Assault Bunny

I give you my last great mission from .21, The BNY-LNG-34R! Destined for Laythe, it was also designed to drop probes around Jool and each of it's moons along the way. I'm particularly proud of the landing gear for the final landing stage, hidden under the decoupler truss for the engines that got it there Here's it's entire launch vehicle, all gone by the time it has achieved Kerbin escape velocity. Closeup of one of the probes. As it was designed before .22, it has both aerials and all science gear. And finally, proof I actually made it! Landed safe on Laythe with a nice view of Jool, though with the base on a slight angle. Sadly, there's little point redesigning this for SCIENCE!, as once again you'd need to have most of the tech tree unlocked to be able to build it. But, I still love the look of it, and I'm still proud of the hidden landing gear Variant A is the original craft minus Kerbal Flight Engineer, making it totally stock. Variant B Is the same thing again, but without the cubic struts on the decouplers, making it look much tighter.

It has occurred to me that putting science stuff on the Arrow is a touch useless, since you'd need most of the tech tree unlocked anyway just to build it... I think that's the biggest flaw with the tech tree right now; once you've done enough to get all the parts you want, there isn't anything else to do

<shameless bump> Any takers on finessing the Arrow design?

That is indeed part of the inspiration I decided to cheat to get the screenshots: The Longbow MkIII with docked Arrow. In atmo (with gravity off) it doesn't pitch very well... Bonus pic: The escape capsule, which I found out got the action grouping bug so only one engine activates.

I actually just tried to get those said screenshots. Seems I don't quite have the knack for flying spaceplanes, so I can't reliably get the Arrow into orbit. (Feel free to help with the design!) So I turned on infinite fuel and hard burned all the way, got into a rendezvous, and managed to dock successfully. Then the SAS started freaking out, so I turned it off, and the Arrow cockpit flew off for some unknown reason Will try again later once I've had some food.

So I guess things changed a bit since I last launched the Longbow, since I couldn't get it into orbit again. So here's an upgraded version with a slightly better launcher: http://www./?w5z4qyb45fzogf8

EDIT: I'm now officially asking for help tweaking the Arrow's design, in particular to assist with the atmo-space transition. Latest variants (not fully tested): Arrow MkIII and Longbow MkV Updated for .22, it's my combo SSTO spaceplane-and-rover-in-one! The Arrow! Now with SCIENCE!! It can be quite difficult to get into orbit, but it can reach there. And once it does, it can dock with it's sister ship, the Longbow! The Arrow is able to land vertically (on the Mun at least), then drop down onto it's wheeled landing gear. The front wheel can then be lowered to allow the rover wheels to gain traction, allowing the entire craft to act as a rover! One problem is you can't stop the control surfaces from moving, so turning while in rover mode can be an issue in atmo. Also due to some of the parts used it can be a rather late-career ship. The Longbow is essentially an engine booster the Arrow plugs into, and can refuel from. It has additional ports (all shielded, cause they look cooler) for docking refueling craft, lighting for making it's docked Arrow look pretty, and an emergency escape vehicle if for some reason things go horribly wrong, but that could never happen, right? Also comes with a launcher (not single stage). If it breaks apart on the pad, or partway into orbit, just reset and try again. It'll work eventually Make sure to launch with no pilot! Action groups! 1: Arrow jet engines toggle 2: Arrow rocket engines toggle 3: Arrow front landing wheel toggle 4: Arrow ladders and docking port shields toggle 5: Arrow landing strut toggle (so you can stow them and not the wheels!) 6: Longbow landing strut toggle (to help secure the Arrow for interplanetary flight) 7: Longbow docking ports (the central ones for the Arrow) undock and shield toggle (should also be Arrow docking ports undock, will fix in next iteration) 8: Longbow solar panels and outer ladders toggle 9: Longbow engines toggle 0: Arrow rover wheels steering and motor toggle ABORT: Launches the escape vehicle, and toggles it's ion engines and solar panels More pictures, and craft files here(Arrow) and here(Longbow) --ORIGINAL VERSIONS, OUT OF DATE! Feel free to post thoughts, suggestions, test flights (I'm not the best plane pilot, haven't tried landing on Kerbin yet...), etc.

Inspired by a previous mostly failed spaceplane design that began to glide, land, and take off again in atmo, all after it ran out of fuel, I decided to mess around in the editor to see if I could make a glider. This somehow led to me making this, quite possibly the simplest plane ever: And yes, it flies, and is quite controllable, if sluggish. Stupidly fast too. Also, not a glider.

Indeed, making a plane is pretty easy. Making a space plane is the tricky part. Craft files for both craft are here, btw: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/26501-Outsourcing-my-troubleshooting?p=348769&viewfull=1#post348769

Well, I've discovered landing correctly is quite difficult. Also that the pilot module by itself can dance HoY, I also have 2 of the large propellant tanks on top of the orange fuel tanks. In terms of how the fuel drains in the Arrow, I'm not entirely sure, but everything feeds from the two long rocket tanks. I'm fairly sure the CoM shifts down during flight, probably forwards too. In any case, feel free to change any of the wings apart from the deltas, and possibly the tails fins on top. I've also had a thought to add a third landing strut along the belly, to help with the hard landings I'm having, though I still haven't tested out the rest of the Arrow's functionality.

Citizens, rejoice! That's right, I finally managed to get the Arrow into orbit, and even rendezvous with the Longbow! It could still use a lot of work though. I had to expend almost all the Arrow's fuel to get it there, which to me is a very inefficient design, so I'd very much appreciate it if someone could improve things a little. Current version has replaced the old one, so the previous link still works. Now to refuel from the Longbow and see if the other aspects of the Arrow actually work, like Mun landing, roving, and taking off again.

