Kerbin Circumnavigation 1.0.4/1.0.5 - Aviator Challenge Continuation

[Haruspex]

...Whew. Finally. A proper velocity circumnavigation with a fully functional 90-ton transport SSTO (sans oxidizer, of course).

Aircraft name: Minotaur Orbiter / Minotaur Mk III

Aircraft mass on launch: 90.5 t

Pilot: Philwig Kerman

Flight time: 0:59:13

Circumnavigations: 1.

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[The_Rocketeer]

Here's an attempt at the top spot on the speed circumnavigation. I haven't quite got it here, much depends on getting the speed and altitude just right and in this run it wasn't, plus landing was... exciting. But I got down on the runway... more or less...

I call the craft the Etherium IId. The time was 39:03.

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Edit: there are no pictures of the landing because I was too scared, and the F3 log distressingly says I lifted off at 0:38:53 or something, but I SWEAR THAT WAS A BOUNCE!

Edited September 8, 2015 by The_Rocketeer

[mythic_fci]

"KSC, this is Hyacinth Tango-1. Speed is 1.3km/s. I'd say this'll work."

"Roger that, Hyacinth. Good luck."

"Uhh... KSC, are the jet trails supposed to be this red?"

"We don't know."

EDIT: Just finished a test. Since I tried a variety of speeds and altitudes, the results are inconclusive; but based on some calculations using the optimal speed/altitude, I should be able to complete one circumnavigation with the Hyacinth in around 54 minutes. Will try tomorrow.

Edited September 9, 2015 by FCISuperGuy

[The_Rocketeer]

Had another shot at beating the record today - I stuffed it three times. First time when I overshot the optimal moment for my braking manoeuvre, meaning I finally touched down a little long and a little off course. Second, when I forgot to shift my remaining fuel mass forward to balance well on the chute. Third, when in my haste to take a screenshot of the touchdown I accidentally hit the quicksave key, and overwrote my approach save.

Rookie errors... but look how close I was to the record!

[mythic_fci]

In an attempt to get myself on the Velocity leaderboard, I present to you - the HSP - Hyacinth!

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[fenya]

I tested the heat tolerance of my new plane but it turned into a circumnavigation

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[ExaltedDuck]

...Whew. Finally. A proper velocity circumnavigation with a fully functional 90-ton transport SSTO (sans oxidizer, of course).

I like it! Anyone who hasnt tried large craft for this challenge might not realize how much it ramps up the difficulty. But I know. I had to upgrade the administrative building to accommodate a whole department of temps tasked with writing letters of condolences to the families of my heavy plane program's pilots. They don't know I know, but the engineers have taken to calling me Cave Johnson behind my back.

[Noname117]

Currently doing another livestream of this challenge (link in sig), with my goal being to stay below 1000 meters. I'm also combining it with the "Engine failure on takeoff" challenge to make things more fun. If you have the time or want, check it out. Currently flying over some ocean, but pretty soon I'll have to fly around the crater (which may be challenging).

[Xannari Ferrows]

Currently doing another livestream of this challenge (link in sig), with my goal being to stay below 1000 meters. I'm also combining it with the "Engine failure on takeoff" challenge to make things more fun. If you have the time or want, check it out. Currently flying over some ocean, but pretty soon I'll have to fly around the crater (which may be challenging).

Have you got anything without spam in it?

Well, there's spam, egg, sausage and spam. That's not got MUCH spam in it.

[zolotiyeruki]

I've got a craft that I think will make it around 4x, averaging around 1600m/s. And it starts off at <13T. I spent way too much time last night finding the most efficient altitude as it burns off fuel. I think during the last circle, it'll be burning a whopping 0.1 units of fuel per second...

[GDJ]

Hello, big boss Xannari?

MEESA BACK!!

Attempted a 3X circumnavigation run, almost did it powered, but had to glide it down to land on the end of lap 3. I humbly submit this for consideration for the Expedition Circumnavigator badge and standings.

Launch!

Flipped her over for a Retrograde run.

Lap one. 41 minutes 39 seconds, give or take a itty bitty bit.

Lap two. One hour, 21 minutes and a couple of seconds here and there.

Approach on the end of lap 3. I'm on fumes.....wish I had 10 units more at this point.

Out of fuel, gliding in. Will I make it??

Landing, going up the hill. GET UP THAT HILL YOU @#$%^^!!!

.

Well, that's all she wrote. As close as I'm going to get to the runway.

Flight stats page.

[Xannari Ferrows]

Hello, big boss Xannari?

MEESA BACK!!

Attempted a 3X circumnavigation run, almost did it powered, but had to glide it down to land on the end of lap 3. I humbly submit this for consideration for the Expedition Circumnavigator badge and standings.

Launch!

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e216/Max_Payne_0001/screenshot4_3.png

Flipped her over for a Retrograde run.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e216/Max_Payne_0001/screenshot5_3.png

Lap one. 41 minutes 39 seconds, give or take a itty bitty bit.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e216/Max_Payne_0001/screenshot6_4.png

Lap two. One hour, 21 minutes and a couple of seconds here and there.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e216/Max_Payne_0001/screenshot7_4.png

Approach on the end of lap 3. I'm on fumes.....wish I had 10 units more at this point.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e216/Max_Payne_0001/screenshot8_4.png

Out of fuel, gliding in. Will I make it??

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e216/Max_Payne_0001/screenshot11_3.png

Landing, going up the hill. GET UP THAT HILL YOU @#$%^^!!!

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e216/Max_Payne_0001/screenshot12_2.png.

Well, that's all she wrote. As close as I'm going to get to the runway.

Flight stats page.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e216/Max_Payne_0001/screenshot14_2.png

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e216/Max_Payne_0001/screenshot13_2.png

This is one of those times where you wish you could've clipped in an extra Oscar-B or something. I've had plenty of those moments myself.

If you weren't in the Velocity list, this would actually be listed there over Expedition, but you did them in the right order. I don't actually think it matters in the end, but you never know.

You seriously glided toward the end? Real die-hard over here, gang.

Someone get this man a bag of Doritos!

http://www.datainterlock.com/Kerbal/circumnavigator%20resized%20expedition.png

You are really racking up those badges.

[GDJ]

Yeah, I've been shrinking them so they'd fit in my sig.

[nicky4096]

finally got bored of minecraft again so i'll be back :-)

working on a 1 engine plane... 1733 m/s!

dis gun be gud

edit: 256 posts! ZOMG

edit2: argh looks like i have to go to bed :/

will have to finish tomorrow

Edited September 20, 2015 by nicky4096

[Noname117]

So, as Xannari and anybody else who showed up already knows, I hosted a livestream event where I attempted to do another basic jet circumnavigation. This time, I decided to make it a bit more unique. The purpose of the run was for the distance record in the "Engine failure on takeoff challenge," and I decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone by attempting to get the lowest recorded aerial circumnavigation. In essence, my requirements were to shut off one of my 2 basic jets on takeoff, deal with the asymmetrical thrust, and then circumnavigate Kerbin while never flying above 1000 meters.

The aircraft involved in the challenge, the NAM-6B, was named the "Conquerer." Linalla Kerman and Arma Kerman were selected as the pilots for the mission.

The route I took (roughly) is shown below:

Here are the many pictures of the aircraft in flight and on takeoff, so you can specifically see what happened:

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This album is compromised of pictures I took of the map, for proof that I did the run:

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This third album is compromised of 6 screenshots of the F3 menu. Whenever I would quick-load the game after crashing my plane (or accidentally going over 1000 meters), the F3 log would reset. Fortunately, I discovered this while trying to land my NAFA-4-J2 on a mountaintop, and had drafted up a solution by the time I got to this flight. Every time I would quick-save, I would take a screenshot of the F3 log. If I wound up crashing the aircraft on accident (happened 4 times), or went over 1000 meters by accident (happened once), I would be able to quick-load the game while having all of the F3 data from the previous parts of the journey saved in a screenshot.

