Weekly Aircraft Development Competition

[MiffedStarfish]

Oops forgot it. @sdj64 what is your plane called? Also, this time I'm going to let the winner chose the specifcation and type of plane.

[sdj64]

Just now, MiffedStarfish said:

Oops forgot it. @sdj64 what is your plane called? Also, this time I'm going to let the winner chose the specifcation and type of plane.

Oh sorry, it is called the FX Falcon.  An earlier version is up on KerbalX if you or others want to download it:  https://kerbalx.com/sdj64/FX-Falcon

[MiffedStarfish]

Here is the poll. http://www.strawpoll.me/13199108

[MiffedStarfish]

I'm going to be away for the next 2 days, so I'm writing this in a hurry. The winner of the naval fighter competition is @sdj64's FX Falcon, and as such you can choose the next set of specifications. (If you want) If you do, can you post them in roughly the same format as my ones? And I'll have your badge on Monday, sorry for the delay.

[Botanist Jeff]

I had a decent and very cheap fighter but I was unable to land it on the carrier. This was due to the fact that the stall speed was too high and that I suck at flying. The carrier also severely lagged out my computer.

here is a picture:

 

[sdj64]

Sorry I have been busy this weekend.  Here is the next challenge!

Cloud Seeding Airplane

If you're not familiar with cloud seeding in the real world, it is an unproven method to increase rainfall by dispersing chemicals into clouds which condense water around them, forming more raindrops.  You are to design an airplane that can fly at a high altitude and deploy cloud seeding chemcials from an RT-5 solid rocket.  The RT-5 must be ignited while attached to the plane, at 30% thrust or higher.

Plane Specifications:

Weight: 25 tons maximum

Altitude and Speed: must maintain level flight below Mach 1 (340 m/s) at at least 12000m

Payload: one RT-5 (contains cloud-seeding chemicals), one science jr. and one atmospheric spectro-variometer

Range: at least 600km

Crew: at least one pilot and one scientist

Cost: 150000 funds maximum

Propeller planes can lower the altitude requirement to 8000m.

[qzgy]

7 minutes ago, sdj64 said:

Sorry I have been busy this weekend.  Here is the next challenge!

Cloud Seeding Airplane

If you're not familiar with cloud seeding in the real world, it is an unproven method to increase rainfall by dispersing chemicals into clouds which condense water around them, forming more raindrops.  You are to design an airplane that can fly at a high altitude and deploy cloud seeding chemcials from an RT-5 solid rocket.  The RT-5 must be ignited while attached to the plane, at 30% thrust or higher.

Plane Specifications:

Weight: 25 tons maximum

Altitude and Speed: must maintain level flight below Mach 1 (340 m/s) at at least 12000m

Payload: one RT-5 (contains cloud-seeding chemicals), one science jr. and one atmospheric spectro-variometer

Range: at least 600km

Crew: at least one pilot and one scientist

Cost: 150000 funds maximum

Propeller planes can lower the altitude requirement to 8000m.

Oooh. sounds interesting. Definitely will give it a try.

Edited June 19, 2017 by qzgy

[Guest]

Im in!

[valens]

14 hours ago, sdj64 said:

Payload: one RT-5 (contains cloud-seeding chemicals), one science jr. and one atmospheric spectro-variometer

Can you be more specific on the payload ? (E.g. does the booster have a payload, what should be the weight of the rocket, etc.)

[sdj64]

1 minute ago, valens said:

Can you be more specific on the payload ? (E.g. does the booster have a payload, what should be the weight of the rocket, etc.)

The solid rocket is the payload, it does not decouple from the plane.  It should be fully fueled and activated while still attached.

[Vexnium]

28 minutes ago, sdj64 said:

The solid rocket is the payload, it does not decouple from the plane.  It should be fully fueled and activated while still attached.

Active a solid booster inflight without decouple it?

damn

[Vexnium]

Mass: 13t (Dry) / 23t (Wet)

Size: 7.5mH, 13.2mW, 19.7mL

Flight speed: 193m/s (12,000m) ; 268m/s (sea level)

Maximum flight altitude:  ~12,600m

Crew: 1 pilot, 3 scientists

[Guest]

https://kerbalx.com/dundun92/CS1

Edited June 20, 2017 by Guest

[Ozelui]

 

 

https://kerbalx.com/Ozelui/Stormbringer-mk-1

https://kerbalx.com/Ozelui/Stormbringer-mk-1-Extended-Range

 

I think this one meets the requirements, but i'm not sure about the range.  Is it meant to be a total of 600 km or 600 km to the target area, deploy the chemicals and another 600 km to return to base?

