Uhm... Hello?

[awfulhumanbeing]

Nobody cares about that, but there I am:

• My name is Igor
•  I am 28 yrs
• I'm an immigrant
• I live in Toronto, Canada
• I'm married
• I have a kid
• I am a truck driver
• I love snow-white cats
• Originally I pirated KSP, but now I am totally legal!

Newbie question: how to build a ginormous cargo LKO SSTO?

[blorgon]

Welcome!

15 minutes ago, awfulhumanbeing said:

Newbie question: how to build a ginormous cargo LKO SSTO?

Lots of big jet engines and air intakes.

[awfulhumanbeing]

3 minutes ago, blorgon said:

Welcome!

Lots of big jet engines and air intakes.

Tested. Doesn't work.

[blorgon]

Just now, awfulhumanbeing said:

Tested. Doesn't work.

Tweak your design and try again! I'm no expert on spaceplanes (only made two or three in the several years I've been playing; I'm more interested in rockets), but I believe you need the center of lift to be slightly in front of the center of mass in order to get airborne easily. After that, it's about having enough thrust to maintain altitude. For getting to orbit it's about having dual-mode engines that can switch to oxidizer when the atmosphere gets too thin for air-breathing engines. Trial and error is the Kerbal way.

[awfulhumanbeing]

5 minutes ago, blorgon said:

Trial and error is the Kerbal way.

The only way, in this case. It's just as Kerbal as sending planes into space with no launch stack. So I will try and learn, and send my abominations.

[cubinator]

On 5/21/2016 at 0:48 PM, awfulhumanbeing said:

The only way, in this case. It's just as Kerbal as sending planes into space with no launch stack. So I will try and learn, and send my abominations.

Building ridiculous contraptions and seeing how they fly defines KSP and makes it stand out against other space games. Keep trying new things; If it doesn't work, maybe you will find a new hilarious way to blow things up! Welcome to the forums btw. You could keep us updated on your spaceplaning endeavors by making a thread in Mission Reports, if you wish!

 

On 5/21/2016 at 0:41 PM, blorgon said:

Tweak your design and try again! I'm no expert on spaceplanes (only made two or three in the several years I've been playing; I'm more interested in rockets), but I believe you need the center of lift to be slightly in front of the center of mass in order to get airborne easily. After that, it's about having enough thrust to maintain altitude. For getting to orbit it's about having dual-mode engines that can switch to oxidizer when the atmosphere gets too thin for air-breathing engines. Trial and error is the Kerbal way.

Actually, the center of lift should be behind the center of mass. Too far behind and it'll want to point straight ahead all the time. Too far forward and it'll want to fly backwards. A little behind the center of mass is optimal, but it varies with every plane.

[blorgon]

3 hours ago, cubinator said:

Actually, the center of lift should be behind the center of mass. Too far behind and it'll want to point straight ahead all the time. Too far forward and it'll want to fly backwards. A little behind the center of mass is optimal, but it varies with every plane.

This is why I don't build planes!

[Kerbinchaser]

On May 21, 2016 at 1:15 PM, awfulhumanbeing said:

Nobody cares about that, but there I am:

• My name is Igor
•  I am 28 yrs
• I'm an immigrant
• I live in Toronto, Canada
• I'm married
• I have a kid
• I am a truck driver
• I love snow-white cats
• Originally I pirated KSP, but now I am totally legal!

Newbie question: how to build a ginormous cargo LKO SSTO?

How to build a gigantic SSTO? Just use MK3 parts, use rapier engines to get it to orbit, then switch to nuclear power. Been there done that.