Kerbin Circumnavigation 1.0.2 - Aviator Challenge

[BurningLegion]

I could have sworn I had that in the rules. Sorry, it was intended to be that way.

Yeah. I didn't see that in the rules either, which is why I was using turbojet drones. I'll update my design, and maybe land it this time.

[Xannari Ferrows]

Mission success! Wow, maybe I should've put up a warning, notice, or something...

Not going for super fancy of achievements or anything. Just a compact plane with enough fuel.

Maybe I should've taken the F3 before the cinematic shot...

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Touchdown at: T+01:23:37

Mass of plane: 6.679 Tons

Rest of the information is on F3

[i also discovered that Mechjeb messed up my mojo. Darn you, science!]

Edited June 11, 2015 by Xannari Ferrows

[Triop]

Thanks Fengist.

Can "lowest amount of fuel used" be a category ?

Hope to be back soon with a faster plane and time...

Edit: Right now I am testing my new creation and its looking good

Edited June 12, 2015 by Triop

[Pandemic]

Managed to get 3 rotations of Kerbin. Landed with 22.9 fuel left out of 1090.

Ship name: Aaro

Highest Altitude: 13,000m

Highest speed: 215m/s

Total mission time: 3 days, 4 hours, 31 min, 4 sec

3 trips around Kerbin

http://imgur.com/a/Hu8mZ

Needless to say the temp gauge bug didn't bother me.

Edited June 12, 2015 by Pandemic

[t3hJimmer]

Okay, I made and entirely new design. Almost made 3 trips around Kerbin, but I ran out of fuel with 500km to go and was forced to land 350km from KSC. Ohh well, I'm still pretty happy with how far I made it.

"The Moonstar" is a twin turbojet plane with room for 2 passengers.

Takeoff Weight: 20.7 tons

Part Count: 20

Wingspan: 11.5 m

Length: 15.3 m

Fuel Capacity: 2380 units

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I followed the equator retrograde [270°], 2 complete circumnavigations.

Total Mission Time: 3 hours, 3minutes, 3 seconds [03:03:03]

Ground Distance Traveled: 10,266,369 m

Highest Altitude: 25,112 m

[imthebait]

Just a little info for everyone, if you're flying with a decent autopilot, the more unstable your plane is, the faster it will go and as long as you're above mach three that means more efficiency. I'm currently working on yet one more velocity craft, (i know, but I love the challenge), and what I've found is

1 keep parts to a minimum, especially wings, it significantly reduces drag and you can go faster, my fastest planes have been less than twenty parts. In addition, use significantly less intakes than you think you need, 1 ram scoop at mach 4 provides enough air for two turbos.

2 fly as low as you can without exploding, I cruise at about eighteen kilometers, you might burn a bit more fuel, but if it's speed you want, going lower is less distance to travel, and you travel much faster, of course this only is really feasible with speeds above mach 4 or else you'll run out of fuel

Anyways, fly dangerously guys, and good luck to all future entries

[Triop]

@imthebait

Great tips, right now I'm screwing up big time with my over-aired design

http://imgur.com/9Iq7dwr

...And I feel the need for speed !

Edited June 12, 2015 by Triop

[BurningLegion]

I'm consistently failing at everything that isn't a drone But I downloaded Pilot Assistant, maybe if my crappy flying isn't an issue anymore my actual designs may prove sound.

[ExaltedDuck]

Interesting tips. I expect my entry could have gone several minutes faster, perhaps even under an hour with more consistent piloting. But I'd rather go buy a flight stick than tell the computer how to fly for me. I see designing/building the craft as only half the challenge. The more important part is the flying. Especially in something like this, it is a challenge against the human condition to remain alert throughout an occasionally tedious flight. (I forgot to mention before that my submission was 100% vanilla with no additional helpers beyond SAS. I even avoides warp time, although that was due to flight dynamics issue it causes with my entry craft)

It would be interesting to see the leader boards split to mod and no-mod categories.

[Triop]

My intake blowing up:

Yes, I am crying....So close...

Edited June 13, 2015 by Triop

[ExaltedDuck]

So I went ahead and downloaded some of those fancy schmancy robot piloting softwares and let it take the helm of my updated circumnav prototype.

My changes were to get rid of the outboard nacelles and leading edge intakes. Now the engines are fuselage mounted behind inline breathers (I think I used pre-coolers. not sure if their behavior is any different from the other intake). I also traded the vertical stabilizers for some fixed wing bits because I was having problems with every articulating winglet exploding after about 1500 km at speed. I took off facing hdg 270. I don't think it was much faster than facing down the runway and just pulling up past vertical. I guess it could save a few seconds.

