Bill's Elcano Challenge Attempt (DONE)

[Stratzenblitz75]

Greeting!

I'll be honest, I haven't explored Kerbin very much. The only places I've seen are the areas around KSC, and a few random points across the planet where I've had to make an "emergency landing". I've always focused more on the other planets, and as a result, I've come to know Jool, Laythe, Tylo, Vall, Duna, Eve, and the others far better than Kerbin itself. 

Well, today, I intend to change that by embarking on my first ever circumnavigation of Kerbin.

To accomplish this daunting task, I've assembled the Sanic 8. 

This thing is powered by a single Wheesley engine and can go up to 140 m/s on land, and 20 m/s in the water. With 600 units of liquid fuel, this gives the vehicle a range of about 800 Km. This, of course, is not enough for a circumnavigation, so I intend to refuel the Sanic 8 with a long-range aircraft. The extremely tough LY-50 landing gear combined with a sturdy frame allows the Sanic 8 to maintain its top speed over moderately hilly terrain without explosions (mostly). 

The Sanic 8 also carries drogue parachutes if it needs to slow down quickly.

In addition, the Sanic 8 comes with an eject system to safely remove the pilot from the vehicle in the case of a malfunction (provided that reaction times are fast enough).

 

There are also other important features, such as cameras mounted in a variety of places, a button to reverse thrust, a button to enable steering, and most importantly, a button that destroys the frame and allows the vehicle to fly as an aircraft.

If anyone wants to try this thing, you are welcome to: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o892mhuwegj7ze1/Sanic%20VIII.craft?dl=0 (Hull cam VDS mod required)

 

For the route, I have decided on a polar circumnavigation. This way, I'll get to experience the different latitudes of Kerbin, and minimize the number of water crossings.

Anyways, Bill Kerman and I are ready to begin our adventure! Wish us luck!

--- Edit ---

As of 1/1/2016, my journey has come to an end. I've documented my journey in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAjkAr4pqfQ 

Edited January 1, 2016 by Stratzenblitz75
Adding video link

[SpaceplaneAddict]

I wish you luck!

[Claw]

Yes indeed. Good luck.

I like the style of your ship. It's sort of the reverse of most that I'm used to. Your cockpit sits a bit lower than mine usually do. 

[Stratzenblitz75]

Thanks for your support!

I wanted to design the craft so that it used the "medium landing gear" and had a low center of mass at the same time. Since the medium landing gear are so tall, I had to put them above the craft to get my desired center of mass. While it may certainly seem dangerous for the cockpit to be so close to the ground, it actually reduces the risk of catastrophic roll-over. However, it doesn't completely remove the risk...

Yep, just ten minutes in, I've had a small "accident":

After attempting to perform a turn at high speed, the Sanic 8 started to roll over. From that point, I lost control of the vehicle. However, I was able to quickly counter act the roll for one moment, and fire the eject system, saving Bill's life.

To be honest, this was just me being a moron. I tried to turn at high-speed, while going over a hill. The vehicle hit the ground a bad angle, and started to roll over. I could've stopped the roll, but I panicked, started mashing buttons, and ended up making things worse.

Bill is okay though, so after I ship a new Sanic 8 over to him, the challenge can continue!

[DrMarlboro]

Lookin good! Something tells me you're gonna have a better time than my armored vehicle will.. it's slow, cumbersome, and sometimes irritating. But I'm not retiring a second vehicle. Not today at least. 

[Stratzenblitz75]

4 hours ago, DrMarlboro said:

Lookin good! Something tells me you're gonna have a better time than my armored vehicle will.. it's slow, cumbersome, and sometimes irritating. But I'm not retiring a second vehicle. Not today at least. 

Thanks!

The Sanic 8 is certainly fast, but its also absolutely terrifying to drive. Everytime I go over a hill, I fear that it will disintegrate. Heck, I've already destroyed one vehicle and had to quick-load twice.

 

Despite this, I am making progress! In fact, I am now about halfway to the north pole, which means I am about 1/8th done with my journey.

 

So far, its been a lot of fun. Kerbin with the scatterer mod is absolutely gorgeous.

For the most part, the trip has gone well. I had trouble in the beginning with rough terrain, but once I got into the plains, its been smooth driving. Also, I've learned to keep the speeds at 100 m/s or less to prevent unplanned dissemblely. 

Really looking forward to the north pole. Only there will I get to go Full Power without any fear of hills.

 

[Thalamask]

Looking great, so far, mate. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of your progress.

[Stratzenblitz75]

After driving for so long, I've finally made it to the edge of the north pole.

Along the way, I ran out of fuel. No worries though, my creatively named "More Sanic" came to the rescue:

Oh, did I mention that Kerbin is absolutely beautiful?

That's all for now. Next time, its no-holding-back full power, instead of the boring, safe, one-third-power.

 

[Stratzenblitz75]

Its been a while since my last update, but I am still making progress!

Since my last update, I've reached the north pole: (I also flew the More_sanic over and refueled the Sanic 8 again. Turns out, going full power isn't very efficient)

And I've continued across the icy mountains of the North pole:

And across the Tundra...

And into the night:

After another day of driving, Bill and I have come about 2/3 the way to the equator before running out of fuel again: 

Now, I discovered a flaw in the More_sanic. Turns out, as the fuel is drained, the CoM falls in front of the CoL, causing it to spin out of control. So, I've decided to retire it and make a more capable refueling ship.

Meet the Chilidog I:

Unlike the More_sanic, the Chilidog I carries a huge quantity of fuel and a very efficient Goliath engine. This will allow the Chilidog I to follow the Sanic 8 and refuel it when it needs to. Essentially, its a flying gas station.In addition, it carries many useful features such as a parachute, an abort system, and a mini-jetpack that fits inside the small cargobay. So far, Valentina and Bob have flown the Chilidog I out to the Sanic 8. I've yet to refuel though, that will be for another day.

 

Also I now have over 23 Gb of footage. This will be fun to edit...

[Stratzenblitz75]

Well, a lot has happened since my last update... I'm not going over all the details (thats for the video) but here are a few highlights:

I crashed a car: 

Then shipped a new one out.

Went mountaineering.

Then, I was forced to cross the sea for the first time:

 

Turns out, the south pole ice sheet is too steep to climb... So I sent a one-time-use rocket pod to help Bill out:

After many, many tries, it worked out:

Bill and I went on to the south pole.

Saw some striking mountains.

Then came to a rest by a lake:

Here's how far we've come.

As you can see, we are almost done! Just a bit more island hopping to go!

Now I have 171 videos, totaling about 41 Gb. As I said, this will be fun to edit.

[Stratzenblitz75]

Its finally over. Our circumnavigation of Kerbin has finally come to an end. It took a great deal of patience, but it has finally paid off. Bill now stands where he began, having planted a ring of flags around the planet.

 

Here is the mission report video: