Danger Zone! <100m Altitude Speed Challenge [1.0.5 Stock]

[Captain Marksie]

INTRO:

Who will come out on top in this test of piloting skill and engineering prowess? How fast dare you go while dicing with the possibilities of erupting into an explosive fireball or being torn apart by the grip of the ocean’s surface?! This is a challenge that would make even the mighty Jebidiah think twice on his slow motion walk to the runway... 

RULES:

1. Altitude must not exceed 100m throughout entire run.

2. Aircraft must be manned and successfully land without losing any parts throughout entire run. (I.e. no exploding or detached parts.)

3. Jet engines only. (RAPIER is allowed in air breathing mode only). 

4. STOCK ONLY. (No parts or pilot assistance mods. “Information Displays” from mods like MechJeb/KER are allowed.)

SUBMISSION:

Image or video proof of run. Images required are at least two images showing aircraft design and one image of Flight Results after landing (F3). Additional images are welcome and encouraged. Video submissions must show full run. 

Submission Example:

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

SCORING:

Results will be ranked in order of “Highest Speed Achieved” displayed in flight results. In the event of a tie, the player with the lowest “Highest Altitude Achieved” will be ranked higher. If the players are still tied, the player with the lowest “Total Mission Time” will be ranked higher. 

LEADERBOARD:

1. Captain Marksie - 1,653m/s

2. Xendelaar 1,565m/s 

3. Byronacles - 1,494m/s

4. Merandix - 1,469m/s 

5. Choice - 1,400m/s

6. Ehco Corrallo - 1,311m/s

7. *MajorTom* 924m/s

8. thumprazz - 725m/s

9. BowWhalley - 457m/s

Edited March 22, 2016 by Captain Marksie
Update

[Drake1050]

Can I use separatron? 

[SpaceplaneAddict]

Deal.

[Triop]

This is hard...Taking off and already at 70 meters...

[BowWhalley]

wait, so where do I land, please expand on info for this challenge so I know what to do.

[BowWhalley]

I did it! It was seriously hard to stay below 100ms though, I got past mach 1, this plane can fly to 900m/s but I couldnt do it below 100m/s.

 

Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jkvbl1xyp00la2h/Dangerzone%20Speed%20Challenge.craft?dl=0

[Captain Marksie]

16 hours ago, Drake1050 said:

Can I use separatron? 

The aircraft must land with all the parts it started with. You could use it but you're not allowed to separate anything so I wouldn't advise it!   

*Edit: Forgot sepratron was the tiny solid rocket boosters, so maybe useful after all!

7 hours ago, BowWhalley said:

wait, so where do I land, please expand on info for this challenge so I know what to do.

You can land where ever you want. Just remember, your highest altitude cannot exceed 100m for the entire run.

 

Leaderboard Updated

Edited March 14, 2016 by Captain Marksie
Mistake

[solarbearman]

After failing 14 times, I finally did it!

[Captain Marksie]

10 hours ago, thumprazz said:

Spoiler

 

After failing 14 times, I finally did it!

 

 

Added to leaderboard. Rules also updated to confirm the use of SRBs, making your submission 100% valid!  

[BowWhalley]

I have re-attempted this challenge to get a higher speed. I was not able to beat thumprazz's speed, but I was able to beat mine by over 100m/s. I may attempt this challenge again from scratch next time.

[Byronacles]

This was fun, though not as easy as I thought it would be!

"Falcon Punch" was able to get up to 1,467 m/s and exerted 15G on the poor Kerbal, Tamayne.

 

Edited March 15, 2016 by Byronacles
Gettin' my facts straight.

[Captain Marksie]

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

 

We have a new leader! Can anyone break the 1,500m/s mark?  

Leaderboards updated.

[Byronacles]

The "Falcon Kick" has slightly less weight and parts compared to the "Falcon Punch" to reduce drag, and may have the potential to break the 1,500 m/s barrier.

I was able to get up to 1,494 m/s.

 

 

[Ehco Corrallo]

Awesome challenge! I'm going to give it my best shot. 

Just one question: can I jettison a cockpit so I can use the EAS Command Seat?

[Captain Marksie]

On 16/03/2016 at 2:57 AM, Ehco Corrallo said:

Awesome challenge! I'm going to give it my best shot. 

Just one question: can I jettison a cockpit so I can use the EAS Command Seat?

Yes this is okay.

Also, leaderboards will be updated shortly 

[max_creative]

Challenge accepted probably going to make me explode. BUT I'M GOING FOR IT!!!

[Ehco Corrallo]

Still pushing for 1500+ m/s mark...

In the meantime, there's this. Not my fastest run, but my most intact one. 

The cockpit is clipped into the space between the bicoupler and the forward fuselage to ensure a dragless design. 

Edited March 18, 2016 by Ehco Corrallo

[xendelaar]

Is the rapier in air breathing mode considered an jet engine?

If so, I don't think it's that difficult to pass the 1500 m/s mark. Cool challenge btw! It's pretty challenging!

Edited March 20, 2016 by xendelaar

[Merandix]

Control isn't so much an issue once you figure out the trick. The main problem is not exploding. I've a cargohold full of radiators and I sort of hoped the ablator in the cargohold would absorb some of the heat, but unfortunately, no. The radiator-stuff doesn't help much. Note, this cockpit on this plane consistently explodes at 1475 m/s... In that light, 1469 m/s isn't that bad. But this is probably the fastest this thing will go. Takeoff mass is just 8930 kg from the top of my head. Funny fact considering the thing is likely twice the size of most planes here

Also, just a thought, the aircraft needs to be manned, but does the kerbal need to be in control? Or can I use drone-parts?

Edited March 20, 2016 by Merandix

[*MajorTom*]

924 m/s at max.89 meters on 1 panter engine

 

[xendelaar]

I'm pretty sure this doesn't count as a legit entry, but heck.. I'm gonna try it anyway!

I broke the 1500 m/s barrier with a RAPIER (in air breathing mode) and a heat shield. Top speed was 1507 m/s. It does go faster but it's pretty difficult to control the ship at higher velocities.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2016 by xendelaar

[Captain Marksie]

Sorry for the slow reply, I have been distracted by the start of the MotoGP and F1 season openers for the past few days!

Anyways, I have updated the leaderboard. I don't want to be too strict on the rules so RAPIER is fine in air breathing mode. Also, you can control your craft by any means so long as a kerbal is on board. 

In other news, I have managed to reach ~1,550m/s using whiplash engines but can't seem to land the damn thing without breaking up! Going to wack RAPIERS on and see if I go faster. I'll worry about landing later!!!  

[xendelaar]

1550 m/s! That's awesome!!  Back to the drawing board I guess

Edited March 21, 2016 by xendelaar

[xendelaar]

Thanks for updating the leaderboard.

Your claim of reaching 1550 m/s made want to upgrade my current design. After 10 iterations I came up with this little monster that reached a maximum velocity of 1,553 m/s.

 

[Captain Marksie]

Hmmmm, not bad...   Only issue is I'm not a fan of the floating rear wheels. I'm trying to be lenient on rules but floating parts look too wrong!  I'm guessing it's only for stability on take off so make it look like they're attached and I'll add your new time. (Just realised your old time had floating wheels to but I will let it stand for now as I expect you to fix this and go faster!)

PS. Now that I've started using RAPIERS I may now be going faster than 1550m/s  Still in the process of fine tuning the stability at top speed though so not sure I will have a valid time today.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Captain Marksie