The K Prize - 100% reusable spaceplane to orbit and back

[Suzaku]

The Kerbin records bureau and Burwig Kerman are proud to present the first fully documented flight of EndlessWaves Industries new Single Stage to Orbit Plane, Model LXIII 'The Prancing Pony'.

Full set of images here, including closeups:

http://imgur.com/a/vsPcK

(mun trip was one way so it doesn't qualify for astrokerbal)

14 landing gear bays (14x0.5 = 7 tons)

18 Delta Wings (18*0.07 = 1.26 tons)

2 wing shaped boards (2x0.05 = 0.1 tons)

24 Turbo Jet Engines (24x1.2 = 28.8 tons)

24 200L Fuel tanks (24x1.125 = 27 tons full, 24x0.125 = 3 tons empty)

2 Large Rocket Engines (2x7 = 14 tons)

12 3200L Fuel tanks (12x18 = 216 tons full, 12x2 = 24 tons empty)

8 Fuel Ducts (8x0.05 = 0.4 tons)

24 Landing Legs (24x0.1 = 2.4 tons)

10 XL Parachutes (10x0.3 = 3 Tons)

1 RCS tank (1x0.5 = 0.5 tons)

6 RCS Thruster Blocks (6x0.05 = 0.3 Tons)

1 SAS (1x0.8 = 0.8 tons)

1 ASAS (1x0.8 = 0.8 tons)

6 Advanced Canards (6x0.04 = 0.24 tons)

2 Struts (2x0.05 = 0.1 tons)

1 Inline command module (1x1 = 1 ton)

Take off weight: 303.7 tons according to the parts list, 295.8 tons according to mechjeb.

Empty weight: 90-100 tons

Craft file: [ATTACH]32734[/ATTACH]

It's a little sensitive at takeoff, if you try and turn too fast it can flip out of control but other than that it's perfectly flyable manually and mechjeb is happy with it too. The design itself is pretty robust, although if you're landing with much more than 100 tons you'll probably need to slow it down with the engines.

Wow, that is a monster of brute force craft. You should be able to get far further with that much fuel. Have you tried adjusting the thrust to weight ratio?

The twin Nacelle design is excellent, even better than my twin-hull design. I think It might inspire my next line of SSTOs.

[boolybooly]

Big Thanks for the honor. I am very happy. xD

But I have a question, what do I have to do for the "Astrokerbal Distinction"? Because I thought I would get it for the Munlanding.

yes sorry blspblackdeath I got them mixed up, my bad!

EndlessWaves, wow that is big one, I think you got the new v16 maximalist record!

Edited September 10, 2012 by boolybooly

[vXSovereignXv]

My second attempt with the X-2. I say it went a bit better this time.

[TheCardinal]

Would you mind posting the craft file of the X-2? I'd love to try it once.

[Switchblade88]

Would you mind posting the craft file of the X-2? I'd love to try it once.

Same here, that looks to handle really well!

[EndlessWaves]

Wow, that is a monster of brute force craft. You should be able to get far further with that much fuel. Have you tried adjusting the thrust to weight ratio?

I doubt there's much gain to be made on the jet engines, I did a quick calculation and came up with a 5 ton saving if I replaced all of the little rocketfuel tanks with jet fuselage sections but you might have to keep some of them to avoid the bottom engines scraping on the ground.

Using mechjeb's auto ascent I get the following between rocket start and coasting to apoapsis:

Gravity losses: 700m/s

Drag losses: 400m/s

Steering losses: 400m/s

Speed gained: 1600m/s

I'm not sure what a typical efficient spaceplane would look like but those steering losses do seem on the high side to me.

A high ISP engine for space use would be nice, but I'm not sure how you'd disable the big engines without disabling the tanks or jettisoning the thrusters. I suppose ten aerospikes might work instead of the big engines but you'd have additional weight and drag even if you could find somewhere stable to mount them.

[bsalis]

I'm not sure what a typical efficient spaceplane would look like but those steering losses do seem on the high side to me.

