A-4X Ultra Skyhawk Mach 5.2 Fighter/Attack Aircraft or SSTO Trainer

[Goddess Bhavani]

A-4X

ULTRA SKYHAWK

Stock Mach 5.2 Fighter/Attack aircraft for small nation states and SSTO flight training

Download at KerbalX

Inspired by the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack fighter and its upgraded variants in foreign service still in use today, KSC's Ultra Skyhawk is a low cost, high performance SSTO flight trainer capable of Mach 5.2. It is powered by 2 CR-7 RAPIER engines with optional closed cycle mode for "edge of space" operations.

The original aircraft's streamlined profile is replaced by a beefy high capacity "space tuna" fuselage, providing vastly increased capacity for internal fuel and optional oxidizer for sub-orbital missions. The Mk1 cockpit is also retrofitted with a heat-pipe cooling solution, ejecting waste heat outboard of the primary air intakes. A modest array of structural parts around the intakes and engines, plus an added ventral stabilizer provide some measure of area ruling, decreasing transonic drag and improving high Mach stability.

Edited October 2, 2015 by pandoras kitten

[TheLeganderyHero]

Great craft, like the way you used the radiator panels and the MK2 parts, though the cut off between the engine bay and the fuselage is a bit sharp.

[Goddess Bhavani]

Yeah, the precoolers and the Mk2 hull don't go well together, especially in the middle where the reversed structural intakes serve to cover up the hole. Could have used the bicoupler but during flight testing the craft was a bit short on intakes before I grafted on the intakes and radiator to look like it had some measure of area rule.

Still I quite fancy the industrial look - it would actually be no hassle to remove the engine unit and put the proper bicoupler in place, as the tail and wings are all attached to the central Mk2 liquid fuel tank. I had a variant of this craft with basic jet engines; limited to transonic speed it was a more faithful replica of an actual late 90s'/ early 00s upgraded Skyhawk used by Argentina and Singapore.

[TheLeganderyHero]

Yeah, the precoolers and the Mk2 hull don't go well together, especially in the middle where the reversed structural intakes serve to cover up the hole. Could have used the bicoupler but during flight testing the craft was a bit short on intakes before I grafted on the intakes and radiator to look like it had some measure of area rule.

Still I quite fancy the industrial look - it would actually be no hassle to remove the engine unit and put the proper bicoupler in place, as the tail and wings are all attached to the central Mk2 liquid fuel tank. I had a variant of this craft with basic jet engines; limited to transonic speed it was a more faithful replica of an actual late 90s'/ early 00s upgraded Skyhawk used by Argentina and Singapore.

Yeah, it looks great either way. But in theory you should be attach a nose cone to that pre-coolers. Granted you placed it the way I thought you did. Though to be honest I like it more the way it is now.

[Rath]

I love that radiator intake!

[quasarrgames]

How is this thing able to go over 1700m/s? I must know!

[Goddess Bhavani]

How is this thing able to go over 1700m/s? I must know!

After the top speed closed cycle test run it proceeded to circumnavigate Kerbin at an average speed of around 1,500m/s

[Redshift OTF]

I've not used pre-coolers a lot. Do they make much of a difference?

[KSACheese]

As Tony the Tiger says, GRRRRRRRRREAT!

[quasarrgames]

I've not used pre-coolers a lot. Do they make much of a difference?

[Goddess Bhavani]

Yes you could probably just remove the precoolers and engines and snap on a Mk2 bicoupler for extra oxidizer, which will come in very handy for accelerating past 2,000m/s on closed cycle mode.

The precoolers were used as intakes, as early test craft with the "Tuna" fuselage didn't have the side intakes yet, while structural intakes alone didn't give enough intake area.