heavylifter

W.r.t. maneuver planning. I think we need an option to change the color or something instead of preventing the planning. Preventing the planning will be wrong in so many cases (I may rendez-vous and refuel. I may transfer fuel from other tanks. I may process ore and make fuel). Also, w.r.t. maneuver planning-- I'd love to have a mode of maneuver planning where I could fast-forward the universe/target (i.e. planets etc. twirl and orbit to their positions at the time of the maneuver node) and have the ghost be "there" with the planet/target. It'd make things so much more usable/obvious.

I'll be looking forward do this. If it ends up anything like the trailer, that is an easy few purchases here :) I'll pay for a beta/alpha and, so long as it is playable (even if incomplete, so long as progress keeps going), I'll be happy.

http://kerbalx.com/crafts/3936 Here is my entry: The name (small SSTO 8) is pretty darn generic, but it works fairly well-- I've gotten 4217 dV after achieving a 75KM orbit! (This would be without payload, and will require manual transfer of fuel from the wings to the body after orbiting (twice.. there is a lot of fuel in the wings!)). It will happily lift 3-4 tons into orbit. Variants of this with a larger payload bay will lift 7.5 tons to 80km orbit and still have 2k dV left over. It flies surprisingly well so long as you don't go into time accel low in the atmosphere. Other than MechJeb, everything is stock. No physics games played here (no reversed/offset nosecones either). You'll want to fly a shallow ascent with this to make it work. Check the pics to see some of the angles/speeds. Just after takeoff: At the limit of the open-cycle Rapiers Orbiting at 75x76km There is 4217 dV left after doing this, but MechJeb and KE don't see it since it requires manual transferring from the various wing tanks to the main body for the Nuclear engine. I calculated this by filling up the central tanks, then burning it all up and, after that, transferring all the rest of the fuel into the central tanks (and measuring the dV, then summing). Great approach! Slowing down! Overshot?! *sigh* Time to turn it around and land from the other direction! Landed:

All of which have gotten to ~100km or higher orbit and then deorbited to land at KSP again. Craft files can be found here: http://www./folder/kycv1hx2xv8fg/SPH 1) sweetmidge: Vital stats: 9.12t, part count 24 (not including mechjeb) Gets into 100km orbit with ease (even with a crappy ascent) with lots of dV (~1500+) left over, both for out-of-atmosphere and in-atmosphere stuff. If one intentionally burns away more of the jet fuel on the ascent path, you can end up with a fair bit more dV. Takeoff happens at around 60m/s, and landing at something significantly slower. max turbojet-powered speed is ~1800+ m/s This one is easy to make a VTOL as well. Gallery here: http://imgur.com/a/tHLOE http://www./download/xx4yuhct44wazzp/sp2_8_1mj_(sweetmidge).craft 2) sweetmite: (my favorite!) Vital stats: 6.41t, part count 28 (not including mechjeb) upper-atmosphere target is around 33km, where it should eventually be doing ~2125+ m/s This puppy gets up to max service altitude and max turbojet-powered speed amazingly fast imho! Gallery here: http://imgur.com/a/ev3vQ http://www./download/jnon4sv5s6n5a48/sp2_8_2mj_(sweetmite).craft 3) fairfly/bat (it is itsy-bitsy!) Vital stats: 5.18t, part count 20 for bat, and part count 24 for fairfly (not including mechjeb) (the weight difference between these two is .004 I think...) fairfly/bat is very fuel limited, so get it up to ~1800 m/s and then head on up to orbit. You'll need to get your reentry done pretty right, 'cause it is likely you'll have to coast down. Good thing they glide well! Fairfly: Gallery here: http://imgur.com/a/iXk5u http://www./download/w8x15a74vd7wwdx/fairfly.craft Bat: Gallery here: http://imgur.com/a/umHTp http://www./download/3w3ub835ritsize/bat.craft Technically, all ships here could be lightened with different choices of cockpit, so further weight reductions are possible. Having played around with it, however, the crafts become difficult to control when the cockpit cannot counterbalance the jet engine's weight.

All of which have gotten to ~100km or higher orbit and then deorbited to land at KSP again. Craft files can be found here: http://www./folder/kycv1hx2xv8fg/SPH 1) sweetmidge: Vital stats: 9.12t, part count 24 (not including mechjeb) Gets into 100km orbit with ease (even with a crappy ascent) with lots of dV (~1500+) left over, both for out-of-atmosphere and in-atmosphere stuff. If one intentionally burns away more of the jet fuel on the ascent path, you can end up with a fair bit more dV. Takeoff happens at around 60m/s, and landing at something significantly slower. max turbojet-powered speed is ~1800+ m/s This one is easy to make a VTOL as well. Gallery here: http://imgur.com/a/tHLOE http://www./download/xx4yuhct44wazzp/sp2_8_1mj_(sweetmidge).craft 2) sweetmite: (my favorite!) Vital stats: 6.41t, part count 28 (not including mechjeb) upper-atmosphere target is around 33km, where it should eventually be doing ~2125+ m/s This puppy gets up to max service altitude and max turbojet-powered speed amazingly fast imho! Gallery here: http://imgur.com/a/ev3vQ http://www./download/jnon4sv5s6n5a48/sp2_8_2mj_(sweetmite).craft 3) fairfly/bat (it is itsy-bitsy!) Vital stats: 5.18t, part count 20 for bat, and part count 24 for fairfly (not including mechjeb) (the weight difference between these two is .004 I think...) fairfly/bat is very fuel limited, so get it up to ~1800 m/s and then head on up to orbit. You'll need to get your reentry done pretty right, 'cause it is likely you'll have to coast down. Good thing they glide well! Fairfly: Gallery here: http://imgur.com/a/iXk5u http://www./download/w8x15a74vd7wwdx/fairfly.craft Bat: Gallery here: http://imgur.com/a/umHTp http://www./download/3w3ub835ritsize/bat.craft Technically, all ships here could be lightened with different choices of cockpit, so further weight reductions are possible. Having played around with it, however, the crafts become difficult to control when the cockpit cannot counterbalance the jet engine's weight. Further updates here, if any: in this thread

that craft file looks incomplete to me (or ksp .20 fails to load it)

My heavy (and, uh, large) stock launch vehicle puts 7 nearly full large orange tanks into 100km orbit. It is surprisingly reliable (I've been happily surprised), especially given that it works without SAS. I haven't yet asparagus staged it (it is a pain to get it working with how symmetry works right now)-- it is just "star" staged, nor have I tried to optimize the flight path. Delta-v available after achieving 100km orbit is 13415 with the mainsail turned off, and 5735 with the mainsail on.