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Water Speed Record

Jodo42

By Jodo42
in KSP1 Challenges & Mission ideas

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Jodo42

Jodo42

Posted
Posted (edited)
Very simple premise: go as fast as possible with a vehicle that travels over water.

RULES:
1. Stock parts, stock physics. No FAR, no part mods, no config editing.
2. No cheat menu. Don't alter aerodynamics, thermodynamics, crash resistance, fuel levels, or anything else you could access with Alt-F12.
3. Runs should be performed on Kerbin.
4. Vehicle must survive the run intact unless staging events are required. Vehicle which stage may or may not be accepted onto the leaderboards and will be reviewed on a case by case basis.
5. Vehicle cannot leave the water's surface at any time during the run.

Score is maximum speed, given via the F3 menu. Videos are preferred for judging; be sure to include lots of screenshots during the run if you choose not to record.

For now there's going to be one general leaderboard. If there's significant interest in this I may add more categories later on (FAR runs, runs on Eve, rocket/jet powered, manned/unmanned, etc). I may also add bonuses/multipliers (breaking the real record, multiple kerbals, I don't know).

Share boat designs. Figure out how to move quickly over the seas. Viciously compete for every decimeter per second of speed. Really anything within the rules goes. I would include an example run but I think this is simple enough for most people to get intuitively, and I've yet to master boating in 1.0.5. This thread is as much for me to see boat design techniques as it is to see who can make the fastest boat. :P

LEADERBOARDS:

STOCK:
You?
[URL="http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/140237-Water-Speed-Record?p=2316876&viewfull=1#post2316876"]ABalazs[/URL]- 345m/s [B]<-First to break Mach 1![/B]
[URL="http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/140237-Water-Speed-Record?p=2309527&viewfull=1#post2309527"]Gaarst[/URL]- 252m/s

FAR:
[URL="http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/140237-Water-Speed-Record?p=2312289&viewfull=1#post2312289"]Pds314[/URL]- 295.3m/s Edited by Jodo42
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FlipNascar

FlipNascar

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So I have been tying to build a Mach 1 capable hydrofoil... But things just start breaking once you get above 150m/s. However I do have the Pride of Veere, a 144 passenger hydrofoil that is capable of 150+.

For this entry, I'll claim 152m/s.
Yes, I lost some canards, because I had to turn at highspeed and they distinegrated. So your call whether you accept it or not, I have on other occasions gone faster and not broken them. So it's a bit of pot luck as to whether they stay attached at times... [URL="http://kerbalx.com/flipnascar/Pride-of-Veere---Hydrofoil.craft"]Craft file is on KerbalX[/URL].

The craft at the end, well that's the fastest I've managed before disintegration or take off....

[imgur]BmI95[/imgur]
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Gaarst

Gaarst

Posted
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Pushed water physics and SAS to their very limits with this thing, that went up to 263.0 m/s !

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/aySO2tX.png[/IMG]

Unfortunately, it is extremely unstable at this speed and always ends up crashing into the water. Best I did with recovering it in one piece was around 220 m/s.
Will do another run with more screenshots.

Edit: I just used HyperEdit to put the craft into the water. Edited by Gaarst
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RussaX

RussaX

Posted
Posted
[quote name='Gaarst']Pushed water physics and SAS to their very limits with this thing, that went up to 263.0 m/s !


Unfortunately, it is extremely unstable at this speed and always ends up crashing into the water. Best I did with recovering it in one piece was around 220 m/s.
Will do another run with more screenshots.[/QUOTE]

This is very interesting model. I might give it a try.
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Jodo42

Jodo42

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Posted (edited)
Sorry to whoever didn't like the challenge and rated it poorly. I'm open to suggestions.

[quote name='FlipNascar']So I have been tying to build a Mach 1 capable hydrofoil... But things just start breaking once you get above 150m/s. However I do have the Pride of Veere, a 144 passenger hydrofoil that is capable of 150+.

For this entry, I'll claim 152m/s.
Yes, I lost some canards, because I had to turn at highspeed and they distinegrated. So your call whether you accept it or not, I have on other occasions gone faster and not broken them. So it's a bit of pot luck as to whether they stay attached at times... [URL="http://kerbalx.com/flipnascar/Pride-of-Veere---Hydrofoil.craft"]Craft file is on KerbalX[/URL].

The craft at the end, well that's the fastest I've managed before disintegration or take off....

[url]http://imgur.com/a/BmI95[/url][/QUOTE]

Unfortunately I'll have to disqualify based on destruction of the canards. Show me a run where it doesn't break and you're good. Beautiful ship by the way.

[quote name='Gaarst']Same boat as above, this is my highest speed with the ship surviving the run: 252 m/s on the F3 menu, screenshot at 251.1 m/s

[url]http://i.imgur.com/nHHBQzd.png[/url]

[url]http://i.imgur.com/rUFHG5R.png[/url][/QUOTE]

Added as the current leader. I'm surprised and impressed by the simplicity. Edited by Jodo42
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Gaarst

Gaarst

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Posted
[quote name='Jodo42']Added as the current leader. I'm surprised and impressed by the simplicity.[/QUOTE]

At that point the challenge is not getting to that speed: put wheels on that boat, and I'm sure it can go supersonic.
The real problem is the stability: to get faster than ~250 m/s, adding engines is not enough.
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Pds314

Pds314

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I've got a 190-Kerbal boat. I originally designed it as a hydroplane, by I've found that the curvature of the parts generates significant lift, both aerodynamic and hydrodynamic.