My 2c is here

[vXSovereignXv]

Would you mind posting the craft file of the X-2? I'd love to try it once.

Ask and you shall receive. I removed the mechjeb part making it completely mod free.

[boolybooly]

Well played vXSovereignXv, that was a very precise landing. Congratulations on successfully completing the K Prize challenge mission. Your unwavering persistance has earned a well deserved place on the guest list for the party at the Dog and Booster aka the roll of honour and your precise landing deserves the special kudos of an Advanced Pilot Precision Award without a doubt.

[TheCardinal]

Ask and you shall receive. I removed the mechjeb part making it completely mod free.

Thank you very much, vXSovereignXv!

[zekes]

Alright..... Im going to clear my name and try again! THIS TIME I WILL MAKE IT!!!!

[Suzaku]

So I've managed to get a 400 ton SSTO into orbit, but landing with parachutes makes me feel dirty...

[Jakinbandw]

Well, I finally did it. I have a SSTO. Unfortunately I messed up my reentry and ended up a long way from where I wanted to. But I did make it down safely. I'll post a couple pics here, but I have a few idea's for a redesign that I am going to try.

Taking a Space Walk

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/195/screenshot8qi.png/

Successful Orbit

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/515/screenshot12xk.png/

Landing on the side of a hill

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/707/screenshot14f.png/

PS: What is the code for spoiler tags?

Edited September 11, 2012 by Jakinbandw

[zekes]

Hey, I keep consistently coming up with 1200m/s short of delta-vee to orbit... help?

[EndlessWaves]

PS: What is the code for spoiler tags?

[spoiler="Click this spoiler"]content here[/spoiler]

Hey, I keep consistently coming up with 1200m/s short of delta-vee to orbit... help?

Difficult to help without knowing anything about the machine. Generally you want as much weight to be fuel and rocket engines as possible with a minimum weight for the jets and everything else (although the jets should still be capable of lifting the ship to 10km+ alone).

Edited September 11, 2012 by EndlessWaves

[boolybooly]

Well done Jakinbandw on constructing your interesting spaceplane and completing the challenge. I like the open structure of the craft and the effective use of struts

So Suzaku did you land the 400 tonner successfully then? As far as I know there are no ethical objections to the use of parachutes!

All I can say Zekes is your spaceship needs more dV.

[djnekkid]

Its a good mission and a very precise landing but a little rough and explodey, even if you landed without the fireworks ditching the aerospike breaks the rules of the K prize because then it is only 99% reusable, I am guessing you knew the answer before you asked the question! Very definitely qualifies as a gate crash event however. Thanks for the video, liked the music and thanks very much for the credit

What about this attempt then? It is the exact same .craft, with the same crew. But this time they are veterans, and Jeb' is ven more brave then before.

Does landing on runway 27 give something higher then the "Advanced Pilot Precision Award"

Also, landing there were quite hard, so I had to save and reload a few times (I think that were the 5th or 6th attempt), hence the "a few moments later"

As of 23:51 CEST is the video still uploading (36% done, total size were 160mb, beeing sent at 1mbit/sec), probably done a little over midnight.

[zekes]

AHA ive got it.... Im using too much fuel (sounds stupid yes, but its the proplem).

[zekes]

HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pull me off the "Party Crashers" list, cause I made it!

The Mexdool 1 (don't ask why I named it this, I make names up when I feel like it won't work, but this time it did!)

Only difficuly was to copensate for the heavy rudder in space and landing (the damage you see here is due to the gear falling into the ground on laning, not a design flaw. Perfect flare, and chutes to stop (even though it lands at 30m/s)

Next I will build bigger....

EDIT: I did put Mechjeb on the ship in case I screwed up too badly but I SWEAR ON MY LIFE i never used it, not even once, during the flight....

Edited September 12, 2012 by zekes

[Suzaku]

Well done Jakinbandw on constructing your interesting spaceplane and completing the challenge. I like the open structure of the craft and the effective use of struts

So Suzaku did you land the 400 tonner successfully then? As far as I know there are no ethical objections to the use of parachutes!

All I can say Zekes is your spaceship needs more dV.

