zarakon

A while ago someone posted a really neat tutorial for how to pack a bunch of components like probe cores, RCS fuel, etc. in the hollow spaces of the large SAS module or decoupler The actual post probably got wiped out in the forum purge.. does anyone remember how to do it? I can't remember the tricks, and in just screwing around I'm not finding anything that works as cleanly

Same! If you can actually do this with either of the included Firespitter planes, I will be thoroughly impressed

Almost! Managed to clear gate 7 cleanly for the first time, but then of course I flubbed the finish Also I flew this at 1/2 speed, then sped up the video to make it look normal. Baby steps... I'll get it done for real eventually The plane is 20 parts. All stock except for the engine at the back, which is the 48-7S from KSPX (stack version of the 24-77). I have an LV-1 mounted on the nose that I can use to slow down while flying.

I started back when there were not nearly as many parts (no planes, no probes, not much structural) so it was much more simple to pick up. Also there was no Mun yet, so orbiting or escaping Kerbin were the only 2 things to really do. Getting to the Mun and other planets I figured out as they added them, so my pace has really just been dictated by the pace of updates to the game These forums have been the best resource. Youtube taught me a few things. Trying out challenges in the Challenges forum has definitely improved my skills

Well, I can get through the whole course, aside from always losing a fin at gate 7 Now I just need to succeed while recording!

Turbojet engines are hard-limited to 2400 m/s I think, which is not enough to get to the Mun

A few things I learned while trying this: 1. The course is laid out over an area that is very small for normal plane speeds. You do not need or want a lot of speed. Any higher than ~35m/s in most cases and you'll have a really hard time trying not to overshoot the next goal. You pretty much just want to accelerate to liftoff then glide most of the course, so you need very little fuel or thrust - just a lot of lift so you can glide nicely at low speeds. 2. Lots of sharp turns, small goals, and little time to line yourself up means that you can't afford to have your plane slipping around. I think you want a very high wing-to-mass ratio so that your direction of movement follows where your nose is pointing very tightly. Make sure all of your control surfaces and wings are symmetrical around the center of mass so that your yaw doesn't induce roll, your roll doesn't induce yaw, etc. 3. Although you need a lot of wings, you also want your plane to be tiny. One of the goals is so small that you can barely get through it using just tailfins as wings around a small probe-size body. I've been able to get all the way to the tiny goal without crashing, skipping goals, or looping around. Not only is it tiny, it's in a spot where it would probably be the hardest one even if it was normal sized.

Two questions: 1. Where's your completion video? 2. Can I use a probe? Tried it yesterday, but unfortunately it makes KSP crash as soon as I start video recording

Dynamic Warp doesn't change the game physics. It doesn't work by the same mechanism as the in-game physics warp. Physics time step increments remain the same, they just get calculated less frequently (or more frequently, if you use it to accelerate). So if you slow time to 1/4, you're reducing the load on your CPU to 1/4, allowing it to run much more smoothly

Dot so that I remember to try this one of those rings looks really tiny though

Yep, having your ship mostly made of near-empty solid boosters is how I was winning the original version of this thread, up until people started abusing RCS The challenge is stock parts only, but is it OK to use mods like Mechjeb for automatic staging, or Dynamic Warp to play in slow motion (and alleviate lag issues)?

well i made a micro launcher and probe that can probably get anywhere in the system and back to Kerbin the problem is the hour-long ion burns

KSPX would be nice, since it adds a good number of micro parts

Alright, did it again, with no dumb mistake this time

Well, I made it in 0:48:24 with plenty of fuel to spare (click for full size) Leaving base Sunrise Approximately half way View of the crater Sunset Approaching KSC Landed on the runway (click for full size) But near the end when I was checking my progress on the map screen, my altitude went over 25000 for a moment. Oops!

yeah, the thread got lost in the forum thing, and I don't think DEADBEEF is around anymore

3:28, same plane as before (stock, no mechjeb) in one attempt I actually broke two engines (left and center) by landing way too hard on the gravel runway, and still made it back by around 3:45 with just the rightmost engine

(click for full size) 3:49 all stock

Any chance you could post that craft file? It looks nice

and this must all be destructible

Real rocket engines generally can't throttle all the way from 0% to 100%. Often there is no throttle control at all, just on or off. Real engines can usually only be restarted a limited number of times, or not at all.

Avionics nosecone is basically the same as ASAS, but without the I part of the PID controller. It resists change without trying to actually go back to its original position, so you can still steer the plane. On small planes, it's very effective at preventing oversteering

With 2 ram intakes and some throttle management, you should be able to get that up to almost 2000 m/s and circumnavigate Kerbin at 30+km altitude When the engine flames out, immediately kill the throttle (x) then throttle it back up to slightly lower than it was when it flamed out. You can get a lot more speed and altitude by repeating this until you're running on nearly zero throttle

Here's how I like to do it: First, allow part clipping (ctrl+alt+shift+F12). It can be done without this, but it makes it easier Start by building one in an easy spot: Move it down to the sides, enabling mirror mode: Add nosecones behind if you want it to look nicer

I would say get rid of those scoop air intakes and use ram intakes instead. They will let you fly much higher/faster/farther, especially on Laythe where the air is thinner and there are big distances between islands