Search the Community

Introduction VTOL aircraft are awesome, they're fun to fly and land and generally are super cool: A big problem however is that KSP2 does not have any robotics parts, which severely restricts the options available when it comes to building practical VTOL aircraft in the game, and even when worked around you're still enduring a heavy performance penalty (both in terms of the aircraft's capabilities and your literal PC's performance) when compared with anything you can build in KSP1, those Whittle clusters and reaction wheels cost quite a bit! So, with the understanding that robotics aren't coming anytime soon, I figured I'd put forward my own suggestion for a nice alternative that'd fill this role perfectly, in the form of a brand new jet engine part: Introducing the J-8B "Karrier" Mass: 0.8t Maximum thrust: 80kN (Lifting capacity of 8.15 tons per engine on Kerbin) ISP: 6500s Alternator: 0.5 EC/s Deploy range: 90° (+10° single-axis gimbal, for a total authority range of 110°) Modelled after the Hawker Siddeley P.1127's engine nozzles (One of the experimental aircraft designs that eventually led to the Harrier Jump Jet) This engine is designed to be radially attached in pairs on the sides of an aircraft and can deploy for a full 90 degrees of freedom, plus 10 degrees of single-axis gimbal, giving it a large range of pitch control to alleviate the need for large numbers of reaction wheels to counteract torque. It can rotate its thrust vector downwards for vertical take offs and landings: And then, once off the ground, it can swivel its thrust vector around for horizontal flight: It can also be freely deployed to anywhere between the two angles to facilitate short take offs or other use cases people may think of. This engine fills a much needed niche in terms of VTOL jet aircraft, and would allow for so much more creativity in terms of plane design and functionality, as well as making it possible to build VTOL aircraft that are actually aerodynamic and aren't hard capped to the sound barrier (Whittle clusters suck). Balancing In terms of its stats, it needs to have a high amount of thrust for the obvious purpose of being a VTOL engine, and it also needs to be relatively light and not use too much intake air, that leaves its ISP as the main variable in terms of balancing this engine against other jet engines (Particularly the Panther, which it is rather close to in terms of thrust), I also didn't quite want to give it terrible ISP either as it may be used as the primary engines on certain aircraft designs. In the end, I decided that 6,500s of ISP feels like a nice middle ground, it's far more efficient than the three hypersonic jet engines (Afterburning Panther, Whiplash and Rapier), but simultaneously it's still well below the standard Panther and Wheelsley in terms of efficiency, ensuring that it does not replace either of them for general usage. Conclusion Generally (in my very totally unbiased opinion) as someone who's spent a rather unhealthy number of hours designing VTOL aircraft across both games, I believe this would be an amazing addition to the game that would open up so many new opportunities for aircraft design and construction, the specific stats I've laid out for for this engine are not solid "this is absolutely how it must be implemented" caps, but just represent how I personally feel it'd be best implemented should it become a real part in the game, I hope this post reaches the development team and they seriously consider implementing a part like this to fill this role.

License: CC-BY-SA-4.0 Link: https://spacedock.info/mod/3114/Oblivion Bubble Patrol Craft Updated to 1.1.0 15/9/22 I have this working on the 0.1.3 version of "ModuleAnimateGenericEffects" it looks as though the latest version 0.1.4 has a glitch that is causing the animations to not work correctly. Hi. This is my version of the Bubble Ship from the movie Oblivion. It is all one piece and and it's electric engines are unlikely to run out of fuel in a game lifetime. It only operates in atmosphere and has an operational ceiling of roughly 15,000 metres. It can super cruise up to around 670 metres a second when in between 5500 and 6500 metres up. It can transition from VTOL to forward flight and it's landing gear fold back and up like the movie ship. It's doors open and it is possible for a Kerbal to walk through because originaly I was trying to make a command seat style, but due to the difficulty in trying to balance the Kerbal weight and the poor performance that caused, it is now an internal overlay cockpit. From the side and front when you have the ovelay turned on they should look like they are sitting in the actual cockpit. I expect that most people would use this in a sandbox game but I will put it at the end of the tech tree in case otherwise. It uses the small plugin from Linuxgurugamer called ModuleAnimateGenericEffects for 2 of it's animations and I will provide a link here. https://spacedock.info/mod/2345/ModuleAnimateGenericEffects I understand that some non windows set ups may not be able to use it so I will provide a second config file with the suffix txt and the title "Bubble2" in the main folder. If you need the version without sound effects for the animations then simply change the suffix of Bubble.cfg from .cfg to .txt and the Bubble2.txt from .txt to .cfg and it will use the stock system. Change Log 1.1.0 Made the no sound animation version of the bubble ship the default as am not sure what is happening with the plugin. Other is still in for those who have it working. Have added the Drone. When hover mode is turned on the sides with the guns sit out from the body revealing a blue glow when throttled up. Added my Kerbal version of the motorbike. Is fine when spawned directly but as per usual it becomes oversensitive when built by an engineer or after a kerbal has got off of it, The reaction wheel then needs to be adjusted down about half way. The wheels as always need to be rotated 90 degrees clockwise when attached in the SPH, have simplified it by making the spoke that should be pointing up towards the top of the bike black so that it is obvious if it is the right way up. This also helps when an engineer attaches in the field to see which way up it is. The Bubble ship now has an extra inventory slot and more weight capacity so that the bike frame and 2 wheels can be stored. When getting an engineer to assemble, the bike frame should be put down upside down and the front wheel attached first, (if you put the back on first the bike will flip and try to get away.) wheels when attached need to be rotated so the black spoke is pointing to what would be the top of the bike if it were the right way up. (e.g down if the bike is upside down.) Once completed switch view to the bike and get it to roll on to it's side, good time to adjust the reaction wheel strength down, so that a Kerbal can get on it. The bike is fully independent so you can stop it and bring it back when a Kerbal gets knocked off. There is an RCS ball for the Drone that snaps to its centre, only really needed when moving about in hover mode. When in flight mode it is best off, so that it doesn't over rotate your movements. Type bubble or oblivion for the parts to come up. I hope that covers it. Hope you get some fun from this, It is great for canyon running.

