Do you SSTO anymore?

[Val]

...

Wow, it can withstand that kind of heat? I'll give it a shot.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I guess it really isn't that hot.

It does get hot. Usually when I pull up after building up speed, it's a very fine balance between ripping the wings off and parts exploding from overheating...

[Alshain]

It does get hot. Usually when I pull up after building up speed, it's a very fine balance between ripping the wings off and parts exploding from overheating...

Well it doesn't work, it consumes just way too much fuel getting up to speed with that much drag, by the time I barely reach suborbit, I have nothing left. I used to get up to speed at about 24 km with FAR, even that was a challenge. I'm just not seeing how it can work without being a rocket.

[windows_x_seven]

I've never SSTO'd...

[Xannari Ferrows]

I'm really into just sending multiple things up at once in a compact form, just to save cash. Every loves a minimalist probe, right?

[SAI Peregrinus]

I was playing around with leading edge slats on a plane. Tests were successful, so for the hell of it slapped on a couple of Thuds, a docking port, some RCS blocks & made all the wings have oxidizer tanks, and came out with an SSTO.

The OPT engine helps a LOT with the thrust, but the heat can be an issue. Nice little jet, 2 Kerbal capacity, and has a docking port. So it can work as a ferry. FAR only, of course. The slats give it quite good maneuverability.

SSTO spaceplanes are easy when you've got enough thrust and are building them tiny. It's making them big that's the hard part.

[capi3101]

Well it doesn't work, it consumes just way too much fuel getting up to speed with that much drag, by the time I barely reach suborbit, I have nothing left. I used to get up to speed at about 24 km with FAR, even that was a challenge. I'm just not seeing how it can work without being a rocket.

I use FAR, and I've had to adjust my ways of thinking about how I plane as well; the good old days of getting up to 30k and 1400 on jets alone are definitely over.

If you plan for about 1,800 m/s worth of rocket delta-V, you can generally make it; that means roughly half the mass of your plane is going to be rocket fuel, and the higher the efficiency of your rocket engine, the better. That's the main reason why I advocate the use of Aerospikes these days despite the lack of gimbal (you can usually compensate by adding SAS wheels), but I've also had success with Thud engines. Par example...

Of course with FAR you don't need as much jet as stock - a single Turbojet is sufficient for up to thirty tonnes of plane, and that doesn't require all that much LF (a single Mk1 Fuselage - before it was tweaked for moar fuel, so about 150 units - is sufficient for most orbital flights). Then it's 10k as fast as you can reach it, level out to 10 degrees above the horizon and hold that sucker until you start losing speed (usually up around 18-20k), then pitch up as hard as you dare, light the rocket above 20k (I usually wait until 25k though I'll light it lower if I'm in danger of slowing to less than Mach 3) and then go from there.

You do flirt with danger from heat; that can't be helped. That's one of the reasons why I started using Kerbal Flight Data; its temperature warnings are quite useful - you start seeing them, you steepen your ascent. The temperature will start going down at some point. As for re-entry, put AIRBRAKES on your design, set them for neutral, and pop them as soon as you hit atmo. I would call them overpowered in their ability to reduce re-entry heat. Plus, do like the shuttle did - pitch up to 40 degrees above the horizon and hold it there for as long as you can manage; if you can keep it there until the turbojet engine catches, you're usually golden.

Edited August 24, 2015 by capi3101