Orbit Portal Showroom [Show me your OPT Spaceplanes!]

[degenerate]

5 hours ago, Heckspress said:

The tiny SSTO doesn't work even with the legacy pack

I must have forgotten some minor detail, will look into it next time I'm at my computer and try sort it out

[Heckspress]

ok thx!

 

[degenerate]

31 minutes ago, Heckspress said:

ok thx!

 

Found the problem, it was a KAS port at the rear...
Fixed link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bx-awuyHxsTFXzlwR3kwRnprRVk

[Ohm Machre]

 

Thanks to the Lack Luster Lab's mod being pushed to a 1.2.1 beta, I could create this FABULOSITY. A very nice blend of the 3x1 Hulls, the big Radial IONs along the bottom (for low-grav VTOL mode), and the very stylish Advanced Probe Nose, alongside the Hypersonic Mk2 capsule from Mk2 Expansion, plus the standard OPT parts we all know and love, this is quite the fast flier! (I don't know why some people have problems with overheating midflight, haha. I get away just fine! )

 

I don't have a name for this beaut, but I'm sure someone will figure out one. This is not really meant for more than exploring and setting flags to go settle at. I initially attempted to take nuke-engines for long-range transport, but they proved to be quite heavy and unbalancing, so I stuck with the two J-81s, and added a J-61 for atmo-oomph. Come to think of it, it's kind of like a Frankenstein-like shuttle.

 

Also, at the back, you may notice the OPT Mk2 Hypersonic Air Scoop, but turned upside down. I think it tends to look much better that way when pressed into the fuselage, because the top of it is a bit long and shallow. 

[Ohm Machre]

And a small revision already haha.

 

 

I added the 1.25m form reactor from Near Space Electricity, and eight Small Thermal Control Systems to compensate for its heat. Now it has permanent power production that can feed the beastly six IONs. (They drain like a MOTHER.) Also added my now standard insignia, one of the OPT Aerospace Division, and one of good old SkaiaNet.   

[Heckspress]

4 hours ago, Ohm Machre said:

SkaiaNet.   

long as the decal's not a bucket

[Ohm Machre]

10 hours ago, Heckspress said:

long as the decal's not a bucket

Oh please, that would be gross.

[Andrew2070]

My workload for 12th grade increased a lot, which is why I haven't been playing as much.

However I had some time today and put together a new and more efficient variant of my LongSword series.

 

Introducing the Mark 6 variant:

Features all the previous features (with an empty cargo bay for Sat transport).

Features two new engines, two new fuel tanks and 4 additional air intakes.

The Mark 6 has a take off speed of 190 m/s (bit too close but worth it).

It is also capable of circularizing orbit at 80,000m up with little fuel left.

Better engine placement now allows the wings to act as thrust vectoring.

More structural boosting (struts ftw) have made it invulnerable to high G-Forces.

However it still isn't capable of ditching in water even with buoyant wing tanks.

 

 

 

Edit:

Two stage parachutes are designed for scenarios where the aircraft cannot aerobrake under 150m/s.

 Stage 1: Droge Parachutes: Designed to bring speed to 90m/s or below (60 m/s is optimal landing speed).

 Stage 0: Emergency Shutes: Designed to act as a failsafe if the aircraft is in a tailspin or plummeting too fast.

 

 

Edited November 14, 2016 by Andrew2070
Parachute stages explanation.

[stali79]

You guys have all played with my planes lol

[Mycroft]

Here's a plane of mine: http://imgur.com/a/IoJeE

Can do a VTOL take off, go to a 120-120 km orbit no problem, deorbit, come back home, and land VTOL. Soon to be uploaded.

 

[JadeOfMaar]

18 hours ago, Andrew2070 said:

The Mark 6 has a take off speed of 190 m/s (bit too close but worth it).

It is also capable of circularizing orbit at 80,000m up with little fuel left.

Better engine placement now allows the wings to act as thrust vectoring.

More structural boosting (struts ftw) have made it invulnerable to high G-Forces.

However it still isn't capable of ditching in water even with buoyant wing tanks.

 

Oh, dude. That high liftoff speed is too much; you're wasting fuel on the runway. That reminds me of a major problem with those old OPT wings. They're basically giant elevons and only generate their aero action at their CoM or in this case, nearly the CoM of your craft, making them very ineffective for steering. I urge you to add extra elevons/ stabilizers/ tail fins, and disable the ones in those main wings. For a long and heavy craft like this I also urge you to add some near the cockpit, and tune your rear wheels (make them taller, move them a little towards the CoM) to help the cockpit nose up. Done right, you can lower your liftoff speed to an epic 70m/s or even less, and help the tail-spin problem.

