Logan.Darklighter

A Flight of Eagles: Part 2 - the Departure: Scouting Ahead Once all three Eagles were topped off with fuel and supplies, they lifted off into parking orbit around Minmus to await a good transfer. As the mission plan dictated, Eagle 1 left first and alone to scout for Kethane at Gilly. (For some reason I don't have screenshots of Eagle 1 leaving Minmus. Sorry about that.) Eagle 1 on approach to Eve for aerobraking: Incidentally, I use the City Lights/Clouds mod, which pretty thoroughly obscures the surface of Eve. (Now you know why I am sending Eagle 2 with SCANSAT probes!) One of the mods I've made to the Eagle Command Pod is to use the FASA Gemini IVA. Devo hasn't yet made a dedicated Eagle Pod IVA, though he says he's working on it. In the meantime, the Gemini IVA is a good stand-in. Okay. Here we go... (One of the things you can't see in static images is just how FAST the clouds on Eve are moving!) Technically I didn't NEED to retract the gear, but I thought - Even if the Eagle overall can handle atmospheric entry heating, I'd still want to retract that gear to protect the inner workings! Aerobraking and bending the trajectory into an orbit around Eve: And safely out of the soup! Although it wasn't Eagle 1's job to do a Kethane Survey of Eve, I figured it couldn't hurt to activate the sensor on my way out. You never know - you might get lucky! Sadly I didn't get THAT lucky: Setting up a plane change to Gilly's Orbit: And now a short burn to set up an interception (I happened to catch Gilly at it's closest approach to Eve - lucky!): Transmitting progress report back to KSC control: Braking into Gilly SOI: You can see here how ridiculously easy it is to change inclination in Gilly's orbit. That's almost a 90 degree turn there! Aha! Kethane confirmed! Now we send the other two Eagles! Next: A Flight of Eagles - Part 3 - Probe Survey and setting up the Staging Base on Gilly

Hello all. First actual post here in Mission Reports that isn't a response to someone else's mission report. (Usually Brotero and his awesome Laythe adventures. ) As some of you may know, one of my interests (some might say obsession) is with the Space 1999 Eagle. It's such a logical, cool-looking near future design and it seems to fit in quite well with the KSP aesthetic. I loved Redspar's Eagle for the accuracy of the model, but you couldn't really DO much with it aside from just fly it around (still a lot of fun!). Redspars Eagle: Devo's Wayland Space Eagle isn't quite as spot-on accurate in the proportions compared to the source material as Redspar's. But he's done something much more impressive. It came without a pod and you can make mission pods or other payloads fit under the truss so that it actually has real utility! Wayland Space Eagle: When I discovered that Lackluster parts made for a perfect way to construct mission pods for Wayland's Eagle I was ecstatic! Eagle with standard Passenger Pod: I've made several designs for the Eagle including a Kethane Prospector Rig that can allow the Eagle to go pretty much anywhere in the Kerbol system. I've also made updates for the Mk 3 Eagle so that it will be stable in KSP .23. It's not set up for career mode (yet). But works just fine in sandbox. (You can download those fixes, and craft files for all my Eagle variants in my .Sig below) So what's this mission report about? Well - I've gone to many worlds in the Kerbol system with the Mk 3 Eagle. But there's one I haven't attempted yet - Eve. Now I tested the ability of the Mk 2 Eagle to get off the surface of Eve and back to orbit. But that version of the Eagle was a STUPIDLY over-powered ship with a ridiculous amount of fuel on board - it was using the old fuel system as Devo hadn't yet cracked how to make the Eagle work with the new fuel and oxidizer system and keep the Eagle balanced. The engines were also enormously powerful to the point of feeling "cheaty". Mk 3 Eagle is much more of a balanced design in terms of power. It also uses normal fuel. So its range is limited without being refueled. That's GOOD, because it provides the proper level of challenge. Okay - so someone might ask - why not just hyperedit an Eagle to Eve and then just see if you can lift off? And I say - where's the fun in that? So I developed a mission plan. A Flight of Eagles - Mission to Eve: Part 1 - The Staging First - I surveyed the Mun and Minmus for Kethane deposits. And while I was surveying Minmus I noticed that a couple of the deposits were conveniently under the Ice Flats (in my save). So that would make setting up a mining station there more convenient. I also realized Minmus was a better "stepping off" point for Eve than Kerbin or even the Mun, due to it's much lighter gravity. I could save a lot of fuel by leaving for Eve from Minmus. Here's the base under construction: The completed base: The base sits on a Kethane node. KAS allows you to hook up any Eagle or other ship that needs extra fuel to top them off. Okay - now I'm not sending ONE Eagle to Eve. I'm sending three! They each have a different job and potential. Eagle 1 carries a Kethane Prospecting pod. It has a long range Kethane sensor, a Kethane storage tank, a Kethane Fuel cracking unit, extra Fuel, Oxidizer and Mono-propellent tanks, a probe AI, a pair of RTGs, batteries, and solar panels to deploy. (If you wanted to, you could drop one of these on a Kethane deposit and it could drill and store Kethane and fuel on its own to supply passing ships). Eagle 1 is the scout. I've got to make sure basic resources are available for the other two Eagles. It'll leave with not only a full fuel load, but extra Kethane in it's tanks, just in case. Eagle 2 carries a mapping probe pallet. The probes carry short range Kethane Sensors and SCANSAT mapping sensors for a full survey. Eagle 2 is the Survey Unit. Eagle 3 has a Heavy Lift Passenger Pod capable of carrying the entire crew complement of Kerbals from all three Eagles as well as providing bunk-space and more roomy living accomodations. It also has extra VTOL engines so it's capable of more power on lift-off. Eagle 3 is Support. Why is Eagle 3 support, rather than the designated Eagle for testing Eve escape? Because I think it's important to test the standard VTOL engine configuration of 4 engines first. IF that doesn't work, I can try the heavy lift pod with it's 6 VTOL thruster pairs. Plus - if the other Eagle can't escape, but Eagle 3 can, then Eagle 3 has room in the pod to rescue any Kerbals from the first Eagle. All of my Eagles have Probe support built into them as well. So I'm also debating whether I could simply send either Eagle 1 or 2 down via remote control and not risk stranding any Kerbals down there at all. Next: A Flight of Eagles - Mission to Eve, Part 2 - The Departure

