The Adventures of Tex Kerman

[Dman979]

See if you can find the Badlands!

But if somebody else has a suggestion, do that instead. I got to chose the last one. Which reminds me, if you fly over to Control Island you might see something there.

[Tex]

Control Island, you say? Where might this place be?

And the Badlands sound like an un-bad place to go, I think I might check it out.

 

[Dman979]

 

[Geschosskopf]

This is pretty cool.  Keep up the good work, @Maximus97.

Kerbin is a beautiful place full of fascinating scenery.  Too many people never bother to look at any of that.  At most, they only look for flat places to land in the various biomes in a rush to leave the planet entirely.  It's good to see somebody getting out there to appreciate the planet.

[Dman979]

On 11/9/2016 at 0:45 PM, Geschosskopf said:

Kerbin is a beautiful place full of fascinating scenery.  Too many people never bother to look at any of that.  At most, they only look for flat places to land in the various biomes in a rush to leave the planet entirely.  It's good to see somebody getting out there to appreciate the planet.

Don't you think that flying is going too fast? @Maximus97, you need to walk it.

[Tex]

@Dman979, walking could be dangerous. You could trip, roll your ankle, get a blister, sunburn- But when you're in a high-powered jet aircraft, there's no danger of any of that. To quote Jeremy Clarkson, of Top Gear fame: "This is Top Gear exploring, high-speed exploring!"

I think we can all agree, as members of the forum, we do our best work above mach 1 

[Dman979]

1 hour ago, Maximus97 said:

I think we can all agree, as members of the forum, we do our best work above mach 1 

This isn't your best work? I really want to see your best work.

The Seagull is normally at 220 m/s, no?

[Tex]

Mini Update 2 - The New Seagull!

Breaking news from the surface of Kerbin!

So It's no secret that the original Seagull has been around for a while now, and make no mistake- it's a fantastic bird for flying around Kerbin. It hasn't let me down yet (except for one time on Crash Mountain (and near-fatally, at that)), but ignoring some minor problems, it was a great glider, super efficient, and fun to fly.

However, I think it's time for an update.

Introducing... the NEW Seagull! 

Already, you can notice a few differences from Seagull 1, such as the addition of a nose-based air intake, some air brakes on the side, a new piece of Science! equipment, and a single tail fin instead of dual fins. Here's a comparison shot of the two, with the original Seagull in the foreground.

In addition to these new gadgets, there are two design features that are quite different on the new Seagull, which is very obvious when you look down on the both of them.

Spoiler

Notice that this is the orginal Seagul configuration. Pay attention to the wings and engine.

Spoiler

That's right! We've got ACTUAL wings now! All other wings are just pretending. Wing-shaped wings are the way to go. In addition to providing a little more lift, it also gives better overall control response. Plus it looks awesome. Win-win-win, right? You'll also notice that I've decided to go for a tiny upgrade in engines- from the wimpy Wheesley to the screaming, afterburning Panther! 

I've made the switch for two very important reasons- Firstly, when I was doing flight tests of the new Panther-powered Seagull, I noticed either minimal or losses in efficiency. However, the new Seagull has quite a bit extra fuel, maybe even up to 50% more, to make up for this. The second reason?

So I've got a plane and I've got some targets to aim for. Let's do some exploring. 

 

 

[Ultimate Steve]

If you're still looking for places to go, I've got a couple suggestions.

1. This one island between the KSC continent and the eastern one (approx. 10 East, 30 North)

2. On the southern ice cap there is a place where there are mountains (15 West, 77 South)

3. If you haven't already, check out the anomalies like the Desert pyramids and KSC2. Also near KSC2 are some interesting mountains.

[Geschosskopf]

I like the immense fault line that runs for miles and miles along the western shore of the great inland sea in the continent east of KSC.

[Tex]

Mini Update 3 - I lied. I lied a lot.

So in the last Mini Update, I introduced to you all the new and improved Seagull. Well, since then, I've taken a slightly different path as my philosophy of exploring has changed even further.

