The Low Tech Aeroplane Island Run!

[Squiggsy]

So I got this idea when I started a new science save and wanted to start building a plane as soon as possible, the basic premise of the challenge is to build a plane that can reach the island runway. But that would be too easy, so instead I want you to build it before you unlock wings, jet engines or landing gear.

only the first 3 tiers of tech are available, as well as "Basic Control"

In other words the available technology must fall within these tech nodes:

The Tech:

• Start
  
• Engineering 101
  
• Basic Rocketry
  
• Survivability
  
• Stability
  
• General Rocketry
  
• Basic Control
  

Obviously there are a few rules, as well as a multitude of ways to earn points:

The Rules:

• No Mods (apart from Kerbal Engineer) - no MechJeb, this must be piloted all by you, and nothing that changes the physics or aerodynamics of the game (no Kerbal Joint Reinforcement and no FAR, although if enough people want to use far I'll make a separate scoreboard) (no parts mods should go without saying, but I will specify it anyway)
  
• Your craft must be launched from the runway. (although not necessarily horizontally, more on that in the scores)
  
• You craft must be something that could be considered an aeroplane (not just a rocket, although I understand the distinction can get quite close when you have to be using rocket engines and only have winglets to play with)
  
• You must land at least in the vicinity of the Island Runway (and on land!)
  
• Your kerbal must be in one peace at the end of it!
  
• NO PARACHUTES (landing must be done without a parachute, or it'll mess up the scoring and make it generally less of a challenge)
  

The Scoring:

You will start off with 10 points, points can be scored and lost depending on certain things that are done throughout the flight and landing:

• -1 point for every part that does not survive the landing (so survivability is key!)
  
• -1 point for every decoupler used (real planes don't use em!)
  
• + 1 point if you make it in under 5 minutes
  
• + 2 points if you make it in under 3 minutes
  
• +1 point if you have more than 10 units of LiquidFuel left at the end of your journey
  
• +1 point for landing on the actual runway
  
• +1 point for keeping it simple (less than 20 parts)
  
• +2 points for taking off horizontally (not easy since there's no landing gear!)
  
• +2 points if you take a service bay with a Goo Experiment inside it and do the test upon landing.
  
• +2 points if you take and extra kerbal (and another 2 for each extra you take)
  

HARD MODE: this is for people who think this challenge is too easy and want to really add some difficulty to it

• +10 points if you take off and come back again! (I don't know if this is even possible, but please don't let that stop you)
  
• + 5 points if you manage it without using anything from the "basic control" tech node. (other than the inline cockpit) (that means no control surfaces or reaction wheel!)
  

Please provide evidence of your run, a picture of your craft in the VAB, on the Runway and on the Island Runway, as well as any other screenshots necessary to validate your score and a screenshot of the F3 window on landing when you make your post

If someone has a good idea for something that should be worth points before people submit a run then please go ahead, but I don't like the idea of adding extra scoring after submissions start because it makes it unfair for the people who have already participated.

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Here is my run as an example and also to set a baseline score for people to beat.

Scoring:

10 points to start

- 0 (nothing broke!)

+ 1 for more than 10 LiquidFuel remaining

+ 1 for landing on the actual runway

+1 for keeping it simple (19 parts)

Total score = 13 points

So there you have it, a modest score to set as a basis. This challenge was not designed to be hard in itself, however there is a lot of room to up the difficulty in order to achieve a high score, so it can be as easy or as hard as you like depending on how serious you want to get.

and on that note I will leave you with one final thing:

Most Importantly, have fun, and I can't wait to see your creations!

(and I will put a scoreboard up once people start submitting)

Edited May 24, 2015 by Squiggsy

[awesomeguy166]

I have almost got mine to work. (Having landing trouble) But, I think I can go to the Island and come back!

[Squiggsy]

I have almost got mine to work. (Having landing trouble) But, I think I can go to the Island and come back!

wheyyy! and herre I was starting to think no one was going to bother with this.

I tried to make one that went there and came back, I got close enough that I confirmed to myself it was possible (got there, landed, took off and got over half way back) but working out how to get that extra bit of distance proved very hard, I wish you luck! you will most certainly be top of the leaderboard