MajorMajor

I think you're onto something. I've just been experimenting with big towers of stability enhancers. As soon as the engine is high enough up that the charge canisters explode before hitting the launch pad, the self destructions stopped.

I accidentally found a very Kerbal workaround to the insta-pulverization problem. I wanted to see what it would take to duplicate the ship in the Rhys Taylor animation, so I started strapping SRBs around the waist of the orion engine until it could get off the ground. 88 boosters later and some editing of the orion engine's maxTemp to keep it from being vaporized by 88 boosters worth of exhaust, I got off the ground at a decent clip. Once the SRBs burned out, my intrepid test subjects were going up at around 250m/s and I lit off Orion expecting a satisfying mess from 88 SRBs exploding into itty bits. Much to my surprise it didn't happen.

delete dupe

delete dupe

Nope. The only things that aren't exploding instantly for me are magazines and structural beams. When the frame rate lines up just right, I noticed the other parts don't explode immediately. It looks more like the layer just above the magazines disconnects right before the big thrust impulse from the first charge, and then the engine and magazine stack smashes up through them like a battering ram.