Throttle Controlled Avionics - Continued real-time engine balancing, attitude and altitude control, VTOL autopiloting Originally created by qfeys and Zenka Current development and maintenance: allista TCA is a plugin that enhances the attitude control of a ship by dynamically changing the output of its engines and RCS thrusters. Even with most unbalanced designs TCA maintains stable flight and quick precise response to user or autopilot input. TCA also provides many sophisticated autopilot programs based on this core functionality, including waypoint navigation and automatic landing. It is also fast enough to simultaneously control a whole squadron of ships without much overhead. First read, then fly! TCA Manual First read, then fly! Support me on Patreon Features Functionality: Simultaneous control over multiple vessels. Realtime RCS and engine balancing. Multiple engine roles and engine profiles. Full support of slow engines (jets, propellers, etc.) Thrust attitude control. Hovering control. Many sophisticated autopilot programs. Orbital maneuvering independent of command module orientation. User defined macros. Technical: Both the Toolbar and the stock AppLauncher are supported. Per-vessel/per-save configuration profiles and custom presets. In-game configurable key binding. Full career mode integration (see below). Introduction to TCA2 New Features in TCA3 Launching shuttle with TCA Flying Harrier-like VTOL plane with TCA New orbital autopilots in TCA 3.2.0 TCA Modules in Tech Tree Downloads and Installation !!! ModuleManager is required but not included !!! SpaceDock Page GitHub Releases Source Code If you're upgrading, DELETE the old version before installing a new one BUT do not delete the TCA.conf and config.xml files to preserve your settings. ChangeLog Acknowledgments: First of all, many thanks to qfeys and Zenka for creating the original concept and implementation. Without them TCA would not exist. And I want to express extreme gratitude to @smjjames, who helped me so much with the testing of TCA3 and proposed countless improvements. Without it this version would never have come to a release! My patrons on Patreon. Thank you for your support! Kevin Casey Bob Palmer Ryan Rasmussen Matthew Zaleski Bart Blommaerts eL.Dude Layne Benofsky Igor Zavoychinskiy Issarlk Meiyo BP Jenna Mitchell Squiddy Ted Achenbach SCESW Patrice Hédé Steve Victory Also, here are the mods whose code and ideas were used in one way or another: Hangar MechJeb2

Presenting, the Sparrow RSV! The Sparrow Rescue and Support Vehicle is a dropship built to provide support to a growing colonial operation, with the ability to refuel or rescue stranded crews. Engines: 2x Terrier, 1x Poodle Power: 2x RTG, 2x SPL-1x6, 2x Fuel Cell Array Docking: 1x mini claw, 1x standard port (doreward, aligned with foreward engine thrust), 1x sr. port (ventral, aligned with VTOL thrust, can be swapped out for other sizes) Range: about 3 KM/S Payload: 2x small drill, 1x small ISRU, 1x large cargo container (full of various things that might be useful) DLCs/Mods: None, RCS Build Aid was used during contruction Crew: 2 Parts: 80 Mass: 38t AGs: 1 -> toggle foreward engine 2 -> toggle VTOL engines 3 -> toggle extendables (solars, comms, thermals) 9 -> control point vertical 0 -> control point horizontal Abort -> deploy chutes RCS -> toggles wheel steering, locked by default Sparrow comes with a large shuttle-type lifter. Just fly a standard gravity turn with the first stage, which should get you nearly all the way there. Stage again once out of the atmosphere to fire the Poodle. When nearly in orbit, ditch the booster by staging again. Once clear, shut off the VTOL engines with AG 2 and finish circularization. The booster might be recoverable, but it won't be easy. Download yours today! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fuFabgR526RpYIXuhwM1KDfncIcOt4p0/view?usp=sharing

An aircraft inspired by the pedant VTOL Fighter Jet-“The Focke Wulf Trebfluegel” Four jet-powered rotary wings are mounted on an uncontrolled bearing, the pitch angles of rotary wings can be adjusted. This aircraft is QUITE DIFFCULT to maneuver. Although it can land safely, I can't imagine how to land it at a specific place. No Jeb is hurted during shooting Flying Viedo Here: The Jet-Powered Rotary Wing VTOL Jet