 

Edited June 20, 2017 by Ozelui
Rushed post, now with moar detail and KerbalX links

[Speeding Mullet]

11 hours ago, Vexnium said:

Mass: 13t (Dry) / 23t (Wet)

Size: 7.5mH, 13.2mW, 19.7mL

Flight speed: 193m/s (12,000m) ; 268m/s (sea level)

Maximum flight altitude:  ~12,600m

Crew: 1 pilot, 3 scientists

that's a cracking first post (2nd I know but they should have been merged  ).  Welcome to the forums!

 

Just getting one together for this now!

SM

[Speeding Mullet]

Mullet Dyne MD-82 Twin Equinox 

Range - 1000km+
Weight - 24.999t
Wingspan - 33.6m
Length - 19.6m
Power plant - 2 x J-X4 Whiplash Turbo Ramjets

Crew:
Gilfrey Kerman (Pilot) / Burrick Kerman (Pilot)
Passengers:
Leabert Kerman (Scientist) / Didos Kerman (Scientist) / Steve Kerman (Engineer) / Karbus Kerman (Engineer)

Science capability:

2 x Sentinel infrared stereoscopic arrays for cloud seed monitoring
1 x Atmospheric Fluid Spectro-Variometer
1 x Science Jr.

 

MISSION REPORT:

 

 

Great challenge, really enjoyed it.  Hope it has legs as I will definitely return on the odd occasion!

SM

[MiffedStarfish]

nice entries everyone, heres the poll: http://www.strawpoll.me/13257258

Dont vote for your own plane please!

Cloud Seeding - Proving Mission:

A weather station on the island northeast of KSC has notified us that suitable clouds have been detected on radar.  Your mission is to fly to the station and pick up a scientist there.  The weather report at the station will have the most up-to-date instructions on the location of the clouds (read the plaque on the flag).  Fly to the clouds, deploy the chemicals at at least 12000m altitude, then return the scientist to the weather station before flying back to KSC.

There's a plane parked at the weather station, called the P2 Cloudmaster.  It's my take on this challenge, though not an official entry.  Feel free to take a look and fly it around.

Save file

Awesome entries, everyone!

Edited July 19, 2017 by MiffedStarfish

[valens]

Is there still place for an entry?

I hereby present Kermann Aviation's S-4 Goose.

Weight (wet): 19.610 tons

Wingspan: 17.7 m; Length: 17.7 m; Height: 5.4 m

Range: Over 900 km

Propulsion: 2x JX-4 Whiplash turboramjets

Crew: one pilot + one scientist

 

The design of this craft benefitted enormously from the previous challenge, especially with the leading slats.

Edited June 23, 2017 by valens

[sdj64]

Cloud Seeding - Proving Mission:

A weather station on the island northeast of KSC has notified us that suitable clouds have been detected on radar.  Your mission is to fly to the station and pick up a scientist there.  The weather report at the station will have the most up-to-date instructions on the location of the clouds (read the plaque on the flag).  Fly to the clouds, deploy the chemicals at at least 12000m altitude, then return the scientist to the weather station before flying back to KSC.

There's a plane parked at the weather station, called the P2 Cloudmaster.  It's my take on this challenge, though not an official entry.  Feel free to take a look and fly it around.

Save file

Awesome entries, everyone!

[Skylon]

If it's not too late (I think it might be), I should have my craft posted by the end of my day (in the uk) it is already designed

Edited June 23, 2017 by Skylon

[Guest]

@MiffedStarfish, whats this weeks challenge?

[MiffedStarfish]

Sorry, completely forgot yesterday, I was at a barbecue. 

With the polls closed and the votes in, I'm happy to announce the winner of the Cloud Seeding Aircraft Competition to be... no one. Both @Speeding Mullet's and @Vexnium's planes had 5 votes each, making it a draw. 

Im not sure who gets to set the next weeks specifications, I might do it if they don't want to.

[Joseph Kerman]

SSTO air and space fighter?

[Skylon]

2 hours ago, Joseph Kerman said:

SSTO air and space fighter?

Too specific, and may give you an unfair advantage as you have made one already, and most people doing this challenge don't have much experience (afaik) with making SSTOs

I suggest a rocket air-launcher, high speed reconnaissance plane or a stunt competition. Also, rather than using weight as a limit, you could limit to a certain type/number of engines

[NotAnAimbot]

1 hour ago, Skylon said:

a stunt competition

Oh yes please