The Kaddy Shuttle - Stock Shuttle Style Spaceplane

[MadChris48]

I submit to you the Kaddy Shuttle. 3 stages, 4 kerbal capacity (with options for ship customization), takes a shuttle with 2.9k dV to ~80km orbit.

There were a few challenges to building this ship, but the biggest in my opinion is balancing the weight with some clever fuel flow as the craft uses it up. I have it rigged so the bottom orange tank drains first, then to top. This keeps the weight in the front of the ship the entire flight and helps counteract the offset thrust from the skipper.

Full throttle off the pad. Launch is the new standard, turn a few degrees right of the pad and it almost flies itself to space. Usually just minimal input is needed to keep it on course. The SRBs stage ~8km. From there its a gentle turn and climb to space.

It gets a little unstable as the last of the fuel drains out of the orange tank and it isn't heavy enough to help keep the nose down. The last ~500 units of fuel in the orange tank the ship wants to pitch up. I put a vernor to help out that last bit, but its the only time you need it (along with some light throttling).

2.9k dV is enough to get to minmus, mun, or anywhere else in Kerbin's SOI and return. I've rescued multiple kerbals in one go with this ship.

Re-entry is super easy. This thing has so much surface area you can come in a little 'belly up' and it slows down quickly. She glides to a gentle touchdown every time. I'm rather proud of her balance.

The shuttle was built in the SPH then imported to VAB.

To get the thrust right, the Skipper has been rotated 1 Shift-click notch on the rotation gizmo.

To get the fuel flow right, it has a fuel line from the top tank to the shuttle, and from the bottom of the shuttle directly to the Skipper.

You can even replace a Mk2 fuel tank with a Mk2 cargo bay and it can carry a small payload to space. I've found I can play around with the number of cockpits and cargo bays with some decent variation of ships and equally similar/easy launches.

I even have a mini shuttle version using FL-T800 tanks with a Swivel as the core stage.

It is possible and I hope this inspires you! Its super rewarding to build a shuttle-like craft. Enjoy!

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Here is a dropbox link to the craft file. https://www.dropbox.com/s/5silxtyv132f27z/shuttle.craft?dl=0 I do have a couple mods on, but nothing that should break this craft in a true vanilla game. Let me know if it doesn't work and enjoy the ship!

Edited May 31, 2015 by MadChris48

[Lime]

Awesome rep for you!

Edited May 31, 2015 by Lime