Korigame Stowable SSTO fits in a Mk3 Bay!

[Mister Dilsby]

Anyone who's seen my Duna mission or my Eve Rocks submission knows I like my ships to keep a nice clean line. So how do I do a Jool-5 ship with multiple landers that doesn't look like a fire extinguisher making love to a hat rack? This stowable SSTO for Laythe may be part of the solution.

I ran a quick test to see if I could make a working SSTO plane that can pack down to fit in a Mk3 cargo bay. So far, everything looks great! Here's the Korigame assembled, in atmosphere:

It's marignally stable, and I mean that in a good way, as in I can aim it anywhere and it tends to go that direction. When it does flip and spin, reaction wheels are enough to recover. SSTO on Kerbin with fuel to spare.

It comes in two pieces that fit together in a 5-segment Mk3 bay. Here's the assembly method:

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I was probably a couple of degrees off matching front to back but I don't think that will matter. I may also experiment with a triple mount of small ports to ensure perfect alignment every time.

I am also quite happy with the arrangement of RCS thrusters. Note the groups on the wingtips; one four-way thruster and two place-anywhere pods on each side gives full symmetric 3-axis control for the back end. Similar arrangement on the pilot section. My previous designs had four-way thrusters all around, and typically the top/bottom mounts were not symmetric due to obstructions like the vertical stabilizer.

Now all I have to do is invent a stowable Tylo lander

[Deutherius]

So, we've got a Base-in-a-box, Space-station-in-a-box, and now an SSTO-in-a-box. What's next?

[Mister Dilsby]

1. Put some ports in a box.

2. Put your ship in that box.

3. Make Jeb open the box...and that's the way you dooo-oo it!

[Columbia]

That can go to Laythe?

Regardless, very impressive! I like the simplicity.

[Mister Dilsby]

That can go to Laythe?

Not on its own, no! Sorry I didn't mean to imply that. It'll get carried to Laythe orbit in the Mk3 cargo bay of a large cruiser, and deploy from there.

[el_coyoto]

I really like the way you stuck it in the cargo bay, rear first.

Without foldable wings, I guess it's the only way to fit wings in a cargo bay, but it still made me chuckle...

[Mister Dilsby]

I really like the way you stuck it in the cargo bay, rear first.

Thank you! I also tried mounting to the side wall, but did not have enough room for the engine in that direction. An even more space-efficient arrangement would have been to put a pair of ram air intakes in the rear section on either side of the fuel tank, and change the inline cockpit/shock cone for a pointy Mk1 and an extra FL-T100.

[Tweety]

I have built something like that before for an egg challenge but mine was a whole plane in a mk3 cargobay, the idea of carry it in pieces is a very good idea that I may steal though. Ingenious.

Tweety

[Mister Dilsby]

I have built something like that before for an egg challenge but mine was a whole plane in a mk3 cargobay [...] Ingenious.

Thank you! Actually I looked in the Egg Challenge thread for ideas when I was trying to do this, and I do remember your Egg from that. I ended up going with the break-apart concept after realizing that none of the Egg ships looked both (1) Laythe-SSTO capable, and (2) as though they would have enough wing area for a dead-stick landing in V1. I could well be wrong on both counts, but am pretty pleased with how this ended up none the less.

[Tweety]

You're not wrong. While I think I could squeeze SSTO out of mine the whole new aero would most likely break it

Tweety