Also, with four J-61 air engines attached now you can surely afford to replace the Rapiers with dedicated LFO engines and increase your fuel economy in space. Remove the bicoupler and try the J Linear Aerospike engine. See if you get decent thrust along with much higher Isp. It should be the best engine you have and would casually install on your crafts.

Edited November 15, 2016 by JadeOfMaar

[JadeOfMaar]

Also. I just produced a major concept alien shuttle. It wears the flag of the king of planets, Nero, in Galileo's Planet Pack. It intends to be an SSTO with VTOL but not with the capacity to launch from Gael/Kerbin. There are many galilean worlds with atmosphere to deploy this on, and most of them with forgiving measures of gravity. This craft is highly experimental, holding 5 M2X nuclear reactors and some devices that require their total output of 900 EC/s...maybe more. As this is a test game and I have to launch KSP frequently, I'm restrictive on parts mods so no Near Future mods.

[Andrew2070]

What engines do you have in mind to replace the rapiers?

I am biased against Lf+Ox engines because they consume so much fuel even though each engine is different.

I basically like what I have so far because it's aesthetically pleasing and functional enough.

Mark 1-5 could not circularize orbit properly and had me re-enter with a periapsis of 40,000.

Now I get a periapsis of around 80+k and have little fuel left for de-orbiting into atmosphere.

 

Your ship aesthetically pleases, but at the same time that gap between wings irritates me

Does that thing fly? What's its top air speed in Kerbin? How much fuel do you have left over in orbit?

*Tip: Add larger/longer wings on the sides of your current ones for glide control*

 

 

I just love this new feeling that my LongSword can "Catch Fire" while leaving atmosphere:

Don't want to lose that.

Any tips?

Edited November 15, 2016 by Andrew2070

[stali79]

3 minutes ago, Andrew2070 said:

What engines do you have in mind to replace the rapiers?

I am biased against Lf+Ox engines because they consume so much fuel even though each engine is different.

I basically like what I have so far because it's aesthetically pleasing and functional enough.

Mark 1-5 could not circularize orbit properly and had me re-enter with a periapsis of 40,000.

Now I get a periapsis of around 80+k and have little fuel left for de-orbiting into atmosphere.

 

I just love this new feeling that my LongSword can "Catch Fire" while leaving atmosphere:

Don't want to lose that.

Any tips?

He could remove the rapiers and try a pair of j81's on the wing tips

[Andrew2070]

Btw: 

Should my rear wheels match my front wheels in height.

Also can the J aerodynamic tail with slots and 2 lfo engines work?

What about large Ullage Motors on the wing tips to get to take off speed without LF?

 

Few more questions:

Is it practical to activate my aero-spike afterburners for Take-Off like a fighter jet?

After 50km should i cut my engines to conserve fuel and burn at apoapsis of 75k?

Does OPT have a 1.8 version or better for 1.0.x versions?

 

Edit:

I downed take-off speed to 160 m/s by tuning my wheels and adding batteries at the tail.

My goal is to get it around 120 m/s without having to add any more wings or control surfaces.

Edited November 15, 2016 by Andrew2070

[Patoz]

Hello @JadeOfMaar!

I was wondering where did you get the extra cockpits since I only have the OPT J and OPT K cockpits and fuselages. Could you please help me?

Thanks!

[JadeOfMaar]

ello @Patoz. That's an easy question. The OPT mod has grown quite a lot while you were away. Its original author just came back too. The mod has split into the new OPT and what you're running has been renamed to OPT Legacy. If you're on KSP 1.0.5. you'll be out of luck. The available legacy versions don't go that far back.

3 hours ago, stali79 said:

He could remove the rapiers and try a pair of j81's on the wing tips

I don't think he can do that. I'm expecting his version of the mod is one between where the earliest J & K form factors and the J81 + J60 engines were removed, and where you started maintaining the mod. New problem... Due to the nature of the old wings, he may need the Rapiers for their gimbal just as much as their power. No engine I can suggest has enough gimbal to help this plane steer and fit the aesthetic.

@Andrew2070

• Ideally the wheel heights must always match but there are advantages to having them differ. The issue is if the rest of the plane will agree with that difference.
• The only advantage you'll get from the J tail (you mean the J Engine Mount) is looks...what little of it would be visible.
• Okay. You're adding no extra wings/elevons. How about moving them back and moving the engine racks forward to help with lift.
• You might need to pack some big SRBs to help a craft like that and then they'll look ugly just hanging around afterwards, dead and empty.
• In some cases it's practical to use afterburners at launch. I made a hypersonic that requires that, but achieves it just by having Rapiers on. It contains no OPT parts though so I won't show it.
• You can try OPT Legacy up to version 1.8.5.9 for up to KSP 1.1.3 (no versions for KSP 1.0.x available). But be warned, you'll likely lose all your craft files and vessels in orbit. Updates to this mod are very messy.

