[0.15+] 99 Luftbalons

[cardgame]

Ladies and gentlekerbals, today CG Ventures presents you with the S.S. 99 Luftbalons!

This craft is a completely absurd, over-the-top and state-of-the-art destroyer blimp. Featuring parts from BACE, NovaPunch, JAWRD, Ludo (obv), Probodobodyne, Fixed Camera (including cockpit .cfgs), and Damned Robotics, this warship delivers warheads with near-pinpoint accuracy in almost any direction. Two individually-controlled railguns (railgun 1: rotation, 1-2; hinge, 3-4. railgun 2: rotation, 5-6; hinge, 7-8) and two targeting cameras provide superior firepower. Each railgun has four rounds. Railgun 1 fires first; its targeting camera can be activated with two hits of F8. A further F8 will switch you to railgun 2\'s targeting camera. If this isn\'t your ideal setup, it\'s pretty easy to modify the order the rounds fire in, and you can also fire both at once to ensure area denial. Accurately aiming both railguns simultaneously is theoretically possible but our pilots did not test it.

If you run out of ammo, or are intercepted, you\'re not completely helpless; board the Bumblebee Mk. I situated below the blimp and make a clean getaway. (Would have included the turbojet, but it kept breaking on vessel launch) You will need approximately 500 meters of altitude minimum clearance to perform this maneuver, although skilled pilots could probably do it in about 400 meters. I dropped from 750m and evened out at exactly 300, but there is a response delay in turning on the jet\'s engine that will vary depending on human response time. Alternatively, you can bundle the ignition with the decouplement from the blimp.

Launching this vessel is indeed a bit tricky... fill to 100% gas levels ASAP, and start your engines when you\'re approximately 75-80% full. Then proceed to take off like a completely normal, innocent fighter jet. (You should leave the runway at approximately 20m/s)

RCS tanks and thrusters are included to make maneuvering easier, but it does leave something to be desired. You should note that for modifications purposes, the craft is at ~95% weight capacity already - too much more and she won\'t take off! (I added two more RCS tanks for a total of 1.8 additional mass units and she never made it off the runway.) She hovers at approximately 95-96% gas level.

Decent firing angle - note the distance and feel between the gun and target.

Please note that all numbers as of today are very rough! The pilots were enjoying themselves too much to take accurate notes. Just look, they\'re all smiling.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Mods list:

• 
  [li]BACE[/li]
  [li]NovaPunch[/li]
  [li]JAWRD[/li]
  [li]Ludobodyne[/li]
  [li]Probodobodyne[/li]
  [li]Fixed Camera (including cockpit .cfgs)[/li]
  [li]Damned Robotics[/li]
  

You will also need the respective plugins of each mod that has them, not just the parts.

99 Luftbalons is the original craft depicted here; Luftbalons-T is the same craft again, with trainer rounds; Luftbalons-2T is a version with a dual railgun that features simultaneous tracking, also with training rounds. Its cone of fire is thus vastly more limited, and more tactical maneuvering will be required to aim.

[Kreuzung]

That just looks insane...

But seriously, add 98 more blimps to it ;P

[cardgame]

I did try adding one more when I had loads more weight on it, but the whole thing just exploded on the pad, leaving me this...