ABalazs

Agreed.

I tried some plane configurations, this one provided the best results so far. The X-155, originally a fighterbomber design, cancelled when somebody realized that there is no enemy present in Kerbin, because everybody went to the astronaut school. So KSC reused the plans, replaced the bomb bays with large LFO tanks and a passenger compartment squeezed in to make the plane as civil-looking as possible. RCS system and a docking port also present. Now the plane can reach 150 km orbit, but it could throw bombs as well, if necessary. http://imgur.com/a/cMa06 (Ehh, I'm suffering with picture embedding from Imgur, the old codes seems to be obsolete...)

I've played with this mission for a week or so. First I've tried it with bombs, failing multiple times, because BDArmory's bomb aiming feature does not work properly in 1.2.1. So my solution is a missile plane, a pretty simple precision attacker with one Maverick only, built from the cheapest components suitable to the task, the A-1002-A Lil Dart. A: 7:56 = 476s > (826/476)*50 = 86 B: 27494 heat > (27494/60209)*30 = 13 C: 12740 funds > (96617/12740)*20 = 151 A+B+C: 250 And this is the run I will try again with bombs - lots of them - when the bombing reticle fix happens in BDArmory.

I am not one of those ppl. There is data available about all of these engines, btw., mostly provided by allied tests made during and after WWII. German and Jap. technology was roughly equal to allied, the war won by supplies and strategy.

Strange, I never met this kind of stuff in KSP before, but "axis side" engines are way weaker then their "alliance side" counterparts. Is this some kind of accident, or really, the modmaker tries to implement some kind of "losing side had inferior tech" lie, like ex-soviet gamemakers used to lately? I mean DB-601 clone does 29 kN versus 40 kN M-105P clone? Really? IRL the Klimov engine was 1050-1100 PS vs. 1175-1350 of the DB-601 of the same time. And in this mod the 601 engine is barely stronger than a 150 PS Hispano 8V (25 kN)? Really? How? Why?

I could, but I will not. You publicly suspected me of cheating, and a picture like that couldn't wash my name clean. Maybe I just hyperedited that pod to orbit. I will probably fly the mission again some time, when I will be in a mood to make myself humiliated again. That time, I will present all the proofs needed, incuding the pod's fuel load, but I will not, ever, wear any of this challenge's badges in my sig, even the one i earned already. GG mate.

Ok, I checked the pod in the game, still on its orbit, and it is full. But if you request it, I can do the flight again.

I don't think so. If you observe it, you will see I used stage only view during the flight to check my fuel level. The plane contains 4x400 unit of LF in the wing root fuel tank system, and that is the only fuel the nuke engines are connected with. I will check at home, but I don't think there is any fuel route between the pod and the engines. And as you can see, I did not use fuel transfer during the flight. I have no intention to cheat here, you know.

I don't know if it counts as a real STS, it is not the usual piggyback config, but I post this anyways as per definition it does the trick. I accelerated the vid because the mission was 46 min originally, but all the necessary proofs are inside, at least I hope. Reached a 801 km orbit and placed the standard 42t fuel pod there, then landed on the runway in one piece. I used the little turbojets because I am a terrible pilot, and the craft tended to lose all of its speed several hundred meters short of the runway's end.

Thanks for the fast reply. I used KSP 1.05 Silent Patch (version 1.05.1028), that one has different water physics compared to pre-patch 1024. This is a possible cause of your liftoff problems. For me it lifts from the water easily after reaching 61 m/s.

I hope this counts as one: Just an amphibious SSTO.

This is my entry, the Very Pregnant Guppy, aka SSXX-04D. No album, sry, only the real time recording of the flight and the craft file. In this case I flew it with a 4,5 ton closed tank as cargo, so in theory it can carry something of the same tonnage or reach a higher orbit.

Squad changed something in the water drag model in the micropatch (1028), my designs now barely able to reach 80 m/s. If anybody wants to reach 1 mach+ in water, stick to the 1.05 pre-patch version(1024).

I managed to solve my oscillation problems. Max speed: 345 m/s. [imgur]I97ME[/imgur]

I used a spoiler, a simple wing surface with negative angle of attack, to push down the boat at high speeds. Or you can try to make a heavy craft and small underwater lifting surfaces - tweak the angle of those as needed - to reach the proper balance. Mk2 parts generate lift like wings, so count with that as well. Oscillation seems to be more serious problem for me, above 150-200 m/s it tends to break parts off from my crafts hovering centimeters from the water surface.