Goliath Class Shuttle

[AlamoVampire]

I decided after seeing an impressively BIG SSTO by another forum member, here specificially: 

So, after seeing this guys impressive ship, I decided to make a rather large SSTO myself. I failed at making it an SSTO, but, managed to turn this into a BEHEMOTH of a shuttle. It sits in its CURRENT configuration for TESTING with all 6 wings and all 6 strakes EMPTY btw at 1751.142 TONS on the pad.

Take a gander at it! I will update this as I go along, but, given that its making the time clock in game YELLOW, I may finish tweaking it, and stable it until 1.1 comes. But, here she is, the Goliath Class Shuttle. The last picture there is Jebediah standing on the nose while on minmus.

 

[Wallygator]

That's pretty big.

What's the purpose for separatrons on the nose?

That's a lot of chutes.

And how does it fly/glide with all those wings?

Nice work. Interested to see your next version.

[AlamoVampire]

@Wallygator Those are vernor motors actually. That version had a fuel imbalance and ended up flying poorly. Once it was slow enough i hit the chutes to land it in a safe way.

The next versions in orbit right now, once i reenter with that one i will let you know how it flies  

[Mister Dilsby]

Well! I made something a little bigger and landed it on Minmus, but that sucker is definitely not returning to the surface of Kerbin in one piece. Well done!

[Wallygator]

1 hour ago, AlamoVampire said:

@Wallygator Those are vernor motors actually. That version had a fuel imbalance and ended up flying poorly. Once it was slow enough i hit the chutes to land it in a safe way.

The next versions in orbit right now, once i reenter with that one i will let you know how it flies  

Ah, OK.  I get it.  Nice.

[AlamoVampire]

@Kuzzter Thanks! I hope to get her fully tweaked this evening! More updates to come

[AlamoVampire]

Hi again folks, I have my current tests completed, and have come to a decision on the future of this vessel. But, first, an album of its recent flight. 

In the first picture, I am getting ready to set up for reentry and landing. The next picture is the ship starting to angle into a starting position for descent. Next, we see the ship in a high angle, followed by the first hint of reentry heat. Next we have a view from Jebs seat looking at the plasma engulfing it. Finally, moments prior to touchdown.

With that, here is my update for you guys.

The ship still has some fuel flow issues that will be addressed. I am planning on launching 2 or 3 of these and sending them to different planets like Jool, Duna and maybe Eve. As to the question of how she flies, under normal Kerbin gravity, shes a beast to handle once she is less than super sonic, but, that may be to the fuel issues I am still dealing with. Under "hack gravity" she is easier to deal with. I think she will make a great transplanetary and transmoon ship, but, landing in atmosphere at this time is sketchy. I will keep tweaking as time goes on and keep yall updated.