Bandock

I'll give this challenge a shot later. This should be very interesting.

Here are some of my past mishaps (some crazy and some not so crazy): Mishap 1 (Happened in 0.15): Originally, I was planning on a challenge for my Flairiet aircraft to see how far you can return to the runway with no fuel. That plan certainly went a bit awry as I was beginning to drop a bit too much and lack the necessary power to even return. Fortunately, I managed to land on a small island several minutes later (went on for an estimated 20-30 minutes without fuel). Not so bad if you're closer to the runway a bit, but I was definitely too far with this mishap. I probably should've used a real glider for this one. Mishap 2 (Happened in 0.15 mainly): After some time getting to close to orbit, I jettison the first stage and pressed 'space' again to activate the next (with throttle on max). Certainly wasn't a smart idea (especially when the engines are still apparently stuck together or real close) and caused one of the engines to blow up. Fortunately, I had spare engines and even another stage to utilize (though can't travel as far due to one engine being destroyed). It definitely helps to have spare engines similar to real mishaps or failures. Mishap 3 (Happened in 0.16): During EVA on the Mun, I had one Kerbal (forgot which one it was) explore the Mun and make nice photo shoots. I found a relatively interesting Mun mountain (not the Mun Arch mind y'all) along with some interesting areas and make haste. That was a huge mistake because that poor Kerbal lost control of his EVA Suit and eventually died upon crashing on to the Mun. Sent another one (since it was a three-kerbal lander) to try to explore that same area. Fortunately, he survived and decided to make a return home (with one death). It was either Angry Kerman (yes, that name exists) or one of the other Kerbals who died that faithful day. :| I'll provide more mishaps if I have anymore to offer.

MechJeb I have found after some usage can be quite handy for even manual maneuvering as you get additional information that normally would require calculating by hand. Have not used any form of auto-piloting from MechJeb as of right now, but did use the information features as stated in my first sentence to be handy. It is very likely we'll need some form of auto-pilot for at least tasks like orbital rendezvous (considering you have to know where the orbiting objects are at, even without a map!), reaching the moon, returning to the space capsule from a lunar module upon rendezvous, etc.

I have not used MechJeb yet to this day since I like to do things manually. However, I have thought about using it to obtain orbital information, but still pilot the rocket by hand. And about the less throttle meaning less fuel deal, it is definitely a bug. Unfortunately, it is unavoidable until the 0.17 update comes along as some people use less throttle to be more precise at orbiting. Mainly, I'm still trying to perfect orbit rendezvous with another rocket (skill will be necessary in the near future or now if you're doing rescues). Of course RCS is handy for that sort of thing also. And want a good example of the bug; look at some people reaching Kerbol's Sun with very little fuel.

There are still cases I have failed Mun landings due to poor landing spot choices or landing too much on the dark side of the Mun. For anyone out there, it is best to choose a spot where there is plenty of light or else you might end crashing while trying to land when a side of the Mun is extremely dark.

I could do that, but I rather have limited fuel to learn from mistakes and use it for a proper rally.

Yeah, I thought the same thing in reference to the bug that causes very little fuel consumption. Gives me a chance to practice rendezvousing with orbital objects though, since my skills with that are still not perfect yet.

Ah, alright. Yeah, I been training on how to properly maneuver near objects in space anyway. So, I haven\'t had the chance to check the persistence file.

Congratulations on landing on the Mun for the first time! Yeah, I remember all there was available to aid in landing was ASAS (which still required some control), SAS (if you want controlable SAS), or completely manual. I also remember needing to use winglets to land if depending only on stock parts (which made it very tricky if untrained unless you perform the necessary training). Hopefully in the near future, we will be able to create special landers that act as payload to the point we can return to (or least bring near) the actual rocket (provided you know how to bring it up close to the rocket). With that in mind, it could enable even more interesting training since it is a way to learn how to dock (which is not built-in yet). One of the tasks that would need to be done is to utilize RCS or liquid rocket engines (RCS is probably best to prevent screwing up) so you can properly bring the kerbals back. One interesting condition for that though is that you may eventually need a multi-crewed command module rocket to even attempt such a feat (unless you got a remote controlled rocket ). Anyway, nice job on the landing.

