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Real Aircraft & Inspiration This concept was inspired by a combination of NASA and Air Force test programs from the late 1960's and early 1970's, specifically the X-24B project, which was arguably one of the most successful lifting body aircraft of the era. It was far more maneuverable then previous X craft and had sufficient performance to change runways before landing at Dryden. The X-24's concept would lead to the direct development of the ISS X-34 project (which was cancelled) and later the US Air Force X-37 spacecraft. MSP T-5B "Top Flight" Development of the T-5 spaceplane began with initial concept of a runway launched aircraft which would "skip" over the atmosphere in sub-orbital hops, without the use of a carrier aircraft, or the use of a large rocket launch platform. Once the air frame design was finalized, a number of aircraft were produced under the T-5B designation. These aircraft were not optimized for space flight, but did reproduce the general handling characteristics of the space plane. The aircraft were powered by the J-404 "Panther" Jet engine, and featured simple airbreaks. Some engineers and test pilots questioned the "nose up" additude of the aircraft while sitting on the runway, but this feature proved to be advantageous to the aircraft's handling characteristics. MSP T-5G "Top Flight" After several developmental models and wind tunnel tests as well as Test Pilot feedback from the T-5B and T-5C programs, Matagorda Space Program rolled out the rocket takeoff assisted T-5G model, which was powered by the CR-7 Rapier Engine, and boosted into the air by the RT-10 "Hammer" solid rocket booster. This novel approach allowed the T-5G to quickly gain lift and speed as it cleared the runway, saving the aircrafts external tanks and internal fuel for ascent, and powered landings. After leaving the atmosphere, the CR-7 engine will switch to LOS, and the external fuel tanks can be jettisoned to gain additional speed for a sub-orbital flight. Upon re-entry, the T-5G would rely on a series of six air breaks to slow the craft sufficiently to keep it from burning up as it decelerated to less than 500mps. At this point, the CR-7 engine can be re-started and the aircraft flown to a safe landing. If there is enough interest, I'll gladly produce the flight profiles, ship files, and a bit more information about them. They were made using KSP's stock files... so they are easy to reproduce.