HST-11 "FireFlash"

[kapteenipirk]

Here i have for you a design that some of you might remember from their childhood (at least i did, even if it has been around 12 years since ive seen that show).

I was looking for picks for my M-4 Molot project and happened to come across a pick of this aircraft.

I taught it was so good looking that it had to be done, but boy was it a massive flop.

 

And yes, it is the FireFlash mk-6 atomic airliner from Thunderbirds.

The actual aircraft (for those who don't know),

is a mach-6 supersonic airliner that is powered by 6 atomic engines that are powered by a nuclear reactor.

It also has folding wingtips with landing gears on opening shell type pods.

The aircraft also weirdly has it's cockpit inside the vertical stabilizer instead of the nose, also there are lounge areas on the leading edges of the wings.

there is one design fault with it tough, witch is, that even altough the reactor can run for a few months straight, the shielding of it has to be repaired after every flight reducing the flight time to a maximum of 3-4 hours before the lethal radiation will leak trough in to the cabin.

It has been specified to carry around 600 passengers and has room for vehicles on the cargo bay on the lower deck into witch cars can be loaded via a hydraulic lift in the stand area of an airport.

I have to say that the design of the aircraft is stunning looking, BUT very, VERY bad in terms of pretty much everything else.

 

So, that's the "real version" covered, now it's time to see how this design holds up in KSP.

First of all i have to say that the design sucks big time. There are a lot of design ideas that don't work in KSP physics.

I ended up making three versions of this aircraft:

1. The big version. It had around 700 parts and would have been a 112x100m in size, but the craft got corrupted due to a crash at the last second.

In order for me to get this working, i would have to detach and the reattach every part one by one, yea, i'm not gonna do that.

The bigger version used prosedural wings to make it more part friendly and to make the wings more rigid.

on the pick below, you can see that the bigger design actually had a cargobay on the middle of the fuselage.

In all honesty even altough i should be angry about this, i'm not. I'm actually a little glad i didn't start playing around with this one (you will see my reasons later on).

 

2. The smaller version. I wanted this aircraft for my self, so i made another one that is more simplistic, smaller and has less parts (bout 500 or so).

Even altough this time the save didn't get corrupted, the results weren't any better.

I did manage to takeoff, but i wasn't able to turn and i started to lose altitude short after takeoff. (you can see the missing wingtip exploding on the distance).

 

You might be asking yourselfs right now, that what is wrong with the design, well i'll tell you.

1. Its a double decker design. It makes it way too heavy (plus crew tanks are more heavy then empty tanks), so much so that even altough i was flying with all the tanks empty it still didn't help.

2. Long and thin wings. They are too small to provide enough lift make the aircraft fly (not even after adding 10 hidden canards), plus because they are so long and thin, all the aerodynamical force that would normally allow you to turn, now just bends the wing so much that my aircraft can't turn at all.

3. The engine pods. Lets just say the like to brake off, fly off, and bend like crazy when thrust is applied.

4. Landing gears. The landing gears on the wing tips can't really support the weight of the aircraft (needed an extra landing gear on the rear fuselage for that), and they like to bend and explode during takeoff.

Based on this analysis i can safely say that the bigger version wouldn't have fared any better.

 

3. Here come the third and final version of this aircraft.

This one can actually fly, but it starts losing altitude when turning, so it's still not good enough.

In this case i think i can safely say that i have reached the limit, i could just continue adding more and more hidden canards and engines, but what's the point.

this version is 115x104m in size, has 638 parts and weighs in at a staggering 854-tons.

I think you can see the hiccup on this aircraft. The fuselage is made completely out of MK-3 fuselage pieces and is basically a solid block. That is what makes this aircraft so heavy. (if fully loaded with fuel, it would propably weigh in at about 2000 tons or even more).

And there is a cutout to show that how the fuselage was made.

You can see the still exposed hidden canards (there are bout 40-60 of them) on the nose of the aircraft, that should give you an idea of how heavy the aircraft is.

It also has two extra layers of main wings to provide extra lift, there are also about a dozen hidden shuttle wings inside the fuselage.

As a final try, i put some Quiztech RCS blocks to help, but in the end they did nothing to improve the performance of the aircraft.

 

I don't think i will be willing to do another version this anymore, three is enough for now.

So i guess i wont be using this as my personal transport after all.

 

 

But wait, i got a little surprise for you guys.

The HST-11 FireFlash lite. It's basically just a bizjet sized version of it.

The "lite" version works like a charm by the way. And it can land and takeoff from the island runway. It takes off at a speed of 80 m/s

Don't tell the boss that we stole one of the 1:5 scale models of the FireFlash from our conference center and turned it into a working aircraft.

