Theory: Wingless aircraft.

[Sharkman Briton]

I've been thinking about the MK2 fuselage parts, and how they have a lift rating, and I thought to myself, (what a wonderful world~) would it be possible to make an aircraft without any wings, only MK2 parts? They DO have a lift rating, so just add elevons and you're golden!

So I'd like to see if anyone can make a wingless aircraft, as long as it has no main wings it's fine, so tail fins and elevons are fine, as long as the Elevons aren't the main wings themselves.

[xtoro]

It's been done and possible as long as there's enough thrust. Just make a wingless plane and arrange the wheels so that the front wheel is lower than the rear to give it a positive pitch on the ground. You will also need either very little lift for the tail fins or lots of authority.

[Johnny Wishbone]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin-Marietta_X-24

[Kyrt Malthorn]

Maybe somone could pull it off, but I expect it to be highly unstable. Couple reasons:

- Things with insufficient lift have very little lift force to keep them from accelerating downward, at which point you need to aim more vertical and your plane looks more like a turbojet rocket.

- The Mk2 parts will usually have their center of lift roughly in the middle of their own center mass. Then you stick and engine on it, generally in the back, and it has no inherent lift. The CoM travels back and the CoL is in front; this is an unstable situation.

- Elevons have pathetic lift rating given their mass. Spamming them probably won't help much, as by the time you have any meaningful lift from them you'll have too much control and the gentlest nudge of the controls will send it a-flipping.

- If you're allowed tail plane you might find yourself more stable flying sideways.

[Sharkman Briton]

When I said elevons I meant to be put on the side of the fuselage to give control, thanks for the input.

[Champ]

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/133314-Test-Results-How-much-wing-does-your-SSTO-spaceplane-need-Answer-Maybe-none-at-all

[Goomblah]

This was one of my first SSTOs:

No wing parts, just fins and body lift.

I also made this abomination just for the lols:

[eddiew]

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/133314-Test-Results-How-much-wing-does-your-SSTO-spaceplane-need-Answer-Maybe-none-at-all

Yer, was about to link that thread too - discussion has already been had TLDR; yes it can be done, but you need a steeper AoA and it's less efficient.

[Aethon]

^^

Scott Manley built a main wing free aircraft in his most recent livestream.

[Vanamonde]

This is going to end up being a craft-sharing thread, so let's just go ahead and move it to Craft Exchange now, shall we?

[SquaredSpekz]

That's the whole point. You can make body-lift aircraft. Many already have and these exist in the real world e.g the X-24

- - - Updated - - -

This was one of my first SSTOs:

http://assets.enjin.com.s3.amazonaws.com/users/6534493/pics/full/3244718.jpg

No wing parts, just fins and body lift.

I also made this abomination just for the lols:

http://assets.enjin.com.s3.amazonaws.com/users/6534493/pics/full/3240358.jpg

still horizontal lift surface which is not the body, so not wingless im afraid. Just because it's a tail fin, winglet or Canard, it doesn't mean it's not a wing. Aircraft or SSTOs are only Body-Lift Vehicles when the only surface/wing is vertical so no lift is applied but is used as a yaw control/stabilizer.