ihtoit

MechJeb shows real altitude (ie altitude above terrain) as well as altitude ASL. Just FYI.

would it achieve the same thing if you angled the airfoils and used just one axis-mounted rocket motor?

yep, that's fine (though I think you got the wrong OKTO core on there, not that it matters *that* much since there's next to no difference in mass, I picked the OKTO because its sides cover the width of the solar panels nicely). If you're not running Remote Tech mod (which adds radio functionality but also adds a handicap in that a relay network is required for deep space/robotic probes), I'll just trust that you're running a deployed Communotron or equivalent antenna on the bomb and an equivalent receiving antenna on the spaceplane.

Only if all you want to do is add weight to it, it's an almost completely passive device. Apart from the radio. And the uber-explosive thingumabub part. Hence the riding it almost all the way in part (else you could just like go into almost-Kerbin-escape and fire it on a dawn-retrograde escape until the bomb runs out of fuel, where's the challenge in that??)

heeh... that'd be sweet, they still do the nukes?

they'd be doable with stock, just build the basic model and save it as a subassembly

None at all. Use whatever flybys, slingshots, long-orbit swan dive configurations you want That (EDIT: the command chair) is acceptable. Although, there are three stock pods with two or more seats, only one is really suited to spaceplane configuration (the Mk. 3), you could even stack two Mk. 2 cockpits or a Mk. 1 and a Mk. 2. I think Bob'd end up hating you if you stuck him on a deckchair strapped to the back of your plane and flew him into the sun...

see my sig panel for a mission I undertook to recover Kerbalnauts from a terminal sundive using another ship placed in a parallel terminal orbit which I managed to place in a low-pe kerbolar orbit then intercept with yet another ship (it was all practice, really). I won't post a challenge that's impossible, that's the domain of others. It takes planning, that's all.

no RCS in the movie, so none here. I hardly ever use RCS anymore anyway, except for when I'm docking. Gyro attitude control should be enough for anybody for this mission.

taking a jet to 47k without "spamming" intakes is entirely possible, I've taken bomber-sized jets with a 1:1 intake:engine ratio to pe>90km (with rolling cutoffs from 24km and flameouts at 30-35km). Very recently, in fact. A sun dive only requires 13km/s *from a vertical launch* and change. I've done that, too. Double that for return. Doable in a thirty ton aircraft, I'm sure.

I just watched this gem of a miniseries from 2013, and thought to myself: what a moderately interesting challenge profile! So here it is: The sun is going nuts! Some bright spark sent a new propulsion system barrelling into it by mistake and now it's amplifying "bad things" into "worse things" causing all sorts of havoc on Kerbin. Your mission is to deliver a bomb into the Sun and return to Kerbin to pick up your troubled relationship where you left off (although big deal is made of it, this has absolutely nothing to do with the mission at hand except to give you incentive to return safely - or not). Complete the mission profile given below. Success or failure depends on precisely TWO things, both of which must be fulfilled for the mission to be considered a success - being, the deployment of a payload into the Sun and the safe return of the vehicle to KSC. MISSION PROFILE: - Vehicle is a runway-launched, two-seater SSTO spaceplane or shuttle-type vehicle (I like slick looking spaceplanes). No parts may be jettisoned, refueling is not an option. - While in atmosphere (for the sake of argument and in keeping with the movie's profile, "in atmosphere" is anything below 47km), you may use airbreathing jets only. Above that altitude and within Kerbin SOI you may use nuclear engines only - no rockets below 47km, period. You may use Alcubierre drive (from KSPInterstellar) to 0.1c (Warp 0.1) only while OUTSIDE of Kerbin's SOI (84,159km altitude). - RCS is not an option for this mission. - Payload is a Probodobodyne OKTO probe core with two OX-STAT solar panels and a short-range radio antenna with range enough to maintain communication through deployment (I figure around 2000km). This represents your "bomb". You must release this payload at an altitude of no more than 500km from the Kerbolar surface, its trajectory being terminal. You must maintain radio contact with this probe all the way in to ensure its successful detonation. - Vehicle must make a safe runway landing at KSC. Kasuha shows us how it's done using flybys and very little fuel!

um... yeah, might be tricky but I'd love to see an IR entry... I'm going with Firespitter 'cos that's got the Bear rotor (though the regular rotor *might* have enough lift to move the aircraft, we'll see) and I've another mod which has a 6-man passenger fuselage (might even be another Firespitter part, can't remember exactly) which my plan is to run one either side of an LF tank.

hmmm... I will allow that for the SPH, reactor and hydro tower roofs, no other - they're all big and flat enough for a horizontal landing.

question: what did you have attached to those radial decouplers?

