GROOV3ST3R

Check the values of the lights you are using and put the full video up just so I'm sure what your problem is. I think you WERE in flash mode but something may have glitched out and you cycled again to interval mode. Watch this space - Aviation Lights are coming in as part of a larger mod pack soon EDIT: 0.4 can't ''flash like crazy'' because it will stay on for nearly half a second and then go off for another half.

I have B9 aerospace and plenty other mods, nothing conflicts with these lights AFAIK. Well, the first mode in the cycle is always going to be the Flash mode. Maybe you double-tapped it or something. I will test it out myself to see if it will work. EDIT: I can see the game on a 2nd monitor as I'm writing this and it all works fine here. Cycle goes through flash -> interval -> on -> off without a hitch. 0.05 flashes for strobe lights, all lights on a craft toggled at the same time but they all have different lengths of flashes and still they toggle without a hitch.

I think JDP may have messed something up because when I looked into the Source file, the values under the flashbasedswitcher were different to what they should have been - or how they were originally placed. Regardless, I did test the lights on my own after replacing the files and they worked for me. Are you SURE that the action groups you selected are correct? Because that looks an awful lot like the INTERVAL mode. Also, try 0.1 and see if that works. IT may be that the program doesn't like values lower than 0.1 but I wouldn't be willing to bet on that. EDIT: They work for me. Re-add the lights and try again, this time make sure that the action group is Flash, not Interval. It could have happened that you accidentally chose the wrong one.

That is great news I will be making use of that I wonder if there is anything else to add to these lights? lol

You need to really press the buttons and press them quickly. Sometimes they may switch too far - not sure why - but the sequence is and always will be OFF > Flash > Interval > ON since that is how they are programmed. Don't switch both O and P at the same time because that usually glitches as well If you are unsure which mode you are at, keep pressing until there is no flash at all for 2 seconds and then tap the button once to switch to flash mode. Strobes have the same modes as all other flashing lights. There is one program that defines the flash modes and each part can have it's own variables adjusted separately. Strobes will flash just like the regular lights and they will always do either 1 quick flash and pause or equal length on and off. There aren't any other options. @BIgnose: Hey can you PM me the values you set for each light now? I might want to adjust mine to that as well (Atm Im using either 0.15 or 0.1 for flashes)

Yay! Now we can irradiate our own planet even more efficiently I think to do that, you should disable the nerva altogether and just use it as decoration, focusing on running the spike. OR disable the damage but not sure how that would translate to overheating.

Well it won't be easy, but it can be easily done. I made a craft with 22 parts that can circumnavigate Kerbin practically twice on one tank. I could make a VTOL version of it But it is pretty small and light compared to this plane. That's the problem with KSP, it doesn't take overweight loads too kindly... I suppose you could haul Kerbals around the world using this plane but with a few tweaks such as more lift and radial ram intakes for even higher altitude flight. You should fly around 25-30km for really low drag and increased efficiency. Try this one: https://github.com/GROOV3ST3R/Craft/archive/master.zip I have modified it now, so that it has more landing gear and some control surfaces in the rear. It's pretty stable and can be easily dropped into water - if you are careful But I did find that when taking kerbals on EVA, they get stuck on the roof of the capsule. I don't think they like B9 command pods or even parts as they don't want to get up and walk Maybe it needs more ladders.

Well, actually, the problem isn't as bad as you think. The plane is fairly cumbersome and difficult to fly, but that does not mean it's not good for the cause. I would like to point out that at altitude tests, around 10ks above sea level the plane requires an INSANE angle of attack which slows it down a lot - and you are using high-altitude engines for the plane. I would suggest you replace the high-altitude turbofans with basic jets as they perform better at low altitudes. And you can make the plane stationary and hover it quite easily. If you can catch the moment where it is almost stationary and lock it with ASAS, then the whole thing becomes childs play. As for gaining altitude with vertical thrust - yes, that is a problem. It's basically the same if you place wings vertically on your plane - the game's dynamics are very crude, it's best to have wings facing in the directions they were meant to be facing Still, to actually take off and start gaining altitude without moving you only need to increase the throttle a little bit. Don't floor it because that will make it tricky (or even impossible). Besides, you can hover it and once you take off, just swing around and switch to plane-mode. Here is a version I modified: I was trying to do a water landing but I splashed down too fast and broke off all the engines xD Still, here's the craft file. https://github.com/GROOV3ST3R/Craft/archive/master.zip I changed the action groups so now group one toggles turbofans and group 2 toggles vtol engines. It's lighter and a bit more nimble. Only needs 6 vertical engines now and it should be more fuel efficient in the long run as the previous one was too heavy for it's own good. EDIT: Just managed to complete a successful water landing. the trick was to keep moving at about 26m/s whilst slowly gliding down with vtols on 85% and then at around 30 odd meters, pull the nose up and kill the remaining speed and VERY SLOWLY glide down to the surface - slowly as in less than 1m/s in vertical speed and less than 5m/s horizontal speed. I'm sure that you can vtol with this plane anywhere if you just practice

Sure thing Try the craft I posted with the last post. It flies very well, it's a good plane. I think it must have been the tilted engines causing the main problem with flipping over. It works pretty well now though And I too fixed the symmetry. Glad to hear that it is all working for you now anyway On the side: Here is a pic of one of my VTOL crafts: Hopefully, it will give you some inspiration - you can make really weird and wonderful planes that fly pretty good as long as you balance them right. And also, keep it as simple as it can be

That's just as well, since I managed to figure out what was wrong with it. Here are my findings: First off, I went in to inspect the craft. I found that the 4th set of VTOL engines was at an angle relative to the others. I didn't know whether that's accidental or on purpose. Upon closer inspection, it turns out the craft wasn't perfectly symmetrical. Not by much but I just wanted to point that out, you may have missed that very easily amongst all the other parts. Now, I checked the centres: I'm not entirely sure but It looked like the CoG was slightly off to the left. Nevertheless, I decided to test how it flies as it is. Here is the aftermath: The plane itself only needs 80% thrust to go light and if you push 85 it will lift off. But it was tilting backwards. I had my brakes on since that's what I do with VTOL craft. Note that it started to roll forwards on the ground before taking off. So I went back to SPH, turned the craft up-side down and replaced the tilted engines: Now, I decided to check whether the Centre of Gravity and Centre of Thrust line up right. To do that, I had to place a marker in form of an antenna over the COG, as it would shift forwards when I removed the jets: It looks like you did a pretty good job lining them up - although I think my engine placement was a bit off in relation to the original, I'll let you have the credit for the good work And success! It flies straight now. Don't overdo the throttle, keep it around 80-85% mark and you will be fine. Engines do overheat easily but there isn't much to be done about that. As an added bonus, I added some lights for myself (They aren't in the craft file though, so you don't need any other mods) Finally, I also added a new action group that activates only the rear-facing jets. Reason for that is, when you activate the jets, they need to spool up but when you deactivate them, they just drop dead straight away and cut all thrust. To avoid falling when transitioning between VTOL and Plane modes, you can now press 3 and then 1. I wanted to sub a craft file but I can't seem to find the option for it.. Hold on. EDIT: Here's a gitHub download link: https://github.com/GROOV3ST3R/Craft/archive/master.zip

I downloaded the pack prior to you posting the link Just gonna drop in and try it out Watch this space. Also, you can just Edit the post and manage Attachments - this lets you add a craft file to the post without having to upload it anywhere else

Alternatively, if you link directly to an image (an HTTP link that end in .jpg or .png) you can just do

