[0.16 + Damned Aerospace] Colmo-Korp Aeronautics

[colmo]

A new KSP version, and with it, a new fleet of Colmo-Korp\'s signature easy-to-fly aircraft.

Notice: The balance of the helicopters has changed in 0.17. They will require fixing to fly as they were intended. The CK H145 MkIII works perfectly

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CK A112 Biplane MkI

Retaining the forgiving flight characteristics of it\'s 0.15 predecessors, with tweaked control surface placement to improve pitch control without excessive roll, an ASAS unit that you\'ll really only need as an autopilot, and ultra-short take-off distance, this biplane is an excellent trainer aircraft.

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CK A242 Biplane MkI

The successor of the BiplaneXL, this large biplane has lots of lift and 4 fuel tanks for extra range. The ASAS unit comes in handy as an autopilot.

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CK D171 Delta MK I

This is the best plane I\'ve ever built. It flies beautifully, straight and true at mid-throttle (it will climb if you go above 2/3 throttle, and dive gently at 1/3 throttle or less), has superb range, is very manoeuvrable, can climb to a ceiling of over 18km, and has been clocked at 549m/s at 13.5km altitude.

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CK B231S Jet MkI

Though it\'s something of an ugly duckling, this pocket rocket packs a punch. Two turbofan jets and not much else mean it can reach over 20km. It\'s also pretty easy to fly - the slightly \'loose\' feel of the tail is nothing to worry about, an inherent feature due to the stubby tail.

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CK H145 Scout MkI Helicopter

Though small, the three Mk1 fuel tanks give plenty of range, the ASAS unit is useful as an autopilot and for locking in your horizon for landing. As mentioned, the tailfin means landings are best performed with slight forward velocity, and will make for pleasant flight as you can easily turn simply by banking. Floodlights make landings much, much easier to judge.

Requirements: 0.16, Damned Aerospace and Bigtrak floodlights.

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CK H145 Scout MkII Helicopter

Like the MkI, plenty of range, but exchanging the ASAS unit for a SAS as this was found to work better in a craft completely without control surfaces, maintaining a locked heading while still allowing some manual override, useful on landings. Lack of a tailfin means that true hovered landings are possible. As in the MkI, floodlights make landings much, much easier to judge.

Requirements: 0.16, Damned Aerospace and Bigtrak floodlights.

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CK H230L Heli MkI - "The Hopper"

The performance of landing gear in 0.16 is a concern. I have played around with torsion bar suspensions using Damned Robotics rotatrons, and the Katerpillar wheels have impressive shock absorbing capabilities, so I went all-out to make a helicopter I could drop like a stone.

During testing, I was using the 1m trusses and found that I was bottoming out long before I broke anything, so I switched to the 2m trusses to improve clearance, and the increase in wheel track also helped prevent rollover on the bounce. And boy can it bounce - I have confirmed in testing that this helicopter can land in a dead drop of over 100m!!! - You'll have to be very careful with your pitch and roll on the descent, but with a 4 wheel touchdown it is possible. Note that the Damned Robotics powered hinges are not intended for use, they are their to act as part of the suspension.

Requirements: 0.16, Damned Aerospace & Robotics, Katerpillar wheels.

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CK H145 Scout MkIII Helicopter

Rebalanced version of the MkII for 0.17. Plenty of range, but exchanging the ASAS unit for a SAS as this was found to work better in a craft completely without control surfaces, maintaining a locked heading while still allowing some manual override, useful on landings. Lack of a tailfin means that true hovered landings are possible. As in the MkI, floodlights make landings much, much easier to judge.

Requirements: 0.17, Damned Aerospace and Bigtrak floodlights.

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[Download CK H145 MkIII helicopters

Download CK H145 MkI & MkII helicopters

Download CK H230L Heli MkI - "The Hopper"

Link to Damned Aerospace mod: http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/showthread.php/9243-v0-16-Damned-Aerospace-Version-1-5-3-Crewtank

Edited October 5, 2012 by colmo
Removed references to rotor bug - latest DA edition has fixed this.

[colmo]

I\'ve turned my attention to stock jets, and my discovery of the ability to do fine rotations by holding Shift +WASD has produced some of my best fliers yet. I\'ve gone with the Avionics unit rather than the ASAS unit, as MechJeb\'s Instrument Landing System now provides heading and altitude hold for planes, as well as landing them for you if you trust it enough!

CK D171 Delta MK I

This is the best plane I\'ve ever built. It flies beautifully, straight and true at mid-throttle (it will climb if you go above 2/3 throttle, and dive gently at 1/3 throttle or less), has superb range, is very manoeuvrable, can climb to a ceiling of over 18km, and has been clocked at 549m/s at 13.5km altitude.