FOREWORD After Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl NPP exploded, large amounts of rubble, graphite moderator and other radioactive material from the destroyed reactor were ejected onto the roofs of power plant facilities. Radiation on some parts of the roof was so severe that unprotected circuitry used in remote-controlled robots failed near-immediately. To continue cleanup works rubble needed to be removed from the rooftops. Since the radiation levels would give human workers lethal doses in a matter of minutes, robotic solutions were in high demand. One of such solutions was a repurposed lunar rover (named STR-1), a remnant of the Lunokhod program outfitted with dosimetry equipment and a bulldozer blade. It's circuitry was already hardened against cosmic radiation, and such it could be quickly modified and deployed into the containment zone. Even with this protection, it only managed to clean up a couple dozen square meters of the roof before succumbing to the extreme radiation. In this challenge, you will take on this exact task. You will develop a rover with limited operation time which will help remove graphite rubble from the power plant site along with a delivery method. THE CHALLENGE The cleanup operation will consist of four major phases. 1. Rover delivery Taking off the KSC airfield, you will need to deliver the rover to the disaster site. Time will be counted with the in-game clock from the mission start to the moment, where you come within 150m of the reactor (when the distance marker disappears). In this case, the quicker the better. Point assignment rules will be elaborated on in the next section. 2. Landing your rover on the roof Since the radiation levels near the core are extremely high, you will need to minimize your time in the proximity of the reactor. From the moment of your arrival within 150m of the reactor you will have two minutes in-game time to deploy the rover onto the roof and leave the 150m perimeter. 3. Retrieving the carrier craft This section will not be timed, albeit additional points will be awarded if you can return your carrier craft to the KSC unscathed. 4. Cleaning up the roof After your carrier vehicle has landed (or crashed horribly) you can begin your operation. This section is not timed - the only limit being your battery life (to simulate radiation exposure). Points will be awarded based on how many of the 10 graphite blocks (Oscar-B fuel tanks) situated on the roof you can remove before your battery dies. The blocks are supposed to be pushed off the edge of the roof into the destroyed reactor building where they will not pose a threat. The challenge ends after your rover battery dies. RULES As with all challenges, here are some rules: 1. Your carrier craft can be a VTOL aircraft, a helicopter or even a land-based vehicle. The choice is yours in that regard and creativity in the delivery method department is greatly encouraged! 2. Your rover's only power source can be a single Z-400 battery. All other power sources such as your control modules are prohibited and need to be emptied in the hangar. 3. You may not use any power producing parts such as solar panels, fuel cells and RTGs. 4. The rover has to be delivered onto the roof via the carrier craft, e.g. it may not be deployed outside of the 150m perimeter and flown or driven onto the roof. 5. Albeit the graphite blocks may explode after being dropped into the reactor, they may not be exploded directly on the roof as a mean of their removal. 6. Using kraken drives to propel your rover is prohibited, as the whole point of this challenge is dealing with the problems within time and resource constraints. 7. Please let me know if your submission is stock + DLC or uses some other mods for ease of organization 8. For obvious reasons, the rover must be unmanned. No Kerbals can come close to the reactor, they are already green enough as they are. The points for each section will be awarded according to these rules: Section 1 - Delivery Number of points is the value of the following function: ceil(max(300 - your_time [sec], 0) / 2) Section 2 - Landing the rover Number of points is the value of the following function ceil(max(120 - your_time [sec], 0) * 4) Section 3 - Returning the carrier craft Number of points awarded is 40 - if the carrier aircraft is landed undamaged at the KSC 0 - otherwise Section 4 - Clearing the roof Number of points is the value of the following function 100 * blocks_removed HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY First, you should download the savefile containing the powerplant set up in the correct spot. It can be found here: https://filebin.net/h67zuoh36flmrfpz Afterwards, after creating your entry you should either film your run, or document it via screenshots. If you choose to go with the screenshot route, please provide the following: 1. Screenshot of your crafts on the KSC runway at the beginning of the mission 2. Screenshot of your arrival within the 150m perimeter with the HUD enabled 3. Screenshot of your carrier craft departure with HUD enabled (if you choose to retrieve it) with the rover on the roof visible in the shot, or just a picture of the rover on the roof if your delivery method is expendable 4. Screenshot of your carrier craft landed (if you choose to retrieve it) with HUD enabled 5. Screenshot of your rover on the roof with amount of electric charge remaining at the beginning of cleanup visible 6. Screenshot of the roof after your electric charge runs out with all remaining graphite blocks visible If you have any questions regarding this challenge, feel free to ask them via messages or here in the thread itself. Have fun and good luck on your journey. If you feel that any of the rules or point awarding mechanisms need tweaking please let me know! Be wary that the power plant building contains almost 1100 parts so you may experience quite a bit of lag. This is kind of offset by the fact that the model is static and the game does not seem to lag quite as much as with most mobile spawned high-partcount crafts. With a GTX1050 and 8GB of RAM I was able to keep the FPS at about 20-25 at all times and I could execute the mission without too many lag-related issues. I will prepare a proper badge for all participants and will post it here in a few hours. Cheers. c: STOCK LEADERBOARD 1. Cela1 - 1594 pts (134 + 420 + 40 + 1000) 2. jinnantonix - 1532 pts (140 + 352 + 40 + 1000) 3. ----------------------------------------------- 4. ----------------------------------------------- 5. ----------------------------------------------- 6. ----------------------------------------------- 7. ----------------------------------------------- MODDED LEADERBOARD 1. ----------------------------------------------- 2. ----------------------------------------------- 3. ----------------------------------------------- 4. ----------------------------------------------- 5. ----------------------------------------------- 6. ----------------------------------------------- 7. -----------------------------------------------

It's been a while I’m designing some VTOL aircraft. I usually use tilting engines with the BG servos, the biggest challenge is attitude control. Using engines gimbal would help a lot here. Gimballing is automatic and works just fine when the engines are pointing backwards on level flight, but when I tilt the engines downwards for VTOL flight the gimballing gets all messy and doesn’t work the way it should. I know it can work pointing down if I set control to point up, like If I click “control from here” in a dorsal docking port, but then I loose situational awareness and it get’s really hard to fly as yaw and roll control switches place. Is there a way to manually edit gimballing to point the way I want?

