I'll tell you what rockets do fly well now...

[Foxster]

...1950s rocket ships!

Streamlined and big control surfaces at the back. Perfect.

[Aerindel]

Yeah, I actually think thats pretty cool if you view Kerbal as the dream of 1960's spaceflight that never came true.

[LordFerret]

1950's rockets indeed!

http://www.freewebs.com/steamnoir/rockets.htm

[Kuu Lightwing]

Darn, it looks awesome.

How far can it fly, though? Is there any chance making an SSTO like that with at least some payload?

[Foxster]

Darn, it looks awesome.

How far can it fly, though? Is there any chance making an SSTO like that with at least some payload?

It is an SSTO, it can just make 100km orbit OK. No payload though. Would need to add a lifter for payload.

[ComradeWolfe]

Retro Space Program... Love it!

[Kagame]

Easily. Simple stuff like this lends itself very well to SSTO designs.

[delder92663]

Yes they do!!!

[gogozerg]

Cute!

Mainsail is so heavy, you need to find a shape that keeps the CoM high enough.

[KatzOhki]

Is that stock?

[gogozerg]

Is there any chance making an SSTO like that with at least some payload?

It can make to 70 km orbit or more with a small satellite in an Mk3 bay in the middle.

Edited May 4, 2015 by gogozerg

[Brotoro]

...1950s rocket ships!...

Nicely done. I give unto thee a kerbal snack.

[klgraham1013]

This is kind of awesome.

[Foxster]

Is that stock?

Yes it is.

[AbacusWizard]

Swanky!

[Herr Rictus Bingo]

Yeah space race with oldy style ! Great job

[Red Iron Crown]

I love the aesthetic of that rocket, nicely done!

[Kelderek]

My Tylo lander ended up having a retro look to it:

It looks better after the side boosters are decoupled. I was proud of this mission, I took 10 kerbals to Tylo and back to Kerbin and the vessel looked really cool too.

EDIT: I found a second image during the ascent. The ship managed to get to a 30x30 km orbit with about 200 m/s DV to spare for rendezvousing with its refueling tug.

Edited May 17, 2015 by Kelderek

[Michaelo90]

My Tylo lander ended up having a retro look to it:

http://i.imgur.com/Oq8lcTy.jpg

It looks better after the side boosters are decoupled. I was proud of this mission, I took 10 kerbals to Tylo and back to Kerbin and the vessel looked really cool too.

EDIT: I found a second image during the ascent. The ship managed to get to a 30x30 km orbit with about 200 m/s DV to spare for rendezvousing with its refueling tug.

http://i.imgur.com/vdHMLGx.jpg

Nice flag forest

[bogpad]

wow, nice one OP, I build a copy of it, and this works like a charm. It's easy as pie to get to a 100km orbit, and technically, I end up with enough fuel to return, only sad thing is that this thing blows up from reentry heat, need to fiddle around with it a bit more. but really, really nice, just strap on some docking ports for refueling, and this thing can go who knows where

[Superfluous J]

Cool, creative, works in 1.0.2, and is an SSTO to boot.

Question: How do you land?

[Bill Phil]

Answer: You don't.

Or spam parachutes.

[Kelderek]

The one I built for Tylo could not actually return to the surface of Kerbin. I used a passenger ship to rendezvous in LKO to bring back my 10 kerbals. The ship landed just fine on Tylo though. It just happened that an aerodynamic design to get off of Kerbin made for a cool retro-style look in space. I especially liked the way the Mk3 passenger cabin hatch worked on the side with a long line of ladders reaching down to the surface - that reminded me of every space cartoon I saw growing up.

[SkyRender]

I decided to see if I could make something semi-practical out of this concept. What I came up with is the Tinship:

It has about 485m/s dV left after reaching a stable ~73KM orbit. Flying it was interesting, as the fins kept wanting to rotate it. Eventually I just let them and went to orbit at a 45-degree rotation from how I started.

[magnemoe]

Answer: You don't.

Or spam parachutes.

Airbrakes help a lot, parashutes is a must but has very diminishing return. Far better to use the engine to kill the last 20 m/s, this cost 40 m/s dV.