Whats the largest SSTO or near SSTO (one with drop tanks) you've made unmodded?

[Fenris]

I'm trying to get into making SSTOs or near SSTOs (ones with drop tanks if needed), and while I can make small 1 or 2 manned ones that can't do much but get into orbit then return and land is proving easier I'd really love to make a huge one. And that is not going well.

So I'm left wondering if I'm just having trouble designing them, which is ok I can just keep trying until I get it, or if I'm just trying to do too much with one SSTO and really need to create ones that are more role specific.

What I've been trying to do is use the Mk3 cockpit, the 16 passenger section, the longer cargo bay, one or two nukes and the RCS tank. Granted that doesn't include the necessary fuel tanks, RCS thrusters, and engines to get to LKO. And I'm only really trying to get enough delta v to get to orbit and dock with a refueling station. Then from there be able to get to at least Duna.

I guess this could have been put in one of the questions sub-forums, I posted here though because I'm hoping to see screenshots of large SSTOs that may give me ideas or maybe even push me in a completely new direction in my designs. And I didn't post any of my failures because I'm not at my gaming computer and I think I deleted most of them as being hopeless.

Thanks,

Edited July 2, 2015 by Fenris

[Ojimak]

My largest so far is my OO-5 'Aepyornis' (Because who says biplanes can't be SSTOs?) - 169.2 mTons at launch, 41.9 mTon payload = 24.8% payload fraction. It's not really up to the specifications you want, lacking the nukes and passenger bay, although I personally don't think nukes are really necessary if you're just going to LKO. I usually go pure RAPIER, with one for every 13 or so tons of total weight.

The wing shape used here is what I use on all my SSTOs: canards in the front and then minimally (entirely subjective) sized main wings.

Pretty Orbit Picture:

CoM/CoL/CoT

On Runway

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Download (mediafire)

-Ojimak

Edited July 2, 2015 by Ojimak

[Fenris]

Nice, I like it.

Yeah, I've been wondering about nukes as they add a lot of weight and since Duna is as far as I plan to take it after a refueling I think I can safely add something lighter. And after thinking about it I think I can drop the heavier Mk3 RCS tank and use some smaller ones since the only RCS I plan on doing with this one is docking.

[Ojimak]

If you're only using RCS to dock, then you really don't need one of the large FL-R1s . Four to six Stratus-V Cylindrified Tanks should be enough for most large-scale docking operations and skilled pilots can probably do it with much less (not me though). If I was going to Duna I'd personally add nukes, but would also consider clipping them inside other engines for aesthetic purposes/taking up less space.

-Ojimak

[Aanker]

http://kerbal.curseforge.com/shareables/230783-nram-griffon-p3-stock-ssto

The craft itself is 327 tons, with two full orange fuel tanks loaded (the maximum cargo load) this is 407 tons to orbit. No staging, no external fuel tanks, just a whole bunch of engines (and thereby parts). Landings are a bit tricky though, since you have to be incredibly soft and gentle on approach, especially when you take into account the reduced framerate.

[stardog573]

Here's mine... another one Mk3 SSTO.

[Van Disaster]

This was from 0.90 with FAR, which is close enough aerodynamically to current stock to work reasonably well ( in gross terms ), however it's also enough to get to Minmus & back which is a bit more than you're asking for - but it's a Mk3-based passenger shuttle. Plenty more SSTOs in the SSTO thread.

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I need to note that 0.90 FAR nerfed stock engines by about half and they were already well below current performance - I suspect you'd probably get away with 4-5 rapiers now.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Van Disaster

[Fenris]

I see some of my problems from looking at the posted crafts. It would appear that I don't need the amount of fuel I was trying to pack on, I need to get better at making wings for atmo, and I was surprised to see crafts larger than I was trying to make using less engines than I was thinking I needed.

I was also trying to see if the SSTO I was trying to create was possible with KSPs physics as I can waste up to 8 hours trying to perfect a craft and everyone has proven that it is. So thanks

EDIT: I must have been blind as I couldn't find the other thread (tbh I posted this at school and didn't have much time to look), so if a mod would like to lock it to reduce SSTO spamming threads that'd be great. Thanks.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Fenris