Need advice : launching a spaceplane from the top of a rocket

[RoboRay]

Something from Russia! The first one is essentially a self-launched MAKS.

[ajburges]

It flies great!

Here's some larger variations that don't throw away expensive engines...

http://i.imgur.com/32PREI0.png

Album: http://imgur.com/a/DXk9r#0

http://i.imgur.com/mhMQvtD.png

Album: http://imgur.com/a/9QbIy#0

Bravo, that is the most sensible KSP shuttle I have seen to date. Just ditch the dead weight of empty tanks.

Now it's off to my skunkworks to duplicate the concept with an orange tank (the lowest cost/volume fuel tank).

Sad that it can't touch the efficiency or payload of a SSTO plane though.

[Foxster]

My solution...

http://i.imgur.com/m12VHA7.png

http://i.imgur.com/51u82Xv.png

http://i.imgur.com/t1hNHGA.png

http://i.imgur.com/AnOIBfD.png

Confused. Why have the tank on the front?

[mellojoe]

I love Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser concept. I've built versions of it in just about every KSP I've had.

Small wings on shuttle, some hefty tail wings on first stage of rocket. If you can fit a fairing, great ... if not, no biggie. My favorite one used Procedural Fairings before they were stock. And it used clipping to cover just the engines and leave the top half of the shuttle exposed. It felt more like a life-like custom-fit rocket // shuttle adapter.

[FlyingPete]

I really like the forward drop tank concept. The craft is set up like a rocket at launch, and a plane for orbital insertion/reentry. All you're throwing away is the empty tank and maybe a couple of SRBs. Just remember to eject the tanks away from the path of the plane

[RoboRay]

Confused. Why have the tank on the front?

Because it eliminates the stability issues caused by having wings up front.

[Foxster]

Because it eliminates the stability issues caused by having wings up front.

Oh. How does it do that? By making the lift areas that are draggy be at the rear?

[Alshain]

Oh. How does it do that? By making the lift areas that are draggy be at the rear?

It simply keeps your center of lift the behind the center of mass. This is important for both planes and rockets, but with rockets you probably do it intuitively while when plane building you have to think about it. However in eccentric designs like the plane on top of a rocket, wings in the front would pull the center of lift in front of the center of mass, making it unstable. Having the drop tank off the front ensures the wings stay at the back and serve in the same capacity as fins on a rocket would.

[matthias123]

like this ? 

https://screenshot.net/lov2dfl

https://screenshot.net/43ez2bg

 

https://screenshot.net/1w5n3by

[Guest]

If your shuttle is reasonably symmetrical and you tune it so the CoL lines up with the CoM, there shouldn't be much of a problem. This worked on the first try: