Laythe Circumnavigation 2: Aerial Boogaloo - What's the dV requirement?

[Commissioner Tadpole]

I feel like cirgumnavigating Laythe.

Mostly because I wanted to do the Elcano Challenge around Vall, but driving is too slow. Plus, the Aviator Challenge had my attention for a while, but Kerbin is too big, which will take a lot of time(something I don't have). So why not Laythe?

Problems arise, though. For one, I know next to squat about plane fuel efficiency, so I don't know if I should make my plane nice and small to have an easy TWR and not have to haul a lot of weight, or make it as large as possible part count be damned so I have a surplus of fuel. Take in mind that I'll probably want to have the occasional landing around Laythe's several islands for flag-planting and quicksaving, so it may require a little more fuel.

So, the question: Does anyone know how much dV I need to cirgumnavigate Laythe? (I hope it is small enough for me to tack in a jet engine for a faster flight without having to increase the plane's size exponentially)

Edited August 8, 2015 by Commissioner Tadpole

[Red Iron Crown]

Don't think of it in terms of dV, think of it in terms of time. Figure out what your cruising speed will be, calculate the circumference of a circle with Laythe radius + cruising altitude as the radius, then divide the latter by the former to get the flight time. Use the calculator of your choice to set speed and altitude appropriately and see your flight time (I use KER, it has easy sliders for this), then add maybe 20-30% to account for your ascents.

[ajburges]

For atmospheric flight, dV is a horrible indicator of range. The lower and/or faster your flight profile, the more dV you lose to drag a second. I only use it to ballpark SSTO performance since that follows a standard flight profile.

To judge plane performance, map out the fuel expenditure of different flight modes. Learn how much fuel is needed to reach cruise speed and altitude, the average fuel economy of cruise, and the fuel (if any), needed for landing.

Given the reduced size, mass, and pressure of Laythe you should need less plane than Kerbin. Still Kerbin circumnavigators are relatively easy to build if you know planes and they only take little more than a hour of game time to go around. A little planning and you can fly most of that at 4x time.

[Commissioner Tadpole]

Thanks for the help, you two!