You know what you could try? go to part.cfg and increase the gimball rating from 1 to 20 or more - just not more than 50. With those particular engines, they look like they were meant to gimball that far and you get a lot more control over pitch movement. It doesn't help much for the yaw and roll though. And to change RCS into ''jet thrusters'' all you need to do is copy the ISP curve over from the jet engine to the RCS thruster, increase output thrust SLIGHTLY (say that it is powered by the jet in your craft for example? It's not completely without reason ) and change the fuel from MonoPropellant to LiquidFuel. I did that and they work - although they might still work in space and that isn't ideal. Still, play about with cfg files, if you back everything up, you can't go far wrong On the side: You need to make absolutely sure that the centre of gravity is lined up with the axis of the craft - i.e. all parts are symmetric and you don't have any parts that give the plane a tendency to veer off either side. Also, when your craft is starting to lift off, throttle back. It needs more than 80% throttle but not 100% Often I had a similar problem with my VTOL planes - given too much thrust magnifies any stability issues and throws the plane out of balance. Try to start with throttle at 85%, see if you achieve lift-off, and if you do, throttle down a touch to stop or slow the vertical speed and hover a few meters above the ground - eventually you will learn to predict and counteract the movements and keep a stable-ish hover. Last point I wanted to make is that pretty much every vtol I ever made has a tendency to sway out of control if it's completely stationary. I do my best to line all the centers up, I even fine-tune the balance with landing gear and batteries but it can be hard keeping a craft in a stable hover over a fixed position. If you can try to inch forwards at 3-5m/s and see if the craft is any more manageable then. Avionics package helps too as it will actively try to negate yaw and roll whilst still giving you control over the craft in all axes and directions. This is why I prefer it on planes rather than ASAS. Drop a craft file in the original post and I will have a go with that plane to see if I can make it behave

I think you should try the Falcon II VTOL Engine and use either more RCS thrusters or modify the linear ports to run on jet fuel and exert more thrust. I find flipping of craft to be a common problem for me since my COG is usually vertically lined up with the centre of thrust. You can always add action groups that activate the engines AND gimballs at the same time - that might help - as will putting everything in a single stage. Maybe you should try spreading the engines out a little so they aren't all squashed up in the centre of the craft - it's like balancing a plate on a stick or on a pillar. I don't think it will, or it shouldn't make any real difference but you never know, it might make it more stable in some way.

I see you must've flown at full throttle for the most part. As a tip to future circumnavigators, try to use the MK2 parts. Reason for that is that KSP calculates drag as mass of the object x drag coefficient. If you look at the MK1 parts and compare them to MK2 parts, you will see that the MK2 weighs less and carries more fuel. This way you get an efficient craft with low drag, low mass and lots of fuel on board. I might be wrong but the craft I made could possibly navigate kerbin twice in one go.

KSP too dull for you? How about this: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/16925-PLUGIN-PART-0-19-1-Aviation-Lights-v2-0-%2814MAY13%29 Go on, add some flashing colors to your life

Thanks It's good to be back You're welcome to use any of the ribbons for the challenge

I have also done this challenge before the wipe In case you want proof, here it is: Flight stats: I overshot the runway so I actually had to circle around and come back for another go covering a few more KM's than normally. Single engine, 100% stock, no debug. I also decided to nudge the max altitude to 25.000 during flight, and it was a very tense moment but I made it without overshooting the 25km ceiling Top speed - 1467m/s - Mach 4.3 Also, I made that Elite Circumnavigator Ribbon Feel free to use it as a ribbon for this challenge, as it was intended for that very purpose. Here are various sizes: Glad to see Illatomatoes is using it already It's an improved version of this ribbon:

I'm glad you guys like it I couldn't have done it without Rich, he really helped me out here Watch this space, the lights will be included in a new upcoming multi-mod pack

I sent him some PM's nearly a month ago. I guess that's out. Hmm, I'll look into that channel, might strike lucky Thanks guys Still open for any other suggestions if anyone has any. EDIT: Managed to get hold of him on IRC Thanks

It may sound like a weird question or even topic of a general discussion but I wanted to contact him about a mod pack I am compiling. The problem is that he hasn't logged in since 19th April and there is no e-mail contact listed on his forum account. Does anyone know how to get hold of him? Any info is greatly appreciated, Jake

I think it would be more sensible for you to just make large, streamlined sections and connect them with triple docking ports and quantum struts in orbit. Any other approach is just asking for trouble, docking was implemented fora reason you know

Everyone above seems pleased so I ill give it a go too Sounds like fun

I got as far as being able to compile it and introduce a new flashing mode. But I am still trying to add a waiting period - so far, it just doesn't want to work with me.

I think all it does is add ''nonsensical chatter'' i.e. play noise every now and then. Personally I love it Don't think it goes as deep as RemoteTech though. Hey, Iannic, would you mind if I added that module to capsules for the ''pack''? That would ensure anyone would get Chatterer automatically