Initial ascent was at about 35-40 degrees leveling down to about 10 degrees by 10000 meter to be able to reach >1100 by 20000.

Cruising speed was generally pretty close to 1200 and held between about 18500 and 21000 m and full 4x time accel was in effect from about t+90 s to t+55 min. I tried to bleed off speed as late as possible with a about -40 - -45 degree initial descent straight at the SPC from full altitude. Cut throttle at 17000m, applied brake from about 15000-10000, throttle up to hold mach speed down to about 3000 then level out. Came in a little too fast and late and rolled past end of the runway, but avoided any damage.

I might be able to shave a little more time off, but not without way more effort than I currently have the willpower to commit to. I'd rather get to work on a multilap circumnavigator. Anyway... final time 56 min 43 s.

Pudding:

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Edited June 13, 2015 by ExaltedDuck
words

[juzeris]

I've been working to see if I could improve my time and break that 40 minute barrier, and I finally did it. After several crashes (Bob survived, and has proven he is not a pilot), Valentina did it in 39:58 (F3 screen).

The craft is only an incremental upgrade over the old Dartagor, aptly named Dartagor 2 (download link). It is yaw-unstable at high speeds, but anything I'd put up to fix that kept exploding at the speeds it's going, so it ended up not fixed.

Honestly, I'm not certain I can break 39 minutes with anything I'd be willing to assert is an 'aircraft'.

Footage of the flight:

[Triop]

@juzeris Nice !

[imthebait]

I'm working on an aircraft capable of speeds above 1450 m/s but right now the limiting factor is stability on landing, unfortunately this craft needs to be flown almost entirely by auto, but I liken it to having an aircraft that is fly by wire.

Will post soon, I know I said this before at a much lower speed, but this time I'm pretty sure you can't go much faster with turbos without turning the craft into a rocket with no wings, the only thing I can think of now is just removing all wings and utilizing body lift alone with some small control surfaces.

Anyways one more point of advice is, if you're using pilot assistant turn off the reaction wheels in your vessel, they, for some reason, slightly increase angle of attack, and you can squeeze a few more m/s out of the crafts.

I've done inconclusive tests with gimbaling, but I'll get more info on that later.

Anyways, the Skybreaker X is on its way soon, if anyone wants to try and make a turbo based plane that can beat it, I'm all for a challenge.

[Pandemic]

I'm finished with the 3+ lap challenge. Velocity seems like a good one now.

[Triop]

Going for the velocity...Again.

Someday...I will be #1

Now I need to lay down for a while...

[Xannari Ferrows]

I really hate to overload you with work right now, but I've decided to join the velocity group, with 1 rule only: Keep it compact.

So, I've got just the thing. Not an award winner, but is the smallest velocity craft as of right now.

I really could've got this done in less than an hour, but my approach was horrid. Just a fair warning.

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[Triop]

@Xan How much fuel was in there ? 150 ?

Lol 29.969....close.

Edited June 17, 2015 by Triop

[Xannari Ferrows]

@Xan How much fuel was in there ? 150 ?

350 in total.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Okay, I'm 10 minutes in:

Lots of fuel clipping.

The plane.

I've been traveling at 1,000m/s, @20,000 with pilot assistant's help. I'm not going to have enough fuel.

EDIT:

The memory leak got me.

[Triop]

@ Emmett Brown; Nice looking plane (even upsidedown ), not enough fuel ?

How much was in there ?

Using a lot of fuel at take off is normal, you could have enough.

I don't like clipping unless it is done for looks, change the nose for the pointy fueltank, that holds 40 units...

Edited June 20, 2015 by Triop

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

@ Emmett Brown; Nice looking plane (even upsidedown ), not enough fuel ?

How much was in there ?

Using a lot of fuel at take off is normal, you could have enough.

I don't like clipping unless it is done for looks, change the nose for the pointy fueltank, that holds 40 units...

Thanks, it didn't have enough fuel, I might try the challenge again, but I just wanted to try with that plane, and yes, it does have 6 standard jet fuel tanks, but they are clipped into each other.

[Triop]

Thanks, it didn't have enough fuel, I might try the challenge again, but I just wanted to try with that plane, and yes, it does have 6 standard jet fuel tanks, but they are clipped into each other.

Why not just use the Flux Capacitor ?

Edited June 21, 2015 by Triop

[ExaltedDuck]

Why not just use your Flux Capacitor ?

Because that plane clearly doesn't have 1210000000 ElectricCharge.

[Triop]

Because that plane clearly doesn't have 1210000000 ElectricCharge.

88 Mph is all you need not ?

Edit: we forgot Plutonium which is not in the game yet...