speedboiae86

Would love if you could a 3-d print of the Gradius Mk. VI. Check my forum posts to find it, or pm me and I'll send you a screen shot.

You know, I did sort of create a shuttle, albeit an SSTO shuttle... Going the completely opposite direction of what I usually build, I present the "Endeavour" Class Cargo SSTO Spaceplane Mk. V. Affectionately dubbed "Fat Bertha", she was designed to transfer crew between the space centre and orbiting stations in a single stage, and thanks to her new cargo bay, can carry station parts and payloads up to orbit. This shot shows it's final orbital delta-v statistics at an 80 km orbit more or less. If anyone's interested, I'll put up a craft file.

You should set your missiles to fire in linked pairs. It'd look way cooler, and they'd be more accurate. I'm a fan of fighters myself, mostly space fighters or SSTO variants. You should have a look at some of my threads. Should be easy enough if you just look up all posts made by me.

Just for laughs, I did an attempt at a Santa Sleigh, will post later today when I have more time.

Orbital Strike Class SSTO - Gradius Mk. VI-R - With the new update to KSP (0.23), a new dual mode air-breathing/closed cycle engine was brought out called the R.A.P.I.E.R. So naturally, I had to fit a few on to the Gradius.

So I thought to myself, how can I utilize the topside docking ports on the top of the Gradius? The answer... modular support units!! This is the first test of the Heavy Torpedo Assault Unit, similar to the Torpedo Assault Unit on the Phoenix Mk. XI. The heavy torpedoes consist of a stack separator, Jr. size docking port, a couple of structural girders, a couple of seperatrons twisted 5 degrees on either side, a small fuel tank, and a structural nose cone. The ballistic principle that the heavy torpedoes are designed with allow them to be quite accurate. Although not as a long range as the standard torpedoes on the fighter itself, they pack quite a punch when they hit. ::UPDATE:: Weapons test video uploaded. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5qT75VRFkQ

I don't know... and I really don't want to jump to any conclusions in this thread. This thread is for the Gradius, and I've seen other threads get locked for trying to figure out what happened to poor Macey. All I'm saying is, if you're out there Macey, and you're reading this, please give us some sort of sign that you're okay. You've left a giant hole in the community that none of can fill as well as you can.

I haven't tried yet, but signs point to no unless I can find a way to refuel the interplanetary engines. If I decided to land the Gradius on Laythe's surface, take off, and make orbit again, the answer would be a definite "no" without an interplanetary carrier ship to dock too. One could try, and believe me, I would love it if someone did. I'm sure there's a lot of pilots out there who are better than I am. I believe if someone did try to pilot the Gradius back to Kerbin from Laythe, the last leg of the journey would be on the ion drives and monopropellant.

So the latest test of the Gradius's Interplanetary stage has now confirmed, this fighter can now indeed reach Laythe with smart piloting. I took an exploratory trip out there last night, just a propaganda trip to low Laythe orbit mind you. Going over final schematics with the ascent stage. Liftoff!! Next stop, LKO. Enjoying a magnificent sunrise over Kerbin while cruising up to apoapsis. Firing up the Atomic engines on the interplanetary stage, escaping Kerbin's SOI. Hanging out in solar orbit, waiting for my optimal transfer window. 18 minute burn time? No sweat! High transfer orbit at Jool, on my way to Laythe. Sitting in low Laythe orbit, all the transfer fuel is nearly gone at this point, so it's time to eject. Interplanetary stage ejected, drinking deep in Laythe's violet serenity. Trip complete.

You do, my friend, you do... Man I wish he would come back. A lot of my designs are based off of his work. You'll notice the transfer stage is similar to the one used for the Isprit Squadron. If he ever comes back, I'm submitting this for the Spiritwolf side from Spartan 300 Industries. So... has anyone downloaded this and given it a test flight?

@KissShot Why thank you good sir. I do take much pride in my SSTO's. I've even given the Gradius Mk. VI it's own thread here in the Spacecraft Exchange forum. I've even developed a launch platform and interplanetary stage for it.

The interplanetary engines are attached via large structural I-Beams which are attached to decouplers on the wings. Launching with the interplanetary engines required me to strap a giant rocket underneath them and strut the hell out of it to keep the whole thing stable during the launch. If you want, I'll put up a download link for the interplanetary version. Launching that is pretty simple, just go up straight up until about 12.5 km, then gradually turn over to 45 degrees. By the time you're out of the atmosphere, build your apoapsis to 80x80, and you're good to go. The launch stage has more than enough fuel to get you to low kerbin orbit. ::EDIT:: Launch vehicle and interplanetary carrier download link added to OP.