HOLY CRAP!!! And the expressions on the Kerbals faces are PERFECT! "It's time to buzz the tower, Goose!" "No, wait, Mav, no no!" "YEEE-HAAAA!!!" (Tower Controller spills coffee on himself as the plane blasts by) "G^$@#%m it!"

I've actually done several posts throughout this thread and posted twitch videos with commentary showing how I pilot the Eagle. I just realized my previous "tutorial" is out of date since certain changes in .23 went through and I'm about to record a new version of that. I'll post a link when it's uploaded. EDIT: Tutorial is done and published on Twitch: Wayland Mk 3 Space Eagle Flight Tutorial

That looks great! And the LEM is fantastic! But... hang on - I thought you couldn't attach anything to a moving part. And yet it appears that the RCS quads are attached to the ends of those booms. Or is each RCS Boom a single part with the RCS Module integral to the boom?

Glad to see you're doing well, Devo! That's a hell of a backyard there! I envy you! I've got a little project going, which I've been taking copious screenshots of. Remember that when I tested the old Mk 2 Eagle's ability to escape Eve and that overpowered beast was able to do it pretty easily? Perhaps -too- easily, really! Well, the Mk 3 isn't so gobsmackingly over-powered and the fact that it uses normal fuels means that you can't just send it anywhere without support and a plan. That's a GOOD thing. Because it allows you to use the Eagles and not feel like you're using game cheats. I am in the middle of a mission where I'm going to send an Eagle down to land on Eve and see if it can get back up to orbit again. I'm putting together a mission report I'm going to post over on the mission report forums. But here's a little preview:

Man I remember that day. And today was the anniversary of that sad event. (salute)

Check my sig below. Links to the official spaceport download. I also recommend downloading my Eagle pack which is also linked in the sig. The Mk 3 Eagle is the most stable build, but although it technically works for .23, it hasn't really been updated yet. My pack corrects the problems and I have several craft files in the pack with pre-made Eagle pods ready to go. I do use other mods and those are listed in the "Read-Me" file that comes in the download.

