Me163 Komet

[Scarecrow88]

I've had fun designing a number of aircraft in KSP, relishing the challenge of actually getting them to fly without too many vices. Up to this point all my creations have been of my own design, but for the most part I do like them to appear as if they could have existed in real life. Indeed some have ended up bearing a passing resemblance to actual craft, though generally this has been as a happy coincidence.

For this craft, I actually set out with the intention of making a proper replica, and then discovered that it's a lot more difficult than you think, so all Kudos to you guys that have built some amazing replicas that have appeared in the Exchange thread.

The craft here is my attempt at recreating the Me 163 Komet, or as close as my limited abilities will allow me to get. I am not entirely happy with the area around the cockpit, but can't think how I can improve it. The purists will also say that the tail end is not tapered enough, and of course the original didn't use retracting undercarriage. I did try using a drop away dolly, but it wasn't very elegant, and the skid on the bottom of the craft isn't very durable, which meant that all landings ended with a big explosion.

In the interests of giving the pilots a fighting chance of completing each flight in one piece, this craft features normal landing gear. To be fair, I did try to make it look like a dolly on the ground, and you can't see it in flight when retracted, so I am happy with this particular compromise.

As far as flying the 163 goes, it's pretty docile. Take off speed is around 100 m/s, flight duration is limited, as per the original. Keep the wings level when landing due to the narrow undercarriage, and be careful with use of the brakes on the ground to avoid nosing over.

Hope you enjoy it.

Download craft file

[_Bugs]

Could use a little bit more wing area near the engine, but other than that, it looks really nice.

[eorin]

It's a really good looking replica, BTW welcome in the world of replicas!

[Specialist290]

Can't say I've seen too many Komet replicas hereabouts. Props for both choosing a unique design and for keeping it quite faithful to its real life profile

[Yukon0009]

I've actually built one back in 0.25, link in my sig, but nice job anyways!

[Dook_net]

I always liked this craft from ww2. I feel it needs more thrust to emulate the real thing. Although that may prove difficult in kerbal while keeping the aesthetic spot on. Cool craft, i might work on the back end for myself

[Scarecrow88]

I always liked this craft from ww2. I feel it needs more thrust to emulate the real thing. Although that may prove difficult in kerbal while keeping the aesthetic spot on. Cool craft, i might work on the back end for myself

If you do I'd be interested to see what you can come up with.

[Wanderfound]

I always liked this craft from ww2. I feel it needs more thrust to emulate the real thing. Although that may prove difficult in kerbal while keeping the aesthetic spot on. Cool craft, i might work on the back end for myself

Not intended as a replica, but inspired by the Me163:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1699318&viewfull=1#post1699318

Might be useful for inspiration.

[panzer1b]

I think this is sofar the best 163 replica ive seen. Its not perfect, but considering that we still dont (and prolly never will as devs are against it) have procedural wings, not a bad replica.

Ive actually tried creating replicas way back, but all of them ended up excessively complicated, or just refused to fly. I tend to build for efficiency (part count is my major limitation), so my replicas are either limited to very simplistic, or just useless outside of taking screenies.

Now most of my designs that are even influenced by movies/real life/games/whatnot, are just that, influenced, and i tend to take too many shortcuts to cut down part numbers.

[Scarecrow88]

I can emphasise with that. A few versions ago, I built a Harrier jump jet. Given the limitation of the parts we had then, as well as not having the translation and rotation tools that we have now, I thought it was half decent and actually flew quite well. Unfortunately when they introduced the new wing parts and control surfaces in .90, it was no longer compatible. I recently built another Harrier using .90 parts, but it was done without referencing any photos or drawings, so is more a representation of what I remember a Harrier looks like rather than a proper replica. The important thing with that particular craft is that it conveys the feeling of a Harrier and flies well, so I'm happy with that.

[Nik_601]

Nicely done! You reminded me of my old Komet replica..

[Scarecrow88]

Lol, love that. That's a real Kerbal Komet.