long range tactical bomber challenge

[BoobyTrapGaming]

So I saw a challenge in this forum where you have to make and extremely heavy bomber to fly to a peninsula on kerbin and deliver an extremely heavy payload there.

Now i was thinking of another bomber challenge, though not as heavy.

The concept is as following: you have to build a bomber that can fly to the other side of the planet and back. On the other side there is a little island. you have to go there and deliver your payload there.

The island is found in the green circle.

the main objectives are:

1. Build a bomber that can fly to the island and back.

2. Deliver any payload at the island.

3. Land back at the KSC.

there are some rules:

1. You may not use too much part clipping. slight clipping is okay, so long as you don't do things such as hiding wings within wings and hiding control surfaces within the body of the aircraft.

2. You may not use reaction wheels or RCS thrusters in atmosphere below 40.000 meters. Just activate them using an action group. EDIT: You may use reaction wheels during VTOL flight since otherwise proper VTOL control is very hard to achieve. do NOT use them at speeds exceeding 25 m/s of surface speed.

3. You may use any engine available. you are allowed to go into space(you can go to jool on the way there for all I care) to get to the target and back.

4. You may not use mods(aesthetic mods are allowed, since they don't alter the actual gameplay).

Your score will be calculated using a points system. please calculate your score and show me how you calculated it, so I can check it.

• You will get 100 points for completing the main objectives.
  
• Every minute you spend from start to landing back at the KSC will count as -1 point. when you have landed, simply click the revert flight button and make a screenshot: it will show the total flight time there.
  
• The payload delivers points. this will be calculated as following: weight(tonnes) X speed(surface m/s) X (amount of bombs/missiles X 1.2) : 50
  You may carry bombs or missiles, It doesn't matter. If they can be guided into a target with control surfaces or RCS or whatever, your score doubles.
  
• maintenance costs points: every part is -0.1 points.
  

There are also some secondary objectives: these deliver extra points and the list might be updated with your suggestions.

• +0.1 points per m/s of maximum airspeed when flying under 500 meters above sea level when fully loaded.
  
• +20 points for the bomber that can complete the mission the fastest.
  
• +30 points for VTOL capability.
  
• +15 points if it is capable of destroying the VAB(you may use a different payload than the payload for the actual mission for this one).
  
• +10 points if the bomber can be refueled on the runway.
  
• +25 points if the crew can safely get in and out on the runway.
  
• +50 points if all the above objectives are complete, EXCEPT for the first and second objectives.
  
• +60 points if you come up with some sort of aiming system for bombs that are not guided. it does not have to be too accurate at all.
  

The contest ends the first of august, so you have lots of time to come up with something. In the meantime I will make and update a scoreboard of the best 5 submissions. I recommend that you record the whole thing using a screen capture demo, for example bandicam. You may also do this with screenshots. If you can provide us all with a download of your craft that would be nice too.

EDIT: you may use multiple submissions, but please don't make them too similar. there have to be major differences, not just version A or B. If you wish to post a later version, please delete the post with the old version first and notify me in you new comment that this replaces an old version.

Good luck!

Edited March 23, 2015 by BoobyTrapGaming

[Jakalth]

Is this challenge limited to 1 submission or can we make more then one entry? Asking cause I could get this started with a smallish ssto light tactical bomber. And if it works out, a larger tactical bomber carrying a single, 21 ton, multiple warhead, "nuke", guided bomb.

[BoobyTrapGaming]

I have edited the post a little, you can find the rule in the bottom.

furthermore, seeing what you did with the other bomber challenge I am very excited to see your design!

[Jakalth]

Light tactical bomber is on hold for now. But the medium bomber is going... not quite smoothly... but working so far. I have a sneak preview of the yet to be named medium tactical bomber. It is already capable of taking down the VAB but still working on it's SSTO ability.

Fully VTOL capable already. Though the vtol controls are difficult to say the least... Flies far better once it's forward speed exceeds 22m/s, or it is launched in VSTOL mode. Not going to say what the antenna are for just yet...

And a quad core "nuke" loaded for combat.

One issue though. Without reaction wheels/RCS, VTOL is nearly impossible to control. Control surfaces do not give any control to the craft unless it is moving fast enough to get airflow over them. How about a little bone and allow reaction wheel usage during vtol ascent/landing(below 25m/s forward speed with vtol engines on only), but have to be turned off during remainder of atmospheric flight? And using VSTOL also requires that reaction wheels be turned off since flight is achieved at speeds above 25 m/s.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Jakalth

[Hodo]

It is unfortunate that your challenge doesn't make use of BDArmory.

Because I have a slew of craft that could do this challenge. Some better than others.

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[BoobyTrapGaming]

I am once again not dissappointed in your craft!

I really want to build one for myself as well but unfortunately I am having trouble with my graphics card. if I manage to fix the problem I will build one myself!

- - - Updated - - -

It is unfortunate that your challenge doesn't make use of BDArmory.