Got another request for you, Lack, if it's okay. I designed another pod for the Eagle - this is based on the Science/Booster Pod from Season 2. And I was wondering if you could do something similar for this that was done for the Eagle Passenger Pod - meld the pieces together. I tried with Ubiozur's Welding and... gack. Something really screwy happens to LLL pieces when you try that. No matter what you do, the pieces seem to want to rotate 90 degrees the WRONG direction as they're being welded. Just doesn't work. I'd like this basic shape - without the windows I might add. Also - just a suggestion: Have you considered adding new IVAs to parts like the square module hulls? The Hitchhiker IVA is functional. But obviously doesn't actually fit inside the LLL Pieces that allow Kerbals to reside, except for maybe the big 4x4 parts. ( I use the Kerbal Manifest system). Would be nice to have an LLL themed Passenger IVA. How about science lab capability? There's a big science processor lab in the Squad stock parts. But it'd be nice to be able to use that functionality with LLL parts instead of lugging that big thing around. Love the new aero parts! Particularly the small ones. I've never seen anyone try to make cockpit pods for that small scale before. That's really useful!

Good Launch music.

Bravo! You definitely have THE RIGHT STUFF my man!

I just added rep to you for an awesome design. There's not one bit of wasted space on that craft! I love it!

Nice. Thombles is an old pro and a cool cat.

Well this is interesting. I downloaded and I've been testing Ferram Aerospace. And it does NOT get along with the PX-2 Shuttles AT ALL. Yikes!! I think it's because the center of mass on the PX-2 shuttles is WAY forward of where it should be for a normal airframe. The Eagle actually has fewer problems(!!!). But the performance envelope in atmosphere is VERY different. You can't just apply full thrust and expect not to tumble at low and medium altitudes. That "pitch down" tendency introduced with the Mk 3? VERY pronounced when using Ferram above certain speeds. You have to work your way up "out of the soup" as it were more carefully with the Eagle. Once you get out of the thick part of the atmosphere it returns to behaving like it has before. That's actually... rather appropriate I think. Makes perfect sense that the Eagle would have issues flying in an atmosphere. That's not what it was designed for after all! I haven't tested a descent from orbit yet. And I imagine I'll work out where it starts to tumble there as well. Hopefully without killing any kerbals. Maybe I'll just send one up under probe control. EDIT: More interesting stuff: With Ferram Aerospace on, and if the Eagle is descending too quickly, it wants to flip over backwards and tumble. It's recoverable though. Basically it forces you to not freefall but to have a highly controlled - engines on - approach all the way in. TL-DR version - With Ferram Aerospace installed, the PX-2 Shuttle goes from highly stable in atmosphere to about the most UNSTABLE thing imaginable. The Eagle flies well - but only in a narrow envelope. Go too fast up and it wants to flip forward. Fall too fast down and it wants to flip backwards. Keep it in the "Goldilocks" envelope until you're out of the "soup" of the thick atmosphere and you'll be fine.

Hey Hydran? This is a cool conversation, but why don't we take it to PMs or a different thread? We're derailing a Mod/Part thread by going on too long with this.

Good choice! Here's a video with both the opening and closing themes. Though for some reason it STARTS with the closing theme and the opening theme starts at 1:03 in the video. That closing theme though... ooooOOOOEEEEeeeeeooooOOOOO!!! But for the ultimate in groovy launch music, I bet you can guess what I recommend. Oh go on. Guess...

Well that's interesting... What's the hatchback useful for? Can you for example place a KAS box or something back there? Science equipment or experiments? LOVE the visible cockpit area and even the Rastor screen images visible from outside! Gorgeous!