CK B231S Jet MkI

Though it\'s something of an ugly duckling, this pocket rocket packs a punch. Two turbofan jets and not much else mean it can reach over 20km. It\'s also pretty easy to fly - the slightly \'loose\' feel of the tail is nothing to worry about, an inherent feature due to the stubby tail.

[Czman007]

Thank you So much! These planes are great! Much better than my planes which are impossible to control.

[colmo]

I finally got some helicopters sorted in 0.16. The changed flight model means helicopters handle in a substantially different way. I've done away with most of the control surfaces, as the lift they generated was messing up handling and landing. I note that tail fins have a drastic effect on helicopter flight - it appears the angular drag of a tail-fin makes them easier to fly, as the chopper will naturally line up with it's direction of travel, but it ruins any chance of hovered landing - any rearward movement will cause a spin and loss of control, a bad thing to happen when you're close to the ground! Thus, I have released two variants of the same model, one with a tail-fin and one without.

Note: There is a visual bug in the coaxial rotors, and indeed all the Damned Aerospace engines. To fix, open the part.cfg file and change all instances of rotorBlur, rotoe1Blur, rotor2Blur etc to "1". Currently, they are set to "2".

Requirements: 0.16, Damned Aerospace and Bigtrak floodlights.

CK H145 Scout MkI Helicopter

Though small, the three Mk1 fuel tanks give plenty of range, the ASAS unit is useful as an autopilot and for locking in your horizon for landing. As mentioned, the tailfin means landings are best performed with slight forward velocity, and will make for pleasant flight as you can easily turn simply by banking. Floodlights make landings much, much easier to judge.

CK H145 Scout MkII Helicopter

Like the MkI, plenty of range, but exchanging the ASAS unit for a SAS as this was found to work better in a craft completely without control surfaces, maintaining a locked heading while still allowing some manual override, useful on landings. Lack of a tailfin means that true hovered landings are possible. As in the MkI, floodlights make landings much, much easier to judge.

[colmo]

The performance of landing gear in 0.16 is a concern. I have played around with torsion bar suspensions using Damned Robotics rotatrons, and the Katerpillar wheels have impressive shock absorbing capabilities, so I went all-out to make a helicopter I could drop like a stone.

CK H230L Heli MkI - "The Hopper"

Requirements: 0.16, Damned Aerospace & Robotics, Katerpillar wheels.

During testing, I was using the 1m trusses and found that I was bottoming out long before I broke anything, so I switched to the 2m trusses to improve clearance, and the increase in wheel track also helped prevent rollover on the bounce. And boy can it bounce - I have confirmed in testing that this helicopter can land in a dead drop of over 100m!!! - You'll have to be very careful with your pitch and roll on the descent, but with a 4 wheel touchdown it is possible. Note that the Damned Robotics powered hinges are not intended for use, they are their to act as part of the suspension.

Edited August 11, 2012 by colmo

[colmo]

Tidied up the opening post. I have no idea why the last spoiler does not work.

[Bestia]

What Range are we talking about on average with the CK B231S Jet MkI

[colmo]

What Range are we talking about on average with the CK B231S Jet MkI

I don't have an exact figure, probably less than the deltawing as it has 2 engines for the same amount of fuel, and less overall lift. I suspect it could cruise at a higher altitude though. Would need extensive testing, probably using MechJeb's ILS.

[georgechristopher2001]

Where Can i find these parts?????????

[colmo]

Where Can i find these parts?????????

All the craft have text stating what extra plugins or parts they require, and the .craft files themselves are either attached or linked in the opening post. A search of the forum should find you the plugins listed.

[colmo]

Added a poll to see what designs folks have liked best.

[plopkak21]

where can i download it?

[Nagaboy]

Please add a link to downloading the mod

[sal_vager]

Try here Nagaboy

[colmo]

I'm surprised my VTOLs got as many votes in the poll as helicopters, considering I made so many more helicopters. Any more opinions, please?

P.S. Added link to Damned Aerospace mod in OP.

[zapy97]

I'm surprised my VTOLs got as many votes in the poll as helicopters, considering I made so many more helicopters. Any more opinions, please?

P.S. Added link to Damned Aerospace mod in OP.

can i get some VTOLS

[colmo]

can i get some VTOLS

You certainly can - I'll hopefully produce something in the near future, once I've fixed my helicopters, which I have just discovered no longer fly well due to 0.17.

[colmo]

CK H145 Scout MkIII Helicopter

Rebalanced version of the MkII for 0.17. Plenty of range, but exchanging the ASAS unit for a SAS as this was found to work better in a craft completely without control surfaces, maintaining a locked heading while still allowing some manual override, useful on landings. Lack of a tailfin means that true hovered landings are possible. As in the MkI, floodlights make landings much, much easier to judge.

Requirements: 0.17, Damned Aerospace and Bigtrak floodlights (in archived version of the mod).

Edited October 5, 2012 by colmo