Almost exactly what it says on the tin: build and fly a helicopter or VTOL aircraft (to launch from the RUNWAY), and use it to drop one Kerbal on each specified roof of the KSC complex (the high roof of the VAB, the curved roof of the SPH, the centre roof of the Tracking Station, Astronaut Complex, Mission Control, and any roof of the Research Complex), and one each on the Island Tower roof and the Island Hangar Museum (the one with the legacy pod in it) roof. Aircraft must then return to the Start Point with all Kerbals deployed. THE RULES: - Your aircraft must be a VTOL or helicopter design. - Any parts mod valid except OP propulsion. - No violating the laws of physics. - Vehicle must have sufficient capacity to carry all Kerbals on one flight (ie occupied space for minimum of 8 + pilot). This may be chair or capsule, however your aircraft must be piloted by a Kerbal in a capsule. NO probe core pilots. You may not return to fill up on Kerbals once you launch. - Vehicle must land on each roof before Kerbals can be deployed. - Scoring will only be counted ONCE per Kerbal/roof. Dumping ten Kerbals on the VAB roof will NOT get you 20 points. However please note that there are technically three main roof levels on the VAB in particular, I will count the high flat roof and the helipads as one roof and the half-height side building roof as an alternative. I will consider no other horizontal surface of the VAB as roofs. SCORING: For each Kerbal deployed on a specified roof: 2pt BONUS: for deploying a Kerbal on top of the launchpad hydro tower: 5pt BONUS: for deploying one additional Kerbal on top of the Research Complex reactor: 3pt BONUS: for deploying each additional Kerbal on a nonspecified roof: 1pt (Challenger's Note: I shouldn't have to do a map indicating what a roof is, should I?)

PREREQUISITE: Interstellar mod THE CHALLENGE: Place a manned station in as close a Kerbolar orbit as you can. KSPInterstellar adds a dimension to the challenge in that proximity to the sun induces thermal effects that can cause spontaneous disintegration of anything placed in close Kerbolar periapsis. It also adds specialised parts to deal with this problem as well as waste heat output by solar panels and nuclear generators, being heatsink panels. The closest the Challenger has ever managed to get in a circular orbit is 14,800m, closest in an elliptical orbit (but not survived through the second orbital periapse) was 1367m. You might be able to get even closer with varying heatsink configurations. Also note that being so deep in the gravity well will mean you're travelling at ludicrous speeds, exceeding 85km/s. Thrust vectoring in the wrong direction even for a second could be the difference between flying off into deep space and making a smear on the sun's surface. THE RULES: - All structural mods valid. - Only attempt this challenge if you have KSPInterstellar mod installed. - Usual "No 'Sploits" rules apply. - Your station must contain at least one Kerbal in a capsule. - Your station must contain an electrical power source (nuclear, RTG or solar). - Your orbital eccentricity must be a value between 0 and 0.99~ (ie a closed ellipse). - Your station must survive for three orbits. SCORING: Periapse in m. In the event of a tie, lower eccentricity score wins.

spaceplanes...!? I have one on an old save with eight rocket-powered missiles mounted on the leading edges of the wings, should make for a fine (if obscenely fast) aerial gunship... here's a photo of it docked on an orbital anchorage with Lerman Kerman (the Poet) have a buzz around: if I can find it, I'll deorbit it and give it a run.

Thanks that's not the largest I've ever managed to get off the runway, I have a biplane version as well which is about twice the length and uses the HL fuselage set, I'm trying to build something which can take pretty much anything that can fit in the entirely enclosed cargo space to a suborbital trajectory with Pe>70km (you got it, so I can do an air-launched orbital firing) but I've got two dozen engines on it now to lift it without cargo.

left it in atmospheric orbit, time to deployment was 4 minutes MET

that thing'll just keep going faster and faster until it runs out of fuel - or the thrust vector overcomes your planes ability to compensate for the curvature of the planet!

hmmm... ok, so launch-deploy-land. Doable, even with my behemoth of a bomber. Is it really time critical though? Thing turns like a tanker (which it also doubles as), so every turn pass is gonna take at LEAST a minute. This thing has a larger total payload capacity than a B52!: 6 tons inboard (in this case, LFO tanks) 6 AMRAAMs 6 cluster munitions (in this case, LF droptanks) Belly flare: She will cruise at 1000m/s level at 27km and try and keep climbing, recover from a flat spin from 36km and land empty on four engines: Haven't done a KSC bomb run with it yet though, if I can find the model file I'll give it a go. EDIT: couldn't find the model, so built another one and loaded it with just 9 small LFO tanks in the bay. Handles like a piano! Managed to make one run at Mission Control before I gave up trying to make the thing turn, 6 of 9 right down the pickle barrel.

There's a video of this on the forum somewhere: my T-65 XWing from .18 slicing through the atmosphere like a very sharp thing through a very soft thing: It gets to something like 2600m/s before it clears 20k. If ya want I'll do a build in .23 and see if'n I can repeat the feat.

I use Camstudio Portable and KSP in 1280x768 windowed mode, gets decent capture frame rate

that... is just gorgeous.

the launch clamp is there primarily for the purpose of having a fixed point of reference, I don't quite get what you mean by the difference between using a clamp and not - either way if your swing arm is unbalanced it will shake itself apart.