Spaceplane Frustration

[Xyphos]

I need to retrieve Bill K. from a doomed space station so I decided that a simple 2-passenger Mk2 space plane would be sufficient for such a rescue, just a simple 2x long tank and 2x rapiers and off I go. got to 12k altitude and the rapiers started to lose power, 18km and they flamed out so I switched to rocket mode with 1400 dV left to orbit, ran out of fuel well before suborbit and had to perform an emergency re-entry and landing on the other side of Kerbin.

can anyone PLEASE help me understand space plane construction in 1.0.x, it was so much easier in 0.90

[Tex_NL]

Among other things some engines got nerfed and the atmosphere got way more realistic.

By chance Scott manley iuploaded two new tutorials today about building SSTO spaceplanes in 1.02. You might want to check them out.

[Xyphos]

thanks!

[GoSlash27]

Xyphos,

Shameless plug:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/118728-Slashy-s-1-02-Spaceplane-recipe

The state-of-the-art has advanced a bit since then, but this will get you something functional.

Best,

-Slashy

[Vanamonde]

How-to question moved to the how-to subforum.

[Xyphos]

welp, after much trial and error, I managed to get a spaceplane into orbit, that video helped a lot.

basically, I used 3x FL-T800 fuel tanks sandwiched together, 1x LT-30 rocket, 2x Whiplash turbines and 2x ram intakes.

take off, 30* until 12km, pitched down to 20* to gain horizontal speed to 1000m/s until the turbines started to wane, staged the rocket engine, pitched back up to 40* and closed the intakes when the jets flamed out.

it's a shame that the RAPIER and Aerospike engines were nerfed the way they were, i's kinda pointless to use them now.

[Mic_n]

Not at all. Aerospike has better ISP than the 30 or 45s, and much more thrust than a 909, though yeah it's a little heavier. Rapiers are more powerful and operate at higher altitudes than any other airbreathing engine, plus you get a free rocket engine to go with them. You just need to acknowledge that they have an envelope you need to get to before they really shine.

[GoSlash27]

welp, after much trial and error, I managed to get a spaceplane into orbit, that video helped a lot.

basically, I used 3x FL-T800 fuel tanks sandwiched together, 1x LT-30 rocket, 2x Whiplash turbines and 2x ram intakes.

take off, 30* until 12km, pitched down to 20* to gain horizontal speed to 1000m/s until the turbines started to wane, staged the rocket engine, pitched back up to 40* and closed the intakes when the jets flamed out.

it's a shame that the RAPIER and Aerospike engines were nerfed the way they were, i's kinda pointless to use them now.

The RAPIER is still the basis of the most mass- efficient spaceplanes. You've just got to have a properly balanced design.

Spaceplanes had to be nerfed because they were absurdly dominant. Now they're far from "pointless", but still very useful for LKO logistics.

Best,

-Slashy