Because I have a slew of craft that could do this challenge. Some better than others.

http://imgur.com/a/2JLL4

well I don't like BDarmory too much because it's just too easy to strap a million missiles and bombs onto your planes with that. you can still post your craft, but they will not be in the main leaderboards. try to edit them a bit for the stock challenge so you can actually enter the main leaderboards.

[Jakalth]

... As a VTOL, the bomber I showed works fine. As a conventional bomber, it works great. But as a SSTO it completely fails... not enough fuel, completely messed up and confusing fuel usage...(right side rocket was burning fuel from left tank even though it is not connected to it and there is no way for fuel to be transferred between the left and right tanks) and worst of all, uneven thrust even though center of thrust is perfectly lined up and all engines are outputting the same amount and using fuel at the same rate. Damn broken thingies...

Back too the drawing board... and this was looking to be a very nice medium bomber...

If anyone wants to try playing around with the bomber, the craft file can be found: Here

Update: Got a replacement bomber on the way. It's already orbit capable, carries two bombs that weigh nearly as much as the bomber its self. It's fairly maneuverable even with full load. The Bomber is not vtol capable atm, might change that if it does not cause negative effects on the bombers ssto capability. And, it is smaller then my last attempt. Should have something worth posting within a few days, after some more extensive shake down testing. Lastly, the bomber is a bit unconventional in how it operates.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Jakalth

[Jakalth]

Success! The flight of the Spaceplane Madrid went off without a hitch. The Madrid is a Light SSTO Bomber carrying two Hemostat Cruise Missiles. It successfully flew the two missiles into orbit where they completed the mission of attacking the island as well as the bonus of attacking the VAB, in the same run. Note: VAB was destroyed in separate run using in flight launched hemostat missile with a full load of fuel. Orbital attack was not enough to destroy the VAB. The Madrid then deorbited and returned to the KSC runway for a safe and uneventful landing.

The whole mission is shown through a storyboard of pictures: HERE.

My Boys were happy to fly the mission.

For the meat of the contest:

Completed the mission: +100 points.

Mission time, 1h 21m approx: -81 points.

Payload: (22tons(bombs only) x (230m/s fastest speed I can confirm with pictures before impact) x (2x1.2) x 2(guided missiles)) : 50 = +485 points

Maintenance, 200 parts: -20 points.

Max speed 500 meters, 143.8: +14 points.

fastest mission time: nope 0 points.

Vtol?: nope 0 points.

Destroy the VAB: barely +15 Points.

Refuel on runway: derpy refueler... check. +10 points.

Exit/Embark crew: yep +25 points.

all objectives: nope 0 points.

Bomb sight: yep, got that covered. +60 points.

Total: 608 points. A start for this competition at least.

Bombs reached an unconfirmed speed of over 300 m/s before impact, but I have no picture to confirm this so can't use it...

Bomber has minimal part clipping. Only clipping is for reasons of looks. The Reaction Wheels on the cruise missiles were turned off by staging, until going orbital, and they are the only ones on the bomber. I do have KER and VOID, both of which were turned off for the mission. I also have Mech Jeb, but that was not used for the mission either. Completely stock run in every way.

The SP Madrid is available for download: Here.

Flight controls:

Make sure the Rapiers are set to manual switch and in airbreathing mode.

Use SAS, you'll need it.

1 key: turns on the jet engines, turns off the rockets on the missiles. Also turns off the reaction wheels.

2 key: turns off the jet engines, turns on the rockets on the missiles, switches the rapiers to closed cycle. Also turns on the reaction wheels.

0 key: deploys/retracts the 3 antenna for the nose mounted bomb sight.

Missiles require manual separation.

RCS is for orbital maneuvers and missile separation only.

switch control on missiles to the inline drone core once you separate them.

The vertical fins on the missiles are the bottom of the missile.

Edited March 27, 2015 by Jakalth
corrected point score.

[BoobyTrapGaming]

about the payload score: take a look at how heavy the load is(tonnes). then multiply that by the speed at which it hit the target(m/s). then multiply that by (the amount of bombs times 1.2) then divide that by fifty. there you have the payload score.

furthermore, I fixed the issue with my graphics card, so I will soon be attempting this as well.

[BoobyTrapGaming]

alright, this seems to be a dead topic. I think I scared people away with the overcomplicated scoring system that made no sense. I am closing this topic, although I might soon make a smilar but less complicated version of this.

[Jakalth]

Try rewording the payload score to something like this:

payload mass(tons) x payload impact speed(m/s) x number of bombs/missiles carried by bomber x 0.02

this score doubles if bombs/missiles can be guided into the target using RCS or control surfaces

simplifies the wording without having to change the scoring much. multiplying by 0.02 is the same as dividing by 50.

dropping the 1.2 per bomb/missile doesn't really effect the total score of the bomber by much. I'll correct my score to whatever you choose to do.