That is why I\'m trying to practice making reentries that induce fewer Gs (I\'ve gotten a few safe ones between 3G-5G about.). Another thing I\'m practicing is making safer returns from the Mun (to perform reentry) in the case high-Gs start killing kerbals as well as reentry burns. It is definitely worth it to be patient in the near future.

Know what? This gave me an idea after reading about this challenge on how to deal with allowing spare seats for rescue missions. I was contemplating about that earlier, but reading this thread has actually got me to think on how to do it too. Edit: It appears that creating miniature habitations is possible. Heck, you can even establish a miniature moonbase and walk around (or hop around)! That and true miniature space stations!

Thanks Corona688. Being my fastest aircraft out of any one I built so far (my second fastest achieved close to or a bit over 600 m/s); that is why I plan to allow others to use this design for a future challenge I plan to put up (still under planning).

Yes, this will now be my second publicly released aircraft (though I have built others and even built a few rocketplanes). When this aircraft is first used, it may lean towards the front a bit. However, you will lift off with no problems (as long you are gentle). This is my first publicly released design to use canards (though I have used them in test aircrafts) as well as hardpoints. These are the screenshots of what the design looks like (using spoiler tags as done before to prevent it from eating up the page): I might also do a challenge sometime due to the fact I actually had an interesting experience with it. One flaw y\'all might notice is that there are too few fuel tanks to make around the world trips (on Kerbin of course). However, it is still great to fly around. In terms of landing, I was able to land with no problems. The design is also provided in the post for those who want to play with it or even tweak it to grant it more fuel. As stated earlier, I might even create a challenge surrounding the use of this craft.

Is it too late for me to participate now? (Just to see how well my attempt works.)

When 0.16 comes out where Jet Fuel and Rocket Fuel are separated, I\'ll participate in this challenge unless I build a Rocketplane like a few others on here.

I\'ll give hardpoints a try for landing gears in future air/space plane designs. Might make it easier to install landing gears. Edit: Now I see how they work. I thank you for that advice sss. ;D

After so many crashes, failed landings, and anything else that happened, I have come to present my first truly functional spaceplane (non-orbital, so more like a working airplane). The Flairiet! After studying some information from online sources and Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Yes, the latter also contains information about parts of certain aircraft), I was finally able to achieve a pretty stable flight (though too much rolling can still have a bit of stability issues if not careful). You can even land with it as long proper care is taken. Due to a lack of any avionics package, you may need a bit of skill at landing this craft. However, not too much skill is required. ;D Thought I would go ahead and also share the craft design for those who want to study from it or even tweak it.

Now, that is one impressive landing.

Thank You Capt\'n Skunky. I\'ll make sure to have a great time here.

Thank you very much sal_vager. I\'ll make sure to experiment with space planes and other aircraft design when I get access to the paid version. ;D

Yes, I played with the Kerbal Space Program demo since February 2012 after first encountering a mention of it on a website called Megagames. I decided to go ahead and visit the main website for the game download. First time I played with it of course, I went through the built-in tutorial (twice or three times to better understand certain concepts) and built of course the basic rocket. First designs I developed independently of course were attempts to see how high I can go. Getting stuck in space forever can be quite fun. Next goal of course was to make it to the Mun. I actually tried this one on my own several times, but ended up either missing it most of the time or crashing into it (time warp related in some cases). The one time I did make to the Mun legitimately, I did not build a proper lander yet. It wasn\'t till I studied from trydyingtolive\'s Youtube tutorial (provided on the Wiki) that I begun training with a last stage design similar to his (with some later exceptions I used four winglets to try imitating some real landers as well as using a two fuel tank design). Another difference was I depended entirely on liquid fuel (instead of a mixture) to reach the Mun and make a successful landing. I got to say, learning to land took quite some time, but definitely was rewarding. I even later got to train without any kind of landers (though a very risky process which often resulted in destruction if not straight and required somewhere between 1-2 m/s to even land safely on a single engine.). That\'s about all for my story for now before I joined the forums successfully. And as a little treat, I made even a screenshot of a recent Mun landing (using demo version 0.13.3). And by the way, it was also one of my first true attempts to practice choosing a landing site by achieving munar orbit since I gained more practice with orbiting (as well as a bit of studying from another simulator\'s manual called Orbiter, which I assume y\'all know). Well, that\'s about it as stated. If I have any interesting experience (even when I get a chance to play with the paid version), I\'ll let y\'all know.