(Thanks to Captain Sierra for pointing me to the proper thread to post this in - I had this in Space Stations rather than bases. Oops! ) I'm a big fan of Wayland's Space 1999 Eagle mod. And the LLL parts allow you to make Eagle Mission pods of various types quite nicely. Something I've thought the Eagle could do quite handily is construct a base made out of mission pods it carries up under it's main truss if I could be patient enough and careful enough with the docking and link up. On Minmus it's relatively easy. RCS is capable of helping lift up an Eagle's weight just enough to allow you to "Scoot" it along the ice flats in order to bring the docking ports into alignment. After that it's just a matter of multiple deliveries. I used a total of 5 Eagles to construct the main base and delivered some extras with 3 more. The base has life support and recycling (the Greenhouse pod helps support that) and Minmus Base Alpha sits on top of a Kethane node so it's able to refuel ships that come in. Though I'm getting close to depleting the node. But that's okay! The modular nature of the base means the whole thing can be easily picked up and moved to the next node. And in my save, there's another Kethane node under another part of the same ice flat in the same hemisphere. So a single Eagle could make multiple trips and move the whole base. It's much easier to make all the parts of a base fit together smoothly on perfectly flat terrain like the ice flats. But I know eventually I'll have to put some modules together on imperfect terrain. I may not be able to locate a base on certain Kethane fields that are too steep. Then I'll have to send out rovers and/or ships to deliver kethane to the base instead. That'll be an interesting challenge! Eagle 5 docks the latest module addition to Minmus Base Alpha: Eagle 5 lifts off after taking on some fuel and then unhooking from the Mission Pod, which becomes the newest wing of the base. The base as it stands now. The large rover in the far distant part of the shot can hook up to the base modules and tug them into place for alignment if the Eagle can't do so.

Thanks! And I didn't know there was a thread for that! I'll post it over there. LOL

I'm a big fan of Wayland's Space 1999 Eagle mod. And the LLL parts allow you to make Eagle Mission pods of various types quite nicely. Something I've thought the Eagle could do quite handily is construct a base made out of mission pods it carries up under it's main truss if I could be patient enough and careful enough with the docking and link up. On Minmus it's relatively easy. RCS is capable of helping lift up an Eagle's weight just enough to allow you to "Scoot" it along the ice flats in order to bring the docking ports into alignment. After that it's just a matter of multiple deliveries. I used a total of 5 Eagles to construct the main base and delivered some extras with a 3 more. The base has life support and recycling (the Greenhouse pod helps support that) and Minmus Base Alpha sits on top of a Kethane node so it's able to refuel ships that come in. Though I'm getting close to depleting the node. But that's okay! The modular nature of the base means the whole thing can be easily picked up and moved to the next node. And in my save, there's another Kethane node under another part of the same ice flat in the same hemisphere. So a single Eagle could make multiple trips and move the whole base. Eagle 5 docks the latest module addition to Minmus Base Alpha: Eagle 5 lifts off after taking on some fuel and then unhooking from the Mission Pod, which becomes the newest wing of the base. The base as it stands now. The large rover in the far distant part of the shot can hook up to the base modules and tug them into place for alignment if the Eagle can't do so.

I left this ship in orbit as a source of fuel supply. It's a good design and nothing wrong with it. But since I didn't send it up with any cargo it really didn't have anything to do once I'd figured out how to fly it. Later I'll use it to ferry something big. But the first one I left up unmanned until I had drained about 4/5 of the fuel. Then I decided to de-orbit it for a spectacular crash. But at the last minute I decided to try and see if I could save it with a "suicide" burn of the remaining fuel. What I got was a classic Eagle style crash! Not complete destruction, but spectacular in a different way! This ship is never going anywhere again, but it's a great little "bone yard" to visit for later!

The Eagle comes with its own custom engines. The Mk 1 and 2 Eagles were using the old fuel system. But the Mk 3 uses normal fuel - Fuel and Oxidizer. So it's compatible with all other craft in terms of refueling. I'd say the Version 3 engines are comparable in efficiency to the stock Nuclear engine from Squad. Flight to orbit from the runway takes about 1/3 to 1/2 of the total fuel load depending on what you're lifting and about 10 minutes to minimum circular orbit give or take.