It's simple, it's elegant, and it's beautiful, what more need there be to love it?

I've decided that this fighter is so freaking epic, it deserves it's own thread. This fighter is designed to reach orbit in a single stage, rendezvous with it's target, destroy it, and then de-orbit and return to base. It is able to reach deep space with it's solar powered ion drives, however, keeping power may be an issue. In atmosphere, it is powered by twin turbojet engines, and in vacuum, a single aerospike rocket engine. The craft also carries Xenon gas and solar powered ion drives, and RCS maneuvering thrusters for closing in on it's target. The design has been further improved with 4x COT Junior Hardpoints for docking service modules to the ship itself. This model is also equipped with 2 XCom communications jamming satellites which add an element of stealth to it's repetoire when they are deployed. SSTO Flight Profile: - Press "1" to activate Turbojets and "T" to activate ASAS. - Full throttle down the runway while pulling up, she will eventually lift her nose once she's at about 95 - 100 m/s. - Gently pitch up to 45 and climb. - Level to about 20-25 at 12.5km altitude, gently climb and build speed to 1300 m/s. - Once jets start to flame out at 27-28 km altitude (they'll give you lots of advance warning), press "2" to close the intakes and activate the aerospike engine. - Gently pitch back up to about 30 and climb out of the atmosphere, build apoapsis to 80km. - Plant maneuver node at Apoapsis and plan your orbit. - Coast to Apoapsis maneuver node, circularize your orbit. Here's a quick video showing a weapons test against an unmanned target drone. Test was for accuracy, not damage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUwoqn30iOo How to fire the missiles: First, deactivate the rocket engine and (if you have them on) the ion engines. After that, arm your missiles with 5, 7, and 9. Throttle up to 100%, and then press 6, 8, and 0 to fire them. They are extremely long range, you could probably bombard Duna's surface with them if you can get the launch trajectory right. I've set the engines so that the missiles will rotate when they are fired, making them more accurate. Now for the beauty shots!! With XCOM Communication Satellites activated while still attached to the ship. After deploying one of the XCOM Communication Satellites. After much research and development, a long range Interplanetary Vehicle and a Launch Stage have been developed, allowing the range of this ship to be increased exponentially!! The carrier for this was inspired by the carrier used for Due to lack of testing, it's current range is unknown, but based on the video comparison, it should be able to reach Laythe. As you can see, once your destination is reached, it's extremely easy to ditch the transfer vehicle and pull away. Control groups for the Gradius itself: 1 - Toggle Turbojets 2 - Toggle Intakes and Aerospike 3 - Toggle Solar Panels 4 - Toggle Ion Engines 5 - Arm first pair of missiles 6 - Fire first pair of missiles 7 - Arm second pair of missiles 8 - Fire second pair of missiles 9 - Arm third pair of missiles 0 - Fire third pair of missiles. Download link: Click here!! Gradius Mk. VI SSTO Requires Mechjeb. I'll upload a link to the carrier and interplanetary transfer stage if there is interest for it. ::EDIT:: Here's the link for the launching platform and interplanetary carrier stage for those who are interested in it.:Orbital Strike Class SSTO Gradius Mk. VI. Launch vehicle and interplanetary carrier stage.

I bet you could get that ship a lot further out if you used the LV-N Atomic Engines instead of Skippers or Mainsails.