As for my craft:

• It can fly rather well on Kerbin, but in order to get past maybe 11km up it's going to need more and dedicated air engines.
• Its survivability when landing is a whole large test by itself.
• (Against my standards) I went and clipped a few Big S elevons way into it and those provide the needed glide control. It takes off at about 150m/s. A good alien design tends to never have a conventional large wingspan.

Edited November 15, 2016 by JadeOfMaar

[degenerate]

5 hours ago, Andrew2070 said:

What engines do you have in mind to replace the rapiers?

I am biased against Lf+Ox engines because they consume so much fuel even though each engine is different.

I basically like what I have so far because it's aesthetically pleasing and functional enough.

Mark 1-5 could not circularize orbit properly and had me re-enter with a periapsis of 40,000.

Now I get a periapsis of around 80+k and have little fuel left for de-orbiting into atmosphere.

 

Your ship aesthetically pleases, but at the same time that gap between wings irritates me

Does that thing fly? What's its top air speed in Kerbin? How much fuel do you have left over in orbit?

*Tip: Add larger/longer wings on the sides of your current ones for glide control*

 

 

I just love this new feeling that my LongSword can "Catch Fire" while leaving atmosphere:

Don't want to lose that.

Any tips?

Mate, if you're not up to date with OPT I recommend downloading the lastest version, and taking a look at the J-81 (Legacy only) engines.
As far as futuristic space programs go (honestly realism goes out the window the second you look at SSTOs anyways) OPT offers the best.
Get the latest OPT Legacy patch and have a look at the J-81 engines.
Seriously if you have OPT and OPT Legacy installed then Rapiers are HORRIBLE and you should NEVER use them unless you're trying to challenge yourself.
Get on the J-81 train mate, it's amazing

Don't wanna pee on your ta tas mate but you're literally the guy who cries about a fire extinguisher after he sets his bloody stove on fire, mate.

Edited November 15, 2016 by degenerate

[Ohm Machre]

Oho!! I spy with my little eye some GN Drives, Jade

This makes me very happy indeed

[JadeOfMaar]

1 minute ago, Ohm Machre said:

Oho!! I spy with my little eye some GN Drives, Jade

This makes me very happy indeed

You......... You know!

 

[JadeOfMaar]

Added three J-61's to the Nero L, a.k.a.

Quote

the J-81 train

lol, now it can properly and conventionally SSTO from Kerbin/Gael, although it has a somewhat complicated ascent procedure now and I'll have to document it, especially if I decide to share it.

I'd rather it have J-60s for some realism but...this ship doesn't need their significant dry mass. They fit pretty nicely elsewhere.

Final stats. @Andrew2070

 

Spoiler

And here's the Nero in Low Nero Orbit.

 

[Ohm Machre]

Also, Jade, I hope you don't mind, buuuuut I appropriated your design lol.

Spoiler

 

 

I'm attempting to make it Gael-capable.

So far, I'm having good success just using the GN Drives. (I was testing a version without the J-81s.) Now comes the best test, making it to Gael Orbit.

[Ohm Machre]

Update: Critical Success

Spoiler

 

 

Now to get a couple of my Clawed Refuelers up there and get her loaded back up. Or just leave her there for now until the new update for GPP goes out, and I can go to a moon with reasonable FPS.

[Ohm Machre]

This is hilarious in that I never updated this page to see if you'd already made yours Gael-capable or not XD

[JadeOfMaar]

@Ohm Machre I admire that you copied my ship. I do it to other people too. My ship is already sufficiently Gael-capable with two GN Condenser Drives for thrust and 9 GN Condenser Frames (the little green caps) for tankage, high recharge rate and cost savings. However I intended for the GN components to not be too prominent (they're reserved for VTOL on this) and for OPT engines to remain the main propulsion system.

In my screenshots, however, I had them turned off the entire time and added the J-61s to show @Andrew2070 that my design (and I'm glad he asked) can successfully SSTO from the likes of Kerbin with only chemical engines.   It just needs more or stronger nuclear reactors for the GN, and speaking of which, the 5th M2x reactor is inside the J aerodynamic tail. You can see the radiators there.

 

Spoiler

I can imagine the magnitude of acceleration (and later, RCS precision issues) you have to deal with, with 6+ of those drives if they're all on at once.

Usage tip: GN drive thrust is equal to the sea level gravity of the body you're at, multiplied by the number of active drives. Particle consumption scales with the amount of gravity, the amount of active drives, and the mass of your craft so you may be doing your business quite inefficiently.