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I also decided to upload the livestream footage to YouTube, if you want to watch the entire run for yourself.

I'm posting this in a hyperlink rather than embedding the video because I do occasionally use profanity in the livestream.

And just so nobody has to add up the total distance I traveled, I already did it on my own. The below F3 log is what the final F3 log would've looked like if I hadn't quick-loaded at all during the flight.

Flight Achievements:

Total Mission Time: 1 day, 1 hour, 47 mins, 6 secs.

Highest Altitude Achieved: 897m

Highest Speed Achieved: 172 m/s

Highest Speed over Land: 175 m/s

Ground Distance Covered: 4,452,725m

Total Distance Travelled: 4,454,042

Maximum Gee Force Endured: 9.9G

Yes, my maximum altitude was only 897 meters. I didn't even fly over 900 meters. This flight was extremely close to the ground.

What is also kind of impressive is that this flight was only less than 10 minutes slower than my personal time record, but flew another 450 kilometers further (Which was likely due to the weaving around terrain I had to do combined with the asymmetric thrust veering the aircraft to the left).

[nicky4096]

nicely done noname.

anyway, sadly my plane was too unstable to properly land, as well as having too much fuel, too much lift, and full monoprop. also, no parachute

but here's a 'demo' anyway:

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[SpaceplaneAddict]

Album uploading.

40Pics taken

1 hour 4 minutes of my life wasted.

[SpaceplaneAddict]

The K-16's endurance run. Not efficient. But with RAPIERS on my next run, I'm confident in her. I just want the badge in the mean time.

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[Xannari Ferrows]

The K-16's endurance run. Not efficient. But with RAPIERS on my next run, I'm confident in her. I just want the badge in the mean time.

http://imgur.com/a/C79Cw

Ah, why'd you kill all that speed right before landing?

I hope to see this guy in a velocity run. Quicker ascent, dive-bomb style landing [those are always fun], and maybe even a safety parachute.

But for now, at least you get what you want:

http://www.datainterlock.com/Kerbal/circumnavigator%20resized.png

[SpaceplaneAddict]

The K-16's newest attempt using rapiers. New design in the works.

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[Xannari Ferrows]

The K-16's newest attempt using rapiers. New design in the works.

http://imgur.com/a/R8lEE

Good lord, this thing looks like it has potential to be a real beast.

Finally, someone that uses a good old brick wall style method of stopping rather than a "controlled" stall.

I'm not exactly sure what that means since the only flat thing you get right now is a flat badge.

http://www.datainterlock.com/Kerbal/circumnavigator%20resized%20velocity.png

[SpaceplaneAddict]

Heh, next stop: Not expedition.

VELOCITY RETRY!

Edited September 26, 2015 by SpaceplaneAddict

[Maukse]

Hello everyone !

I would like to take the challenge with one of my plane, but it has a few KIS/KAS part inside a bay (a winch to load/unload a stock-rover).

Is it ok for you ?

[Xannari Ferrows]

Hello everyone !

I would like to take the challenge with one of my plane, but it has a few KIS/KAS part inside a bay (a winch to load/unload a stock-rover).

Is it ok for you ?

Can they afford to be removed? If they absolutely cannot, you'll be limited to only being able to win a regular circumnavigation badge along with a minor time penalty.

Unless you want to go for the Sub-Orbital challenge. No mod-limits [except for interstellar] there.

[Maukse]

Can they afford to be removed? If they absolutely cannot, you'll be limited to only being able to win a regular circumnavigation badge along with a minor time penalty.

Unless you want to go for the Sub-Orbital challenge. No mod-limits [except for interstellar] there.

Well, of course I can remove them. It will only be easier without that dead mass. I just wanted to submit the "equiped" plane for advertizing purpose )