Skyhawk

A question: did you get a screenshot of the end flight/F3 log? It will tell you what your maximum airspeed overland is, even if you didn't screenshot it. Im jusat curious, because it would be neat to have a competitor who is close to my score. Nice job with 4,008, but I wonder if you beat me in 'Highest speed over land', which is standard for the Machingbird challenge.

Well, this thing seems to be a jack of all trades, and it looks legal according to the rules, (although you may want to put it in a new category) so: (It went so fast it tore itself apart) I call it the hummingbird. 4,118 m/s. Mach 12.

I'm sorry, but I sort of shattered your Machingbird record with my vehicle, which was an improved versoin of your design. 4,118 m/s. I've posted it both here on page 3 and also on the Machingbird thread.

Are we allowing probes? If so, I would like to enter the Hummingbird, a lighter, faster vehicle based on AgentPaper's design. You simply take off, eject the gear, and repeatedly mash the buttons until it starts breaking the sound barrier and/or itself. Here's a condensed version of what I posted to the Machingbird challenge: Here's a shot of it decelerating after it ripped apart at top speed: And here's the speed ( I look at over land speed like the Machingbird challenge does): 4,118 m/s. Mach 12.1

I actually went to Duna twice before I went to Minmus, even though I only sent probes to Duna (1 ship with a rover and another containing 7 individual probes). I guess I just wanted to try out rover wheels and interplanetary transfers, and just didn't care about Minmus.

So, we found a Duna one, we found an Eeloo one, how many more will we find? Do you guys think they're all based on space engine planets, or just some?

It would be nice to have a list of information on planets, especially gravity and air resistance/atmospheric thickness.

I use it a lot for when I'm doing maneuvers over large parts of space and when I'm doing SOI transitions so i don't miss a node or miss a capture.

I actually managed to get a glider based on yours up to Mach 12 (4,118 or so m/s) which I entered in the Machingbird challenge, by lightening it and adding some small wing surfaces in close proximity. How'd you manage to stick surfaces on surfaces?

I named mine 'Tritium Aerospace' because Tritium is a cool substance and I really like the word 'Aerospace'. I also have a flag that's supposed to be a tritium atom.

The Hummingbird: Unmanned, stock, infini-glide. So, I decided that I liked the flapping wing design, and decided that I would try something like that (I've tried jets before, and just couldn't do it). Be forewarned that I would not in any way feel bad if you decided to call it cheating, as I don't even know how this infini-glider got up to such a ridiculous speed. I am not using any mods, I am not using the debug console, and I am not editing any part values. All the numbers here I achieved (however briefly) in stock KSP. So here we go: The Hummingbird was a craft I built for this challenge. It was an unmanned flapping wing design, with 1 wheel and a ton of small control surfaces bolted to the back wing. I just placed them on there with stock KSP, I didn't use clipping to do this. Here's a screenshot of runway and early flight. I took off and then ejected the one wheel via a decoupler. After attaining a small amount of altitude, I began to mash my 'w' and 's' keys quickly. So quickly, in fact, that the control surfaces would tear off, but not before some satisfying mach effects. I took the previous screenshot after it had started to decelerate, which only lasted a few seconds. I didn't see too much of the speed as I flew, and was shocked by what I found in the flight log: 4,118 m/s I went to a converter online, an it told me this was equivalent to mach 12.1. I also included a picture of the debug console, to try and prove that I didn't use part clipping. I don't know how you'll classify this, but if you decide to put it on a leaderboard, I do believe that it's the fastest atmospheric vehicle in this challenge, though not entirely following the laws of physics. I just put it out here to see, as I was absolutely shocked by the results. Also, I apologize for the resourced tab being closed, but there really weren't any resourced to be seen, so I don't think it matters.

