nose, and balance the weight bias using the rear landing gear (you don\'t really need two back there with a 4 point landing gear setup). I find it very, very difficult to position the rotor just right, preferring to tune weight bias with other components once it\'s close to the right spot. Landing gear and auxiliary tanks are perfect for this. I\'m not too keen on the splayed side landing gears, their angle means they could snap on a hard landing, but the extra width does mean you have more margin of error if you\'re not level. One thing your design does to is equalise fuel drain - it\'s drains all the tanks in parallel, a necessity for maintaining balance in long flights.

Give my choppers ago - I released three this morning/last night (depending on how you define those terms ) To get a chopper to turn when you bank, you need the centre of lift and/or side-profile drag to be behind the centre of rotor thrust. It doesn\'t have to be far, and it might only work if your attitude is slightly nose-down (thus tilting the rotor forwards to get the angle). All my choppers behave this way, and thanks to the X-wing style winglet formation you used, they handle better than they did. When placing the rotor (or tweaking the front-rear weight bias), I prefer a chopper than will lean a hair forward rather than a hair backwards. It\'s almost impossible to nail it absolutely neutral, but it\'s easier to control and land a chopper that wants to go forwards. I haven\'t started work on a helicopter ASAS unit yet. The current one is more like an autopilot, but you have to turn it off to make meaningful manoeuvres.

Three, yes three, new helicopters. Thanks to Alias, I re-evaluated how control surfaces work on helicopters, and discovered the value of ASAS. CK Helicopter MkIII The continued evolution of this long-range, medium-large helicopter sees a radical overhaul of winglets, and the sacrifice of a 75kg fuel tank for an ASAS unit. I\'ve found no long-range helicopter should be without ASAS. Requires Damned Aerospace and the floodlights from the Bigtrak mod. CK Recon Helicopter MkI A slightly smaller model, though still retaining three fuel tanks, and equipped with ASAS and landing floodlights, means this model will score high on efficiency and range. Requires Damned Aerospace and the floodlights from the Bigtrak mod. CK Scout Helicopter MkI A small, lightweight model for short range purposes, forgoing the weight of an ASAS unit while being nimble enough to be landed by any reasonably skilled pilot. Required Damned Aerospace and Damned Robotics parts.

It sure ain\'t pretty, but that thing flies a treat. My only (very slight) dislike is that it doesn\'t turn when you bank, it just leans. I also note that ASAS is far more effective than the avionics unit, which led to me checking their configuration files and discovering they are setup entirely differently. I\'ll get to it configuring a chopper-specific ASAS. Any thoughts on what part to use? I was thinking a Mk1 to Mk2 adapter piece, as I\'m fond of the Mk2 look. Same weight and specs (aside from handling mods) as an ASAS otherwise.