[14.4][C7] A-Wing Aircraft

[vexx32]

This was basically a craft I cobbled together in an attempt to make a spaceplane that actually looked like it had real wings. I used C7\'s structural pylons for the wing construction, with 'wings' attached to the end... the actual result was quite surprising... it actually would 'flap' its wings like a bird when pitching up or down repeatedly (timed presses of pitch up/pitch down would cause it to flap). The end result is that this little plane can actually glide down from just about any height without a scratch; the wings give it enough lift to completely cancel out any vertical velocity and send you flying back up again, although if your lateral velocity is huge, it\'s going to be a problem. Also, the flapping motion is most noticeable with precision control OFF, and it can still handle relatively well without precision control, although one must of course be more careful when flying with some barbaric control systems. A joystick would probably make a better job of it than I could, but ah well.

I almost landed right next to the KSP runway (well, technically, I did land), but a few rear wing sections were torn off as they collided with the ground (whoops!), and as soon as I activated the brakes, it started tilting and went up in smoke.

This uses C7\'s latest flight pack, and the plugin version of the landing gear. It does a reasonably stable vertical takeoff, with two engines for balance as it takes off. These two extras can be jettisoned as soon as the plane clears the launch tower, as long as you remember to activate the smaller engines as well. I added them because it was somewhat unstable on the launch pad itself. I managed to glide down (with zero fuel) from around 12,000m back to KSP from the mountains/hills to the northwest, although the plane went up in smoke soon after the landing. I think it needs some landing gear on the wings, which I\'ve added but not yet tested.

I haven\'t attempted to go near space just yet, as it appears to become slightly uncontrollable in the upper atmosphere (above 20,000m it seems to get a bit out of control). I recommend flying with SAS on, although the only SAS module is C7\'s custom nosecone version. It tends to be a little difficult to control, otherwise.

Screenshots:

Craft file is attached. Enjoy!

(May 09):

Removed front-most control surfaces; they weren\'t doing much.

Altered wing structure

Landing gear placement changed for a more stable landing

[Tim_Barrett]

Wow, that\'s awesome! I like how the creative design also makes it an effecient glider with those wings.

It\'s rare nowadays to have a plane be kerbal and fly straight at the same time.

[vexx32]

Haha, thanks

I worked out that no matter how fast you\'re falling (and this thing doesn\'t tend to fall faster than about 150m/s in the vertical plane), the lift generated by the wings alone an negate that velocity entirely and send you up again xD

I\'m off to test whether the addition landing gear on the wings has made it more land-able. I do love the wing flapping effect, though )

[RedDwarfIV]

That is awesome. The engine arrangement looks cool too.

[vexx32]

thanks!

I\'ll just reupload a more stable version. I modified the wings slightly and altered the arrangement of the landing gear, so it\'s reasonably stable when landing.

I\'m considering giving the wings an upward tilt, so that they aren\'t so prone to colliding with the ground on landing. I\'ll upload the normal version now and do a bit of testing with tilted wings soon. I also removed the front-most control surfaces, as they were not doing a great deal.

[Tim_Barrett]

Quick question: Is the drag negligible? Because it seems like you are going pretty fast on no throttle.

[vexx32]

Not entirely certain on that point. The amount of fuel in the craft will get it to about 400m/s pretty quickly, but having all five engines running at max will consume the fuel pretty fast, so I haven\'t gotten too much faster than that.

The drag does appear to be pretty small, but I think that may be due to my using parts for things that were not really intended.

[Guest Flixxbeatz]

W I N G C E P T I O N

[vexx32]

Heh. Yep. I should make another version of this for 0.15... hmm. Should be interesting. Should I stick with the pylons, or actually use lift-generating wingboards?