Good news everyone! The Longbow MkII has been successfully launched, and is currently sitting in a stable orbit at ~300km! http://www./?zfu89wu4hn7vb1z (launcher included) Was a little hairy getting it there. After breaking atmo I dipped all the way down to 40km on Pe, but thankfully I'd built up enough speed that Ap was still around 280km by the time I hit vacuum again. Still, it's up there now, and with plenty of fuel still, though I might send up a tanker to top it up Now I just need to get the arrow flying right. Current iteration seems to do alright till it gets near the jet ceiling, then it starts dipping the nose down, even with RCS on. If I could keep it level I might be able to build up enough speed then swing it to almost vertical once I switch to rockets. KSP could possibly use a wind tunnel. Anyway, here's the Arrow if someone feels like tweaking: http://www./?lbgq1tkt6cwtn3h

Well, after adding a few intakes, I managed to get it to space. I ran out of fuel beforehand though, so I wasn't able to get a stable orbit. This might work if I add a few more fuel lines... Of course, this means I'll need the longbow, or some other refuelling device, to get it even as far as the Mun. *sigh*

That's why I added the radials. I got it up to flameout height for the jets and switched to the rockets with no problems, but either I just suck at piloting or it didn't have enough thrust to get much higher. Should I try slapping on a few more intakes to try and get it higher on jets?

I've fixed the rocket stage stability issues with the addition of two tiny radials just above the CoM at the back of the craft: http://www./?lbgq1tkt6cwtn3h I also moved around the wing solar panels for aesthetics. It flies pretty good now, though a bit less stable than I'd like, but at least the ASAS isn't going all foamy like with the Dragunov. Now the only problem is I can't seem to get it to orbit. Little help?

Current version of the Arrow: http://www./?lbgq1tkt6cwtn3h Stable flight up till I need to switch to rockets, then starts yawing once I have. Just a matter of fuel distribution at this point I think. Also the center jet seems to run out of fuel faster *shrug* Anyway, if someone could do some magic with the fuel lines, I think I might be in business here.

How does one hyper edit?

Well, three prototypes in, I have ditched the inline ports. Too much trouble for not enough good looks. I have now reached a (mostly) successful model, which I call the Arrow (since it goes in the longbow): http://www./?lbgq1tkt6cwtn3h It's still a touch unwieldy to fly, still working out the kinks, but it goes pretty much straight so far. Took a lot of fiddling, but I modified the Longbow MkII and got them to fit together perfectly http://www./?zfu89wu4hn7vb1z I've yet to try to hack gravity and fit them together on the ground, but there hasn't been too much wobble from the wing structure so far. If it gets bad once the two craft are joined, I'll reinforce it then. Feel free to fiddle

Slight problem with the first new prototype; seems inline clamps don't like being near anything. Open the doors, plane wiggles and bends, then snaps back into place. Close the doors, plane explodes. Hmm...

That would be a great way to do it, but I want to use the inline docking clamps and the shielded ports, which of course can't be opened in the editor for some reason, and the inline clamps don't seem to have a size equivalent piece. Also, managed to fix the bottom section by turning off angle snap on the connecting strut, thus making me facepalm myself. Also, where am I supposed to have the CoM and CoL on a spaceplane?

I assume it's fuel balance problems, since I can't tell after it's left the hanger. So after several hours, I present the Longbow MkII! http://www./?zfu89wu4hn7vb1z I did build it in the spaceplane hanger, since it mirrored things far better, and it holds much less rocket fuel than the previous version, but it's much lighter. Also, this version comes with a 1 Kerman escape pod, complete with ion engine and parachute. Slight problem, the ion engine separates upon launch, but I can fix that easily. What I would like help with is getting the central bottom section to not be at a slight angle. Also now I need to make a new launcher, and possibly a new Dragunov that works more as intended.

Almost got the Dragunov to space, by manually controlling the fuel tanks in flight. It's supposed to be able to get to at least the Mun, land, and come back without having to refuel, and on my best run it had barely 1/4 of rocket fuel left, and even less jet fuel, and even then it didn't manage a stable orbit. And no, no flameout. I did get it to 20km, with far too much manual fiddling, but it's getting from there to orbit that's killing it. Just tried going back to the longbow launcher for a change of pace. It's still snapping in half on the final stage, despite now having a total of 8 laterally firing engines, but this last time it failed so hard it broke the game. Wouldn't let me end the flight, even when everything had smashed into the surface, except for one piece of debris which phased through the planet instead, orbiting around the core (at well over 10km/s at Pe) then up through the surface again. Had to alt-f4 just to end it. It's still almost impossible to control the longbow by itself. Sadly, I think I may have to finally admit defeat and start it all again. Possibly even the Dragunov too. *sigh*

I have two Comstar satellites in geosynchronous orbit. Well, almost, I've got one a little further out so it will eventually be positioned above space command. Also the Artemis 3, which I should point out is heavier, got to close Mun orbit and back. Of course I'm firing all three jets. Just tried another run with a steeper climb, this time I only got to 12km before uncontrollable spin, to the point it ripped itself apart.

I've tried pointing at 45, I've tried pointing higher so the direction's pointing closer to 45, wings level, rcs off, get to 14km up and yaw, yaw, out of control spin. Only mods I have are the sub-assembly loader and the flight engineer.

One would think a direction hold system would, you know, hold direction. I have no idea what FAR is, so I doubt I'm using it. I have no mechjeb, and the craft is entirely symmetrical. I don't even get to the point where I activate the rockets before it spazzes out.