After the some-what success of Tritium Aerospace's Astatine project (which it is now taking credit for, in a plea deal with its scientists), Tritium Engineers set their sights to the heavens, mainly, that big blue rock in the sky: Minmus. They quickly constructed a new vehicle to launch 1 lucky kerbal into the void of space, and onto the frozen tundra of Kerbin's second moon. The Regal 1 was then rolled out to the launchpad, and an eager Desbree Kerman climbed into the capsule and waited for launch. The Regal 1 rocketed higher and higher, until it eventually reached orbit, with only a little fuel to spare. Satisfied with how things were going, Desbree calmly detached the lift stage and plotted a burn for Minmus. A short time later, Desbree had burned out to Minmus, gotten into an orbit, and still had half of the fuel left in his transfer stage. Since Desbree felt no reason to waste this fuel, he decided to use it for his descent to Minmus, with the plan of separating it from the lander just before he touched down, then gently bringing the lander onto the surface. This plan, however, would rapidly change during the descent. He began to burn retrograde, aiming to put his rocket down on the icy lake below. Since he had so much extra fuel, he decided to be lazy and completely stop his horizontal motion. This meant that he only had to focus on vertical speed on the ride down to landing. Just before touchdown, Desbree noticed he was going much to fast to land. He throttled the engine all the way up, praying to Jeb that the engine would save him. He closed his eyes and counted down to impact... ..which as it turned out, wasn't very hard at all. The NERVA strapped to the bottom separated, but didnt explode, and the ASAS combined with capsule torque managed to keep the main body of the spacecraft upright, safe and secure. The drive stage fuel tank provided the base of the new craft, making the poor landing legs feel bad that they came all the way for nothing. Happy to be alive, Desbree Kerman exited via EVA pack, and made a mental note to remind the engineers to add a ladder on the next one. He landed a few meter away from the Regal 1 and planted his flag, calling the site "Desbree's First Landing". He intended to lift the lander off and land somewhere else, but decided against it after calculating his fuel costs. Before he left, however, he paused to take some inspiring pictures for his friends back home. After that, Desbree picked up a small rock off the ground, called it mission complete, and headed home. He quickly burned out of Minmus' sphere of influence and headed home. After a short adjustment to bring down his periapsis, he separated from the lander stage and prepared for his descent. Depressed, the unloved lander legs crashed into Kerbin, the only surface the would ever touch. Desbree's capsule came in at an fairly steep angle, quickly burning through the atmosphere, showing bright re-entry effects and even mach effects on the way down. Still, Desbree managed to safely deploy his parachute and safely land in the ocean. Desbree was picked up moments later by a waiting boat and taken to shore, where he boarded the next plane to KSC. When he arrived, he found that his fellow Kerbonauts had planned a suprise party for him, complete with a radioactive cake that Jeb had cooked with a NERVA. Desbree was a hero, the first kerbal to land on Minmus, and he was paraded down the runway, surrounded by his fellow astronauts, while one kerbal carried a recording of clapping on the side to simulate a crowd. The scientists were overjoyed with their rock they acquired, and were preparing to study it when a clumsy member of the team dropped it in a pile of gravel. That member was quickly sentenced to the next test flight going out, and after that would have to sift through all the rocks in the pile to recover the sample. The broken NERVA and transfer stage continue to sit on Minmus, silently keeping watch over the frozen tundra.

Disappointed by the cancellation of their project, the engineers of the Radon project got together one night to create a new vehicle. This vehicle would be better than the radon project, with redesigned separating sections and better engine pods. They labored long and hard on a design, working after hours for months and secretly using Tritium Aerospace's almost unlimited funding for their own research. One Saturday morning, they met in secret to test their project. One of the conspirators, Samguard Kerman, volunteered to fly the vehicle. Samguard, excited for the new plane, was not only testing the Astatine's flight capabilities, but also the new push button staging system. The system would allow him to simply push a numbered button to advance him to the next stage of the flight. Samguard simply pushed one to fire up the turbojets, and the airplane started rolling. He rammed the throttle all the way forward, but the aircraft either didn't accelerate fast enough or simply had wings that were too small, but Samguard only got a few hundred meters off the runway before running into the ground and exploding. Fortunately for the scientists, residents near the space center were used to explosions, and didn't think anything of a couple extra booms in the morning. The scientists, at that point not knowing the cause of the crash, simply rolled out a second test vehicle, the Astatine Mk. 2, and blamed it on the ASAS. The new pilot, Bartrey Kerman, was a bit nervous about being told to fly a vehicle that was designed to fall apart, but he held a minor role in its design, and felt pressured to see it through. He therefore climbed in the capsule that fateful day, and began his preflight checks. He too pressed the '1' button, and his plane began its run. Unfortunately, he never made it into the sky. The plane couldn't gain altitude. Bartrey fired the rocket engine in hope of lifting it somehow, but it was too little, too late, and it crashed into the ocean only a few hundred meters past the wreck of Samguard. The scientist were then scattered by Tritium employees, who had noticed the unauthorized testing from cameras on a station that was passing overhead. The scientists reconvened that night in a workshop on the disused island, revising their plan. They added more wings and wing surfaces, and though they considered robotic testing, they never went through with it, for fear of contaminating Kerbin with broken RTG's. Over the next week, they would build it in small pieces in their spare time, and came together to assemble it on another Saturday morning, this time when a station wasn't overhead. The Astatine Mk. 3, as they called it, had a greatly redesigned front wing surface, as well as major additions to the rear wing. They were more confident in this design, and they put it on the runway. The new test pilot was Nelfrod Kerman, a relatively young pilot who had joined the project only a few days ago. Despite being a newbie, he was chosen for his excellent ability to pust numbered buttons in the "Kerbal Numbered Button Pushing Simulator" at Tritium Aerospace's crew facilities. He stepped into the cockpit, and did what he was trained to do: push button number 1. He sped down the runway, and the new wing surfaces worked. The craft lifted off with about 100 meters left on the runway, and he climbed into the sky. Delighted that it had gone so well, he then proceeded on to the second part of the flight: pushing button 2. Because of the previous failures, this was a system that had never been tested before, and all scientists squealed in delight when the landing gear ejected perfectly, crashing into the glassy sea below. Nelfrod quickly pulled up to a high angle, climbing into the sky. He quickly went over 10,000 meters, and as the air got thin, decided to remove the wings. He reached out, and with a steady hand, pressed the number 3. This action simultaneously shut down the turbojets and ejected the wing surfaces. Ejecting the wing surfaces separately from the engines proved to be a wise choice, preventing the engines from ramming into anything important. After waiting for the engines to shut down, Nelfrod was ready for button 4. The jets separated smoothly, also igniting the rocket engine at the same time, which boosted the capsule into a sub-orbital trajectory. Nelfrod Kerman went to space today. Nelfrod decided to burn until he was projected to land over on the other side of the sea. He then separated his capsule and prepared to re-enter. *Cue re-entry slideshow* Upon landing, Nelfrod quickly exited his capsule, out of worry it would roll down hill, only to find that the ship was actually fairly stable. So he planted a flag instead, naming the place "Nelfrod Cliff". Upon confirmation of landing, all the scientists at the space center cheered, celebrating their success, before being arrested by Tritium Aerospace Security Staff, who promptly carted them off to jail for misusing company funds. Still, they got their flight data, and now had a lot of time to look over it. A final tribute to all the Kerbals who lost their lives in the Radon and Astatine programs: Milden Kerman Archibald Kerman Rosen Kerman Samguard Kerman Bartrey Kerman May they rest in peace.