It landed successfully, but I don't want to list it until I can actually get it to land on a runway like a normal plane.

[TheHengeProphet]

Finally, I got around to doing what I said I would: documenting the flight of the SF-1 for the K Prize!

I waited until dawn, so that the important bits would be in the daylight (if not for the sake of documentation, for the sake of not landing in the dark without lights).

The flight can be found here:

http://imgur.com/a/pkHkG

The idea behind the craft's construction was built around thrust vectoring in a strange way that doesn't actually work in KSP, but I enjoy it.

I have attatched the SF-1, if you want to look over it, or give her a try. I warn whoever wants to fly this thing that they might want to use a joystick; she won't lift off without dropping off the end of the runway; she tumbles something fierce in space without the SAS on; manage your staging and fuel carefully.

Edited September 12, 2012 by TheHengeProphet

[Exclipse]

This one should meet the requirements easy enough.

[boolybooly]

the damage you see here is due to the gear falling into the ground on laning, not a design flaw

zekes, well done on making a successful SSTO spaceplane. I hate to ask this but when you said it was damaged did you complete the whole mission and come to a stop without losing any parts...? Because losing parts is another one of the things that gets people onto the (in)famous gate crashers list!

TheHengeProphet, congratulations on completing the K Prize mission successfully with your innovative elongated craft SF-1. Thanks for the screenies which clearly show the orbit PE >70km and precise landing on the runway which earns you the prestigious 'advanced pilot precision award'. Welcome to the party!

Exclipse, thanks very much for your video of the stylish X-Wing SSTO spaceplane in action. Clearly it is a good contender for completing the K Prize challenge and looks like it could meet the requirements. The only question is whether you are claiming to have completed the mission. As we are on the honour system your word would be assurance enough but I have to ask because you have not said explicitly that you have and FYI I cannot tell from the video if you have or not as the PE in the video was never higher than 70km which the orbital path of the craft demonstrated when it returned to Kerbin without a retro burn. Also the craft did not come to a halt fully landed and intact. Both are conditions of the prize. So I hope you can see my dilemma, on the strength of the video you have certainly earned a place on the gate crashers list but I will wait for your reply.

Suzaku, good luck with that then!! Have you had any more thoughts about the K Prize and v17 advanced spaceplane challenges?

[zekes]

Zekes, well done on making a successful SSTO spaceplane. I hate to ask this but when you said it was damaged did you complete the whole mission and come to a stop without losing any parts...? Because losing parts is another one of the things that gets people onto the (in)famous gate crashers list!

I only lost a jet intake becasue the wheels failed to stop at the ground and went through it.... as you can see in the picture....

It was a GAME flaw, not a ship flaw. I can easily land this ship on wheels, parachutes, or even crash into the water, but the ground mesh screwed up this time. I launched again and made a fully successfull laning (no damage) because the wheels actually hit the ground that time!

So no, the ship did not lose parts on the second landing, and on the first only becasue the Wheel parts need work.....

[Exclipse]

...

Exclipse, thanks very much for your video of the stylish X-Wing SSTO spaceplane in action. Clearly it is a good contender for completing the K Prize challenge and looks like it could meet the requirements. The only question is whether you are claiming to have completed the mission. As we are on the honour system your word would be assurance enough but I have to ask because you have not said explicitly that you have and FYI I cannot tell from the video if you have or not as the PE in the video was never higher than 70km which the orbital path of the craft demonstrated when it returned to Kerbin without a retro burn. Also the craft did not come to a halt fully landed and intact. Both are conditions of the prize. So I hope you can see my dilemma, on the strength of the video you have certainly earned a place on the gate crashers list but I will wait for your reply.

It does indeed reach an orbit of much higher than the required, I was just tired and trying to shorten the video, so I did not really think about the fact I might have cut out parts you wanted to see for factual info, and it does come to a complete stop as well, at the end of the video it is barely going 40 m/s so I think you can find that easy enough to believe. Either way I will record a new video in a day or two of it going and landing on Mun and then coming back just for ****s and giggles.