Tilt-jet employs jet engines capable of moving to angle their thrust between downwards and rearwards positions in order to achieve VTOL ability. The best example for that and the only aircraft in service to this day is the F-35B. I have built my mine using 3 mods, infernal robotics, FuelWings and Tweakable Everything Continued. By using robotics to allow the engine to be positioned under the center of mass enabled by balancing the weight of the aircraft by adding fuel tanks to the wings and to the rear of the plane. RCS nozzles allow for the aircraft to balance itself in vertical flight. Get this model: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2614031073

Description Concept and Story The KDF K-61 Quetzalcoatl Strike VTOL Joins its older brother KDF K-91 Izanagi as the military’s newest Strike Aircraft. This all-around performer can take off from any platform via normal airstrip to aircraft carriers. Can be armed with 6 missiles (usable) for strike support and front-mounted gun (for show) reminiscent of designs from archived alien footage of the A-10 warthog from millennia-old records This craft is one of my favorite original military crafts to date. An Original design I borrow inspiration from one of my favorite strike crafts the A-10 and thought about what would it look like if the United States retired the original and made a new craft in the design process a mix between an apache and a A-10 and then said turn it into a VTOL. This craft comes fully stock (NO MODS) and only requires base game and DLC. I use custom flags which are required for my custom cockpit and design workflow for the VTOL jets. Gameplay Use the I and K keys to tilt the VTOL jets forward and back freely. Does not require locking as they are completely stable. Craft can fly stable to allow for formations for strike teams. (as shown in my demo video). If you start running low on power because of the lights either turn them off or enable Infinite energy. SAS on for consistent flight mechanics (Note: if using fly by mouse mod be careful of the way it handles in VTOL flight mode only recommended for forwarding flight if using that tool) RCS (default R key) Open and Shut Canopy for Pilots AG 1 Turns on and off Jets AG2 Switches Jet modes AG3 Controls from MK2 Drone (forward flight unmanned) AG4 Control from OKTO2 Drone (for radial out priority optional unmanned) AG5 Toggle back Landing gear (for extra support) AG6 Toggle LY-35 Ladder This is a very fun craft. Have fun flying Sortie missions and taking great screenshots! Downloads: Steam Default: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2568878420 Kerbal X: https://kerbalx.com/InterstellarKev/KDF-K-61-Quetzalcoatl Flags (required) Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sv5xi7cvkzritdn/KDF%20K-61%20flags.zip?dl=0 or Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18wyyoyGcxNeIoOMBGe723bQhsa3iqMZD/view?usp=sharing

Been working on this design for quite a while now, trying to find the perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality and I think I've finally done it! I would have liked to put together a video but I don't really have the time and skill to do that. To be honest I don't think this is even impressive anymore as more game changing updates have come. Imgur album detailing entire journey - https://imgur.com/gallery/FHxrjDr Takeoff - Landing on Laythe -

Journal on my DeviantART

The Arrow Queen, an Interplanetary VTOL SSTO (Breaking Ground required) The Arrow Queen is a Mk2 style spaceplane, designed for VTOL and delivers 6 kerbals and up to 2020m/s delta-V in orbit. This is enough to land on Mun (with a suicide burn, but margins are maximum 100m/s), Duna (no parachutes necessary, just aerobrake and use retrograde nuclear thrust, margins around 500m/s) or Minmus before continuing into the rest of the universe. It also includes an ISRU unit for some (slow) refuelling. For VTOL, it features 6 rotating hover engines that are stowed away into mk2 cargobays for horizontal flight. It was a lot of work balancing CoM, CoL, CoT together into a functional spaceplane. But I think the result is quite well balanced. Download The craft was the result of an experiment with a VTOL SSTO, and through many iterations it reached the current status. Feel free to improve its design anytime! Its deltawing shape means it's highly aerodynamic: As nuclear engines provide all of the delta-V from 30km+, reaching orbit is not easy. Here's a screenshot during a 3 minute burn to Mun (acceleration of around 4m/s, so patience is required): As delta-V for Mun is marginal, I recommend flying straight into Mun and doing a suicide burn (THANK YOU, MECHJEB). Don't start the landing burn too late: Once you have landed, it's ISRU time! (Take enough food for 60 days at least) Landing on Duna seen from the cockpit (after some serious aerobraking, retrograde nuclear thrust is the easiest, like on the Mun): https://imgur.com/1UrtT Also check out it's lighter, and easier (non-nuclear) sister for LKO operation, The Arrowmaker: Download Arrowmaker

Most people like to think big: Go big or go home. But how about going small? I 've designed a small VTOL. Hoverbike, Skycycle, whatever you call it, it's small (barely one ton), fast (It can cruise at up to 62 m/s, although ~55 m/s is advised), and with excellent endurance. And it seats two kerbals! Running on batteries is how I got it so small. twin rotors and SAS wheels keep it stable. Truth is, it's got more power than you'll actually need. *edit* how do I attach images? *edit2* fixed with KerbalX mod Here's the lowrider on KerbalX: https://kerbalx.com/lucho/Lowrider