Introducing.... the THUNDERHAWK (mk II)

I got to feeling that the Seagulls were just a tad too slow, even with the improved version. Plus, I developed the plane quite some time ago, so I'm quite out of touch with why I developed it, exactly. It still wasn't efficient or powerful, so came the Thunderhawk. Here are some views from around the plane.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[Just Jim]

Nice! How does it handle?  

[Tex]

21 hours ago, Just Jim said:

Nice! How does it handle?  

Especially with the canards, it handles wonderfully. For some reason my newer plane designs have been wanting to go nose-down naturally, even with SAS, so I angled the wings upwards more and it's probably one of the most natural level-flyers I have. The three Wheesleys powering it are efficient and can take me to maybe 1.6 or 1.7 mach pretty easily too, and stay there all day. Really, it's how Ferdinand Magellan would have explored.

[DarkOwl57]

So I know this is sorta an old thread now, but maybe go to the North/South Pole?

(BTW: I llllooooooooooooovvveeeee the Thunderhawk!)

[Tex]

2 hours ago, DarkOwl57 said:

So I know this is sorta an old thread now, but maybe go to the North/South Pole?

(BTW: I llllooooooooooooovvveeeee the Thunderhawk!)

You know what? Tex Kerman has been out of the game too long. North/South poles it is.

[DarkOwl57]

Just now, Tex said:

You know what? Tex Kerman has been out of the game too long. North/South poles it is.

WOOOOO!!!!! 

(Are we seeing the Thunderhawk take its first Field Test?)

[Tex]

Part Nine: The North Pole

This time, Tex gets cold!

 

Looks like Imgur albums are still down and out, and spoilers are inconvenient for everybody. So here is the main album, check out Tex's trip to the North Pole!

http://imgur.com/a/DM4Np

[DarkOwl57]

PREEEETTTTTYYYY!!!!!

Just now thought of something; Is there a KerbalX download link? I could re-create this thing but I'd probably go overboard with switching Whiplashes with Wheesely...

[Tex]

2 hours ago, DarkOwl57 said:

PREEEETTTTTYYYY!!!!!

Just now thought of something; Is there a KerbalX download link? I could re-create this thing but I'd probably go overboard with switching Whiplashes with Wheesely...

You know, I think I'll upload it. And that was a thought of mine too, I was just transferring the concept from the TX-0001 MiniJet over to the Thunderhawk with larger engines, and it worked essentially identically. I think I did end up putting jet-ier engines on, but it was just too much power and too inefficient for long-hauling it. Though I may decide to do a different approach for the next flight.

[Tex]

Episode Ten: Building The Motor-cicle

Friday night and I need a fight
My motorcycle and a switchblade knife
Handful of grease in my hair feels right
But what I need to get me tight are those
 

Girls, girls, girls
 

On this Steppenwolf-in' episode of the Adventures of Tex Kerman, we take a leaf from Motley Crue's book and build exactly what we need on Friday night:

 

A Motor-Cicle!

 

 

It looks nasty, doesn't it? Well, fear not, tree-huggers. This baby is 100% electric. In the words of Marty McFly, this sucker is indeed nuclear. RTG's placed strategically to resemble headers also give the Motor-Cicle enough power to turn those massive ruggedized wheels in the back. 

 

This build was originally for the Motorbike Design Challenge thread, but I'm still waiting for my question to be answered before I submit anything. As such, it complies with the rules of the thread, including having 2(ish) wheels, and working brake and headlights. I have not yet made the prerequisite laps because, with two riders astride it's lofty dimensions, it's a little unwieldy.

 

Here it is from a few angles.

 

And, as evidenced by the picture below, tops out at about 36 m/s.

 

That's all for today, but tune in next time for the Adventures of Tex Kerman!

[Dman979]

 

 

[Just Jim]

That is just about the coolest thing I've seen in KSP yet!!!!