The "lite" version is 19x16m in size, has a top speed of about 160-180 m/s in low altitude, is made up of 137 parts and weighs 18.6 tons.

 

 

 

There it is for you, a good looking but badly working design from the world of Thunderbirds.

I hope you enjoyed it .

Mod used: infernal robotics, prosedural wings (for the big versions), Kerbpaint and nebula decals for the painted "lite" version.

Download link for lite version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lmpt6sjtxw1oc1h/HST-11%20FireFlash%20lite.craft?dl=0

NOTE: The version supplied is unpainted/marked and fully stock.

Edited March 17, 2016 by kapteenipirk
third and lite versions added.

[Raptor9]

That is one huge monstrosity...

[Logan.Darklighter]

Even failures can be awesome sometimes! 

(As anyone who has ever watched an episode of Mythbusters knows. )

This is awesome. And I bet with another iteration or two, you can work the bugs out! Go for it! 

(And by then maybe I can send my version of the Thunderbirds 1, 2 and some elevator cars to come rescue you.


Ironically - my very next post in the Thunderbirds thread will involve another spectacular failure!  But it was an instructive failure that I think I can get success out of if I figure out the right lessons from it.

Edited March 17, 2016 by Logan.Darklighter

[drtricky]

How much does that monster of yours weigh?

[Majorjim!]

I salute your bravery to even try something like this! Keep pushing boundaries mate, without nutters geniuses like you we would not make any progress!

[kapteenipirk]

On 17.3.2016 at 7:40 AM, Logan.Darklighter said:

Even failures can be awesome sometimes! 

(As anyone who has ever watched an episode of Mythbusters knows. )

This is awesome. And I bet with another iteration or two, you can work the bugs out! Go for it! 

(And by then maybe I can send my version of the Thunderbirds 1, 2 and some elevator cars to come rescue you.


Ironically - my very next post in the Thunderbirds thread will involve another spectacular failure!  But it was an instructive failure that I think I can get success out of if I figure out the right lessons from it.

Thanks . Yep, failure is always an option. Yea, lets hope no one plants a bomb in my landing gear bay.

I am actually already working on a new version of the craft, just had to get some sleep first. So don't worry, i haven't given up yet .

It's not usual for me to find a design that works this bad, i mean doing replicas of real life designs is about a difficult as taking a nap compared to this.

Well that's what tends to happen when you switch from real-life designs to fictional designs.

On 17.3.2016 at 8:02 AM, drtricky said:

How much does that monster of yours weigh?

The smaller one weighs 237 tons, but i don't know about the big one since i never really checked it's weight before the craft file got corrupted.

On 17.3.2016 at 9:09 AM, Majorjim said:

I salute your bravery to even try something like this! Keep pushing boundaries mate, without nutters geniuses like you we would not make any progress!

 He,thanks .

[kapteenipirk]

Two more version of the craft have been added.

1. Third and final version of the full scale aircraft.

2. A 1:5 scale "lite" version has also been added.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Wow, that thing's huge!  I like that compound fuselage design.

[kapteenipirk]

On 17.3.2016 at 8:38 PM, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

Wow, that thing's huge!  I like that compound fuselage design.

Thanks .

[Triop]

INSANE !

[kiwi1960]

I tried build this awhile back and gave up. I admire your stamina for punishment.

The problem is that the design is basically not airworthy in the real world, or KSP. It will only ever fly well on an old puppet show....

 

...even though the puppet show is a classic.

Sylvia Anderson (divorced wife of Gerry) and voice of Lady Penelope died a few days ago ..... sad to hear.

 

[kapteenipirk]

On 17.3.2016 at 9:12 PM, kiwi1960 said:

I tried build this awhile back and gave up. I admire your stamina for punishment.

The problem is that the design is basically not airworthy in the real world, or KSP. It will only ever fly well on an old puppet show....

 

...even though the puppet show is a classic.

Sylvia Anderson (divorced wife of Gerry) and voice of Lady Penelope died a few days ago ..... sad to hear.

 

I kinda new that pretty early on. But i don't give up on design i like that easy, so i tried pretty much everything. after the third one tough, i desided to give up on the full scale version and just made the 1:5 scale lite version instead, witch works like a charm by the way.

R.I.P Sylvia Anderson. God, it's been such a long time since ive seen that show (bout 12-13 years), but i can still remember it so well.

[kiwi1960]

I have all the Thunderbirds episodes on DVD... some Captain Scarlet, and all the UFO episodes...

I have the odd episode of his minor shows as well... Joe 90 etc etc.