Level: Intermediate/Advanced: You need to be able to slap together a plane that flies reasonably well before attempting a VTOL. Background reading: Start with the fantastic Basic Aircraft Design tutorial in this very forum. Craft used to illustrate this tutorial: BAK Cyclone BAK Karmilla BAK Drakula BAK Zephyr BAK Bumblebee What's a VTOL aircraft? VTOL stands for "Vertical Take-Off and Landing." A VTOL aircraft as discussed here is a craft that's designed to fly aerodynamically, using lift produced by lifting surfaces, but take off and land vertically. That's what this guide is all about, so we're not talking about VTOL rockets that don't make use of wings to produce lift. We're also not discussing helicopters here, because stock kerbals have not invented the propeller, and stock propellers are a whole big topic of their own. So this guide is about atmospheric craft designed to fly by making use of lift generated by wings, which can take off and land vertically by use of downward-pointing jets or rockets. This guide also applies to STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) aircraft which do their thing using downward-pointing jets or rockets, because they're pretty much the same thing. Their hoverjets just have a TWR of less than 1.0. Why VTOL? Because they're fun and educational and you can. Next question? No, seriously. Is there a point? There are a few missions for which a VTOL aircraft is ideal. Kerbin has some biomes that are difficult to reach any other way. The same applies to Laythe, although it has gentler topography. Finally, it is really difficult to land a HTOL atmospheric craft on Duna because of the thin air: you'll be going really fast and terrain is really bumpy, so there's a huge risk of ending up as a big ball of fire, whereas it's very hard to land a conventional rocket lander precisely, like when you're aiming for your surface base. On the other hand, atmospheric craft are superb for exploring it for the very same reason – you can scout for the perfect spot for your base, then land precisely there. A V/STOL atmospheric craft built for Duna can drop you on any dime, anywhere on the surface. But mostly, the answer is still "because they're fun and educational and you can." The BAK Cyclone hard at work on Duna. It's a flatbed freighter suitable for shuttling base modules to and from the surface. The cargo is near the centre of mass, but because it can shift, it's important to adjust the exact balance by tuning the power on the nose hoverjet... The basics At its core, a VTOL aircraft is a plain old aircraft, with downward-pointing jets that produce a TWR of > 1.0 with the vector centred on the craft's centre of mass, and some way of controlling its attitude when it is hovering, because control surfaces do nothing at an airspeed of zero. Getting all of this into one craft is a pretty intricate business, however. In particular, there's one constraint that needs special attention: centre of mass, and the invariance thereof, as you burn fuel. In other words, your fuel tanks need to be placed symmetrically around the centre of mass so it doesn't shift as the tanks dry, and you need to get your vertical thrust vector exactly aligned with said centre of mass. Regular HTOL aircraft can afford to be a bit sloppy with this because aerodynamic forces will effectively obliterate moderate shifts in CoM -- if your plane gets a bit more tail-happy as the tanks drain it's no problem, as long as your CoM stays ahead of your CoL. Mostly anyway. Not so with VTOLs: if the CoM shifts, you're not going to be able to land vertically anymore. Here's how you go about building a VTOL under these constraints. Build yourself a plane. However, don't put any fuel tanks on it yet, and empty any fuel-containing parts that you are using. Switch on the CoM and CoT overlays. Set the thrust limiter on your main engines to zero. Your CoT vector will disappear. Add enough downward-pointing jets to lift the plane, as symmetrically as you can around the CoM, in a minimum of two pods (fore and aft). (You can add more pods to the sides if your body plan permits it.) Adjust the thrust limiter on the fore (or aft) hoverjets until the thrust vector lines up with the CoM. Add fuel tanks symmetrically around the CoM. Add RCS jets to the bottom of the craft, at the nose, tail, and wingtips. Don't forget the fuel – Vernors need oxidant, the others need monoprop. (If you're building a very small craft, you can just use a reaction wheel instead. But that's less cool.) Set up your control scheme: one action group for toggling the hover jets, another action group for toggling the main jets, plus yet another one to toggle the hover jet bays, if you're using them (as you should). There, done. Simple, eh? Hoverjet design The first challenge you're likely to hit is choice of hoverjet. The second one is likely to be aerodynamics – if you just stick on some downward-pointing jets, you will find that they produce a lot of drag, which is going to be really inefficient. Your plane will be slow and have limited range, or you'll have to make it a lot bigger to brute-force your way around that limitation. The solution is to house the hoverjets in a cargo bay of some kind, with the doors opening downwards. That way you can tuck them away for normal flight, and expose them for hovering. There are lots of ways to make this work, but here are some designs I've used successfully: Juno in a Mk 1 utility bay. Stick it inside the utility bay, rotate it to point towards an opening, move it until it's completely inside. These are easy, pretty light, and you can add more of them – within reason – for more lifting power. Array of Junos in a Mk 2 cargo bay. This needs scaffolding: you need to put something in the cargo bay that lets you attach the Junos to it. A short Mk 2 bay will fit an array of 9 Junos, and a long Mk 2 bay will fit 18. That's a lot of lifting power – three Wheesleys' worth in the bigger bay! Also a lot of parts. I hope you have a fast computer. For rocket-powered hover, use Spark, Aerospike, or Vector (if you really need a lot of hover power). Terriers will also work on Duna. Sparks will fit in Mk 1 utility bays, the bigger ones will fit in the bigger cargo bays (Mk 2, 2.5m utility bay, Mk 3). Giving them air Air-breathing hoverjets need intakes. At this point you'll probably need to go back to the plane design you started with, because air intakes are dry mass and will shift the CoM as you add them. Hint: The engine pre-cooler and engine nacelle are fantastic air intakes, and they can be mounted in-line or combined with other elements. You don't have to use their fuel capacity – you might want to leave them dry if they're not symmetrical to the CoM. Hover control The main challenge for hover control is to keep the craft horizontal. If it starts tipping in one direction, you're really likely to flip over and crash dramatically, like a tree falling over. If additionally you can give it a controlled tilt and hold it there, then it'll start accelerating in that direction, like a helicopter. This can be most helpful when transitioning to or from level flight. Option 1: RCS RCS will get the job done nicely, and looks cool to boot. You will need more jets at the nose and tail than on the wingtips, as there will be more forces on pitch when transitioning to or from level flight. Your choice of RCS jet is the Place-Anywhere or the Vernor. You may need to add several on bigger craft. Option 2: Reaction wheels Reaction wheels will balance smaller craft just fine, but are probably insufficient for bigger ones. Managing centre of mass One of the most finicky problems with VTOL craft is managing centre of mass. In principle it's simple – just place your fuel symmetrically around the dry CoM, and centre your vertical thrust vector on it – but... how? Use wing-mounted engine pods on pylons. Engines are dry mass. Mount them on pylons on the wing, and it's easy to move them forward and back to fine-tune the CoM. Put fuel tanks outside your main stack. Wing-mounted tanks, wingtip tanks, drop tanks, and side-mounted tanks flush with the body all work, as long as they can be moved backwards and forwards relative to the dry CoM. If you don't mind a bit of clipping, you can even make the latter look pretty good by clipping them a bit in the body. It makes no functional difference, but if you consider it cheating, don't do it. Use a long, light tail section. Long tails are good for stability anyway. If you make a long, light tail, you can adjust the balance of the craft by making it slightly longer or shorter without adding a lot of weight or making big design changes. Body plans I've found a few body plans to be especially amenable to conversion to VTOL. They have in common that it's easy to tweak the balance by moving things around, rather than having to add or remove pieces. Twin-boom The twin-boom design is one of my favourites, largely because it looks cool. In a twin-boom design, you have one hoverjet at the nose, and one in each of the booms. Light craft have a single engine at the rear of the fuselage. Larger ones have additional wing-mounted pods. The BAK Karmilla. This one is balanced with reaction wheels. It uses six Mk 1 utility bay-mounted Junos for hovering. The BAK Drakula. A bigger twin-boom design using two arrays of 18 Junos on each boom and a single array of 9 on the nose. Twin-Pod A twin-pod design is similar to a twin-boom, except that it has a conventional tail extending from the fuselage. The hoverjets are housed in the big wing-mounted pods. The BAK Zephyr, a rocket-powered VTOL craft designed for conducting science missions on Duna. It is entirely powered by Terriers. The absurdly big wing and control surfaces make it highly economical for high-altitude supercruising. The BAK Cyclone, delivering a station module to Duna. Note the landing area markers. The Cyclone uses Aerospikes for propulsion. Rockets are much less efficient than air-breathers, so it needs to be much bigger than a Kerbin-bound craft performing the same mission! Control schemes and flight To fly a VTOL craft, you need to be able to perform the following actions, which must be bound to a an action group: Toggle the hover jets Toggle the forward jets Control attitude If you have full RCS control, you will additionally need control for that, and if your hoverjets are inside pods, you will want a control for toggling them too. Taking off The procedure for a vertical take-off is as follows: Hoverjet pods OPEN Forward jets OFF RCS ON SAS ON Hoverjets ON Throttle MAXIMUM When off the ground at a sufficient altitude to clear obstacles, main jets ON When at sufficient speed for aerodynamic flight, hoverjets OFF, pods CLOSED, gear UP The procedure for a short take-off is the same, except that forward jets and hoverjets will both be ON from the start. The craft will lift off once generated lift + hoverjet thrust overcome its mass. Landing To land a VTOL aircraft, approach the landing zone as you would with a regular HTOL craft, until on final approach. Then: Hoverjet pods OPEN Gear DOWN Throttle ZERO Main jets OFF Hoverjets ON Keep pitching up as you approach stall speed. When you're close to it, INCREASE THROTTLE until your rate of descent nears zero. Your airspeed will also fall. When your airspeed is low enough that aerodynamic control is getting sluggish, RCS ON, SAS ON. Control your vector primarily with pitch, and your descent rate with throttle. When your airspeed is near zero and you're above your landing spot, reduce throttle until you start descending. Touch down, CUT throttle, CUT engines, BRAKES ON. You've landed. ...and that's it really! I hope you've found this short tutorial useful. Have fun with your S/VTOL craft – and don't forget there are more ways to do them as well, including helicopter-like things that don't fly aerodynamically at all. My first VTOL craft was the Bumblebee, and it's still one of my favourites!

Hello, everyone! Recently, I took a break from my usual space-faring missions to build a new VTOL dropship. The Hummingbyrd VTOL has four Panther engines which are mounted on hinges that allow the aircraft to alternate between VTOL and forward flight postures. The decision to use Panther engines was made because of their ability to make instantaneous thrust changes via the afterburners, which helps tremendously when landing. The engine housings use two sets of small internal docking ports with one of each offset to the other engine to allow for each set of engines to remain coupled despite no actual axle passing through the engine mount. The downward-facing payload bay contains an extendable crew bench, allowing for quick on-loading and off-loading of passengers. The crew capacity is 10: two pilot seats and 8 seats in the payload bay. The vessel is 119 parts. Notice the highlighted docking port in the far engine housing, as well as the corresponding un-highlighted port in the near housing. Both are attached to the opposite engine housing, but remain docked to the non-offset port in the same engine housing. This prevents flight/aerodynamic forces from causing asynchronous engine rotation, leading to unbalanced thrust and instability. Shown above is the center of thrust, mass, and lift placement while in VTOL mode. While in this posture, all three are collinear in the dorsal-ventral axis. All tanks with fuel in them are laid out with symmetry front-to-back, allowing the C.O.M. to remain stationary regardless of fuel levels. This is critical for VTOL operations, as any significant deviation of the C.O.M. from the net thrust vector will cause a persistent pitch bias. Shown below is the center of thrust, mass, and lift placement while in forward flight mode. While in this posture, the C.O.M. is offset forward of the center of lift due to the redistribution of engine mass, leading to improved stability while in forward flight. The rear engine set is offset above the longitudinal axis to the same extent that the forward engine set is offset below, allowing the net thrust vector to remain in line with the C.O.M. Action Groups: AG1) Toggle engine orientation AG2) Toggle afterburners AG3) Toggle landing gear AG4) Toggle payload bay doors and piston lock AG5) Toggle piston extension Gallery: I hope you liked it! This ship is a joy to fly, and I highly recommend you try it out! Craft file: https://kerbalx.com/Jamie_Logan/Hummingbyrd Also, Check out my last mission:

Hello once again! Today I bring you, My latest attempt at an interplanetary VTOL SSTO. When launched fully fueled, it can reach LKO with ~2,200 m/s of delta-V remaining. From there, it can be flown non-stop to Laythe and back, using ISRU to refuel on Laythe's surface. The design is oxidizer-free, and the fuel tank layout preserves the C.O.M. position regardless of fuel levels. The engine layout includes two forward-fixed Nervas, four R.A.P.I.E.R. engines (two forward-fixed and two pivotable), and two pivotable Panther engines. When flying in VTOL mode, it's easiest to set the throttle to allow for a TWR<1 while the Panthers are running dry, and a TWR>1 while running wet. This will allow some fine throttle control by switching the afterburners on and off during landing. When flying to orbit: 1) Once off the ground (via either VTOL or STOL to save some fuel), set the pivotable engines forward (AG1) with the Panther afterburners off (AG2). 2) Activate the fixed R.A.P.I.E.R. engines (AG4). 3) Cruise up to ~10 km before turning on the Nervas (AG5). While this is normally a tad too low to be using Nervas, the ISP should already be 700+ and we'll need as much thrust as we can manage. 4) Once all jet engines flame out, shut them down (AG3 + AG4) and continue to push to orbit on the Nervas. The TWR will be fairly low once you're running on the Nervas alone, so pitch up slightly to keep your time to AP around a minute. Eventually, when your orbital velocity reaches ~2,300 m/s you'll be safe to cruise to AP and circularize. Action Groups: AG1: Toggle VTOL engine pivots AG2: Toggle Panther afterburners AG3: Toggle VTOL engines AG4: Toggle fixed R.A.P.I.E.R.engines AG5: Toggle Nervas Gallery: I really hope y'all liked it, and if you want to try your hand at flying it, you can download the craft here: https://kerbalx.com/Jamie_Logan/Fenghuang-H-77 Also, check out my last build!

SPARROW HT-101 and LT-101 Custom Cargo Lift DropshipCustom cargo lift. use L and J to control lift and drop.Use I and K to control VTOL tilt4 standard rotors controlled by main throttleAG 10/0: Controls Panther Engines.AG 5: Toggle R.A.P.I.E.R EnginesAG 9: Switch Mode Panther EnginesAlso Bonus: comes with a free emergency rover tucked underneath top cargo bayHT- 30.34m / cargo lift (HEAVY) KERBALX: https://kerbalx.com/InterstellarKev/SPARROW-HT-101-VTOL-CUSTOM-CARGO-LIFTSTEAM: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2051297280LT- 22.84m / cargo lift (LIGHT) KERBALX: https://kerbalx.com/InterstellarKev/SPARROW-LT-101-VTOL-CUSTOM-CARGO-LIFTSTEAM: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2051302109

Description Phaethon Dynamics is back with its new evolution in luxury space flight with Arrow of Indra PD-04AI. If Garuda’s Lance was the cutter of the stars then this is surely its Corvette. Featuring 36 Thudd Engines VTOL,16 LV-N, 2 Skipper, multi layer Vernor engines, 2 Reverse Thruster Aerospike and 8 O-10 RCS Engines. True to Phaethon name to get the best use of this machine you need to enable god mode (infinite fuel) for full fun. Really meant to be used in space. can be used on and around kerbin just fine but you may want to enable unbreakable parts if you are a clumsy flyer. Please enable RCS and SAS recommended when in flight. AG1: LV-N Engine Toggle AG2: Skipper Engine Toggle AG3: Thudd Engine VTOL AG4: O-10 RCS Engine Toggle AG5: Low gravity flip assisted O-10 Engines AG6: Reverse Thruster Aerospike AG0: Toggle Cargo Bay with 2 dock ports (JR and REG) Texture mods used in images with mod TexturesUnlimited (not needed to download) Part Count: 555 Pure Stock Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2040307881 Kerbal X: https://kerbalx.com/InterstellarKev/Arrow-of-Indra