The only flaw was that it has a minor tendency to completely explode/spin/fall apart on separation. I loved the plane, but it just didn't work.

Yeah, it was disappointing. I do have an urge to revisit the concept now, though, so I may have a part two soon.

It started off as what seemed like a good idea at the time: let's build a spaceplane! But without all the fiddly things, like landing capability! So Tritium Aerospace set it's finest engineers to work on solving the problem, and came up with an innovative solution: The Radon Spaceplane! The idea was simple: once we're in space, we don't need tons of extra mass like wings, so why don't we just remove them in flight? The Radon was designed in such a way that just before the engines flamed out, decouplers would fire and remove these unnecessary wings. After that, a rocket motor would fire and boost the capsule into a sub-orbital/orbital trajectory. The plane was constructed and put on the runway. Milden Kerman was chosen to be the first test pilot, and boarded the aircraft with a slightly nervous feeling, though he tried to be confident. He released the brakes, throttled up and began rolling down the runway, but a quarter of the way through, his wings started to collapse under the strain, and his aircraft rolled off the runway and exploded, tragically killing him. The cause of the accident was determined to be a bad connection between the wings and the fuselage, and some reinforcement was added to those connections. This time, Archibald Kerman was loaded into the test craft, and he seemed sort of excited by the new ship. He sped down the runway, but on takeoff, he pulled up too high, stalling the aircraft, causing flameouts by the blocked intakes, and smashing back into the ground. All tests were halted until an accident report was issued. The report found that the cause was pilot error instead of structural failure like the previous craft, and so the tests were allowed to proceed. The next pilot chosen to fly the aircraft was Rosen Kerman. Rosen, a relatively new pilot, had done outstanding in the simulator for the aircraft, and was then chosen to fly it. Rosen, however, suffered from worry, and lacked confidence in his vehicle after seeing the results of the previous tests. Still, he managed to take the plane off and climb toward the sky. As it came time to separate, however, things went wrong. Amazingly, his capsule managed to escape the disintegrating plane. Rosen then safely landed in the ocean. Things would continue to go wrong for Rosen and the Radon. On one flight, the separation caused the vehicle to spin wildly and forced the separation of the capsule. On others, separation would go fine, but then programming errors caused stages to fire two at a time, accidentally separating the capsule. And finally, an unfortunate accident occured that drove the final nail in the coffin of the Radon program. Upon takeoff, the vehicle inexplicably veered of the runway. Rosen cut the engines and applied the brakes, but the front gear collapsed and destroyed the pod, killing Rosen and ending the Radon program. Casualties: Milden Kerman, RIP Archibald Kerman, RIP Rosen Kerman, RIP We honor all these Kerbalnauts for their sacrifice for the dream of space.

I tried to land a probe on Ike today. I had a 7-probe ship in orbit around Duna and decided to land a few on Ike. The landing went well, and my tripod probe had 2 units of fuel left. Then I realized I'd landed on a steep slope, and Ike is apparently quite slippery. It went sliding down the hill on its landing legs (I never thought of lifting off and landing again) as I prayed for it to come to a halt. Unfortunately, it hit a slight bump and flew off the ground before crashing back down, destroying all but the core and the parachute (It was made for a possible Duna landing). I had to sit and watch my poor probe bleed out (Run out of power) as it slowly died. I did manage to name it before it was completely gone...

Jeez that's huge. My computer would probably catch fire.

That's fantastic! I'd never get it of the runway/pad without smashing it to pieces, and if I could avoid that, it would tip for me at some point.

I cant make a VTOL or an SSTO, and a VTOLSSTO with rover is just insane.

Well, if it functions, it's good. At least it'll turn right without tipping. Thankfully there were 6 wheels instead of just 4 like my first rover.

I tried making a boat, then ended up having the mast screw up everything when it spazzed out and went through the bow. Also, I put my first interplanetary ship (a rover) on Duna.

Here's mine. Wish I hadn't put the wheels so low. Spent around 15 minutes once trying to flip it back up.