The highest speed I've reached, and returned from, was 240 m/s. I later reached 249 m/s, but the craft bounced too hard and catastrophically shredded.

I made it in FAR, but I don't know if it even makes a difference besides the possibility of aerodynamic failures being caused by interaction with the water.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/B1e3Eqi.png[/img]

[imgur]cnUpS[/imgur]

The other nice thing about this vehicle is the fuel efficiency. 0.8 lf/s at 220 m/s top safe speed. That's about 5000 seconds of travel, or over 1100 kilometer range in a bit over 1.5 hours.

Been messing with the control settings and I've managed to push it to 270 m/s before it blew itself to smithereens (and threw 40-tonne crew sections hundreds of meters skyward). Appparently, hyper-aggressive prograde-locked stability control is much more effective than either pure AOA, pure neutral, or pure stability augmentation. Edited by Pds314
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Pds314

Pds314

Posted
Posted (edited)
NEW RECORD!

297.4 m/s. Can someone break 300 m/s?

Alright. It's EXACTLY the same craft, but through messing with controls, I have gotten it to go MUCH faster.

295.3 m/s, top speed in Ferram until the engines melt. The Transonic drag hump is a serious issue at this point, considering this thing isn't area-ruled. This might not be an issue in stock.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/WbfIsUx.png[/img]

I'm not actually gonna let the engines melt though, so I slowed down.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/XMKAiLo.png[/img]

And stopped.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/NY6SM6Q.png[/img]

New record? I haven't seen any other 1.0 boats, of any description, reach this speed.

Pushing it to the highest speed I could.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/vgaKVx4.png[/img]


And.. stopped. Safe and sound, after going 85% the speed thereof.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/rRtRynH.png[/img]


And if anyone thought it was just good in straight lines and couldn't maneuver:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/QpScRGk.png[/img] Edited by Pds314
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Pds314

Pds314

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Trying to upscale my previous craft, if not necessarily outrun it. 1128 brave Kerbals and nearly 500 tonnes of jet fuel later...

EDIT:

By emptying out 95% of the fuel, I broke 300 m/s!

Unfortunately, it's not official. I lost an engine, which happened to be built into the structure of The Queen Elana.

The result is that the craft continued on as a loose assemblage of comoving parts, only staying together due to the mass and friction of those parts.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/7jzyHkQ.png[/img]

The loss of one engine may SEEM irrelevant. After all, it has 10 of them, but the real problem isn't the reduction in thrust. It's the fact that that engine was what was holding the entire lower half of the ship on. What you see is the top half of the ship, literally just sitting on top of the bottom half. Edited by Pds314
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oriramikad

oriramikad

Posted
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[IMG]http://i65.tinypic.com/2rwnjtc.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i64.tinypic.com/9u9bvl.png[/IMG]
Cmon guys -- this thing can go 350 m/s, and I just slapped it together in 15 minutes. It only has 5 parts! What's so hard about breaking 300?

(I tried vector engines, but they ate up fuel too quickly and were hard to control.) Edited by oriramikad
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Gaarst

Gaarst

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Posted
[quote name='oriramikad']Cmon guys -- this thing can go 350 m/s, and I just slapped it together in 15 minutes. It only has 5 parts! What's so hard about breaking 300?

(I tried vector engines, but they ate up fuel too quickly and were hard to control.)[/QUOTE]

[quote name='Jodo42']4. Vehicle must survive the run intact unless staging events are required. Vehicle which stage may or may not be accepted onto the leaderboards and will be reviewed on a case by case basis.[/QUOTE]

Seeing you F3 menu, a lot of parts have been destroyed, more than 5 by the way.
Try with a controllable boat and jet engines.
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Jodo42

Jodo42

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Interesting vehicle regardless oriramikad. Despite the rather destructive nature of the run 350m/s over water is intriguing.

Upon further inspection it seems your vehicle might actually be a legitimate entry, however. Are the destroyed parts part of a vehicle which brings the boat to the water? If so, could we see it?
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ABalazs

ABalazs

Posted
Posted (edited)
This is my hydrofoil:

[imgur]220ko[/imgur]

It reached 292 m/s. Dead stock KSP, ofc. One of the earlier versions reached 319, but that one destroyed itself when I tried to slow it down. But I will try again, its possible. Edited by ABalazs
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ABalazs

ABalazs

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I used a spoiler, a simple wing surface with negative angle of attack, to push down the boat at high speeds. Or you can try to make a heavy craft and small underwater lifting surfaces - tweak the angle of those as needed - to reach the proper balance. Mk2 parts generate lift like wings, so count with that as well.

Oscillation seems to be more serious problem for me, above 150-200 m/s it tends to break parts off from my crafts hovering centimeters from the water surface.
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Jodo42

Jodo42

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Updated the leaderboard.

Pds' entry shows a lot of promise. It seems 300m/s is currently pushing the limits of what can be done. However, as an incentive to innovate, I'll make a personalized badge for anyone who can break 343m/s (aka Mach 1).

EDIT: That's extremely impressive, ABalazs! I'll have a badge by the end of tonight. I hope I don't have to make too many of these! Edited by Jodo42
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kiwi1960

kiwi1960

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Posted

I agree, my float planes cannot seem to take off now. :(

 

BUT.. speed record.... oh..... 600 M/s ..... straight down, into the water.... HEY... its a record.... you never said in which direction you had to be going. :)

 

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