I present to you the PteroTaxi (breaking ground required) 5 seats (including pilot), easy to fly VTOL. (because I say so) Fuel-cell powered (max speed 210m/s@3500m), or solar panel/battery powered (max speed 108m/s@3500m). 6Hrs+ fuel-cell power (but if the fuel tanks are completely fuelled up, then way more) Water & Mountain landings approved. Throttle controls both Blade Angle and Torque: power saving mode (solar panel/battery only) is < "1 notch above 2/3 throttle". High power mode is > "1 notch above 2/3 throttle" (fuel-cells automatically provide power). Keybindings: 1 - "VTOL-mode" vs. "Flight Mode" 2 - Start/Stop Engines 9 - Ladders Have fun, and tell me what you think! Here's the link: https://kerbalx.com/Janus92/PteroTaxi

D20-TC Goose Dropship Designation 20-Troop Carrier Description Details Type: SPH Class: ship Part Count: 473 Pure Stock The D20-TC Goose Dropship 20-Troop Carrier is our new carrier that will now support light medium and heavy transportation around Kerbin and hopefully around other atmospheric planets. The D20-TC Goose comes standard with 16 merged J-404 Panther Engines using new noclip technology spawned from a local transwarp gate that some big guy wearing green armor happens to drop taking off the head of a what looked like a demonic creature. Nevertheless this has enabled great TWR to support heavy VTOL applications unlike what we had in past models. Also unlike past models we have increased usable space with transport by creating a completely custom cargo bay with built in fuel MK2 Tanks to complete the roof of the Goose. This has increased space and usability. Also in Cargo bay includes a arm for multi use applications and dc Jr x2 ports one on cargo wall one on arm. Outside ports include x2 ports on under belly and chest for fuel and transport. Have tested so far by lifting and carrying the Kerbal Mech Suit to Desert Base for Training facility as well as taking back Bob’s Warthog. Very Stable flight can land pretty much everywhere. Able to carry (tested up to 34 Tons) Flight Controls Press AC1 to Hover VTOL Mode. At full throttle it will raise gradually. Press AC2 will increase speed with wet mode. Press AC3 to toggle forward flight Press AC4 to close cycle AC1: Toggle Panther AC2: Switch Panther Mode AC3: Toggle R.A.P.I.E.R. Engines AC4: Switch R.A.P.I.E.R. Engines AC5: Toggle Customer Bay and Cockpit/Ladder AC6: Toggle Docking Bay Stop Guard AC7: Toggle Cargo Arm Dock Jr. Oh yeah PS we are actually getting Bob a new Vehicle for his Birthday so we included his Warthog in the back for free so have fun with it! Don’t tell BoB! A stock aircraft called D20-TC Goose Dropship. Built with 473 of the finest parts, its root part is adapterEngines. Built in the SPH in KSP version 1.9.1. Download Kerbal X: https://kerbalx.com/InterstellarKev/D20-TC-Goose-Dropship Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2014189900

Spear of HorusDisclaimer(needs breaking grounds for robotic parts)(to match graphics shown in screenshots make sure you have downloaded stock only version or restock) *not restock+ (this is optional not needed this is fully stock)Controls:USE I and K to tilt Vtol wings Forward and BackDual VTOL technology.|( KAL-1000 mapped to Main Throttle: Control Fan Pitch/Deploy and Speed )||( AG1: Toggle 8 Juno Engines )|Throttle|( Dual Juno (AG2: Toggle Engine )||( Panther (AG3: Toggle Engine )||( Panther (AG4: Switch Mode )|Decouple|( AG5: Decouple Node ) Decouples from node for the first time )||( AG6: Undock Node *available after using AG4 at least once to redeploy after successful redock )|Part of InterstellerKev’s Phaethon Dynamics series:Short Story -The head of a falcon and the body of a mere man was really the sky god once known as Horus the deity of past Kerbal History. Once said to fly all day and night.They said he held a spear called The Spear of Horus. Reading ancient hieroglyphs contained some old Blueprint for his Spear of Horus! It turns out it is a Flying Vehicle of some kind?!Ground breaking theories are now shattered. We have to rewrite history. Questions like “did aliens come down and help build the monuments that still stand today are now more concrete. KerbalX: https://kerbalx.com/InterstellarKev/Spear-of-HorusSteam: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1983151486

Halo Inspired Craft Capable of VTOL this is the MKI Variant with cluster of engines on rear. MK II Variant with Rapiers still in testing phaseCraft File: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1963572147Kerbal X: https://kerbalx.com/InterstellarKev/Aloy-Over-Horizon-I

Next Chapter in Phaethon Dynamics vision for the Kerbal System Introducing Garuda’s Lance, this fully capable Cutter can seat 17 passengers, Low Gravity VTOL, Refillable self sufficient Craft. Stock with DLC content. ACTION GROUPS Activate Thud Engines Activate Reliant engines Activate Cub VTOL Engines Toggle Drill Position for Refueling Toggle Radiator and Solar Panels Toggle Wheel Landing Gear Toggle Legs Landing Gear Kerbal X - https://kerbalx.com/InterstellarKev/Garudas-LanceSteam - https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1976592164