Once again - thanks Lack for outstanding parts! I just find unlimited uses for them. I've made numerous pods with them for the Wayland Space 1999 Eagle. Here's some of the latest designs (and there's a link in my sig for anyone wanting to try them out). The latest upgrade to the Eagle pods - they all have landing gear now. I've re-sized the LLL Landing legs to be a proper fit for the Eagle pods. (Anybody downloading my mods from the sig link, fair warning that my re-sized versions will overwrite the standard sized versions. But shouldn't outright -break- anything.) Below: This Eagle can carry and launch four mapping probes at a time. Made up of mostly LLL Parts, the Kethane Prospecting Eagle is arguably the one with the longest "legs". You could do a Grand Tour of the Kerbol System with this rig alone! This Eagle Pod can be placed to link up with other pods to form a base. (More of that below) This beefy looking little rover... ... fits snugly under the Eagle truss. It is heavy though. An Eagle can manage the mass just fine in orbit or on lower G worlds like the Mun or Minmus, but the extra launch boosters are needed to break free of Kerbin's Gravity and leave enough fuel to get to the destination safely. I call the rover the "Beagle" of course. Its main job is to dock with other modules on the ground with its CMB port on the rear and tug them around to be fitted together. You can store a couple of extra small rover wheels in the KAS Storage bozes (under the fenders and between the wheels) to attach to those other modules for that purpose. Though on the Minmus Ice flats the extra wheels weren't really needed. Here's Eagle 5 having docked the latest module to Minmus Base Alpha and receiving some extra fuel before lift-off from the Kethane rig. Lifting away smoothly for the return to Kerbin and another load to deliver. After a few more deliveries the base looks like this: (I don't think I'm going to add anymore to this one. Getting pretty laggy.)

I've done a reworking and update of my Eagle Mods and Pods files. I've updated the link in my sig below and it appears to work for me. Could someone else check it and see if you're getting the proper files? I've added an explanatory "Read Me" Text file to the package explaining what mods I use and that the user will need in order for the craft files to load plus the usual "How to Unpack this" etc. And a couple of piloting tips to get started. I've added some new pods and goodies you might be interested in, plus modded the originals. All the pods have landing gear now. I've resized LLL's landing struts to a workable size (and included those parts in the download so they'll overwrite any existing LLL landing gear - fair warning). Here's some more pics of the new stuff. This new pod is based on the pod seen largely in Season 2 of Space 1999. It has extra thrusters which can be activated. Though this pod isn't significantly heavier than a normal passenger pod and therefore doesn't need them most of the time. I WARN you - activate them only when you REALLY need them. As they suck down fuel FAST. What's really useful about this pod is that with its docking ports it can neatly serve as a "hub" between other modules placed down by other Eagles to form a connected base. You'll see more of this below. Below is a "Garage Pod" for small rovers and other small craft that maybe you want to launch from orbit. If you have Bobcat's DEMV Mk 5 "Ant" Rover it's a perfect fit. But any micro rover can be carried. The KAS modules in fact carry extra equipment suitable for repairing and even building one from scratch! Below is a Greenhouse pod to be hooked up to a ground base. Pretty self-explanatory. Oh - if you right click on the module the shutters can be open or closed. So would you believe that this beefy looking rover... ...fits snugly under the Eagle Truss? What do I call this rover? Why - it's a "Beagle" of course. It's pretty heavy though, which is why this Eagle has the extra lift package attached to the truss. The fuel lines are set up to go both ways. Which results in the fuel being drawn from the extra engine pods FIRST, then you can leave them attached as long as needed until you get to the proper altitude and then pop the modules free. Once at a low gravity world like the Mun or Minmus, the Eagle can handle the mass of the Beagle just fine. The launch package is only needed to bust loose of Kerbin's gravity. The purpose of the Beagle is to move other modules around. It's set up so that the docking CMB port on the back will line up perfectly with any of the other modules and move them around. If needed, you can store small rover wheels in the KAS boxes under the fenders and attach them to the module you want to move temporarily. On Minmus I've found that the rover has enough torque on its own to push the other modules around without the need for the extra wheels. At least on the ice flats. On the Mun it might be another story. Here's Eagle 5 having just delivered and docked the latest module for Minmus Base Alpha. After receiving some extra fuel from the bases Kethane reserves, Eagle 5 undocks and smoothly lifts off and away, leaving the base personnel to finish integrating the new module and inventorying new supplies aboard. And here's the base after a few more deliveries. Probably about as big as it's going to get at this point. (Pretty laggy!)