Here's a few I've been working on as of lately... This first one I have dubbed the "Isprit Mk. VIII-T" It was designed as an orbital taxi, to get one VIP to orbit and on board a space station. Slightly air-hoggy with all those intakes, but then again, who here hasn't made "air-hoggy" SSTO's...? I've also armed it with 4 high velocity ballistic missiles. This next one was my first SSTO done in KSP 0.22's career mode, uncreatively named the "Science SSTO". Not quite so air-hoggy as my usually designs, but it does it's job nicely. These next two are SSI inspired, as I was trying to go smaller with my designs. The "Midge" Mk. V and the "Flying Flea" respectively. I love having Ion engines on my shuttlecraft SSTO's. "Midge" "Flying Flea" This next one has been my new "Pride and Joy", as I have been working on it quite extensively. My new "Strike Class Attack SSTO - Gradius" My first successful prototype was the Mk. IV edition, which was the first successful design to get into orbit. I wasn't 100% happy with the design yet though. Before it's first weapons test. Re-entry test. With the success of the Mk. IV, I decided that I wanted more intakes on the design, so the Mk. V came about. The Mk. V also featured more onboard RCS monopropellant and a bottom mounted spotlight for lighting up it's targets. I love this beauty shot with the solar panels deployed. Even with this design, I still wasn't 100% happy. I started thinking to myself, "How can I make this better?" The answer was, of course, add some docking hardpoints and spy satellites!! Make it look more badass!! So, along came the Gradius Mk. VI. The Gradius's custom controls are set out like this: 1 - Toggle Turbojets 2 - Toggle Intakes and Aerospike 3 - Toggle Solar Panels 4 - Toggle Ion Engines 5 - Arm first pair of missiles 6 - Fire first pair of missiles 7 - Arm second pair of missiles 8 - Fire second pair of missiles 9 - Arm third pair of missiles 0 - Fire third pair of missiles. How to fire the missiles: First, deactivate the rocket engine and (if you have them on) the ion engines. After that, arm your missiles with 5, 7, and 9. Throttle up to 100%, and then press 6, 8, and 0 to fire them. They are extremely long range, you could probably bombard Duna's surface with them if you can get the launch trajectory right. I've set the engines so that the missiles will rotate when they are fired, making them more accurate. Well, that's what I've been up too as of these days. ::Edit:: New pictures, I changed the satellites a bit, redesigned them. I'm much happier with how they look now. Download link: Click here!! Requires Mechjeb.

Hey Cupcake, your menorah video was featured on the Kerbal Space Program Facebook page. Click on me!!

Nice Menorah, I'm guessing those LV-N's will keep burning for a good long time, based on they're efficiency. Although, 8 on two large Rockomax tanks? Happy Channukah to you too Cupcake, although personally, I'm not Jewish, but I'm open to all holidays of all religions.

If you're looking for good VTOL-SSTO landers, I recommend checking out any of Cupcakeslanders' threads. He (or she?) is awesome at making VTOL-SSTO dropships that can reach the Mun, Minmus, Duna, and even as far as Laythe!! Lemme fish around for a link here, hold on... Here we go: Cupcake's Spaceship Bazaar and Dropship Emporium Also, here's a link to Cupcake's Youtube Channel: Cupcake's Youtube Channel Finally, here's a link to my own Cupcake inspired design, The Bison Mk. VI: Heavy Utility Class VTOL-SSTO "Bison" Mk. VI (download link in description, flown with Mechjeb (download version requires it, stock available on request.), but I could probably fly it better now myself.)

Oh my, if 3 Bulldogs can lift one orange tank into orbit, I wonder... What 5 Bulldogs could lift?!

Stupid Youtube, I hate it when they do that. You really need to find some "royalty free" music to use for your videos... Anyways... I gave the Pixie a download, did a little reverse engineering, halved the size of the drop tanks and deleted the RCS pods, retrofitted it with an ion propulsion system and XL solar arrays to power them. Now it's more like an impulse class long range cruiser. I may try to create a launching vehicle and interplanetary stage for it, see if I can get it to Laythe. Despite how much I dislike the noise they make, the Rockomax 48-7S engines are pretty efficient. I was a little worried when I initially flew it and started loosing altitude on my way up after the jet suffocated, but I was still picking up considerable speed. Eventually I found myself rising back up, so I wasn't too worried.

Been looking at the photos, trying to reverse engineer something... Still in the prototype stages. I'll post when I have something worthwhile, but I'm trying for something that at least has the range to make it to Duna on an LV-909. Call me silly, but I'm not a fan of those Rockomax 48-7S's and the "fssssssshhh" sound they make. I use Mechjeb, purely for navigation, pitch, roll, and yaw control. It does come in handy. Other than that, been pretty much using stock parts. Thinking about getting the Kethane mod though.

Ion drives to Laythe? I haven't tried that yet with the Barracuda, but I imagine I'm going to get old just thinking about it... and I'm already pretty old!!

Epic fail...

Looks magnificent!! Can we expect a complimentary "Cupcake Promotional Video" anytime soon?