Fireball XL5 (a replica from the '60s)

[Scarecrow]

I guess there are a few players from an older generation who will remember this craft from a puppet show for kids from the early 1960's.  Produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, who went on to give us Thunderbirds amongst others, I guess you could call Fireball XL5 the forerunner of it's more well known cousin.

Fireball XL5 in KSP is a recreation designed to give a flavour of the original, rather than be an attempt to produce a nuts and bolts faithful replica.  Having said that, the complete craft has reasonably docile flying characteristics in Kerbin's atmosphere, and Fireball Junior and the main Fireball body can be both flown independently.

Fireball Junior is the trickiest to fly; it's not too difficult flying around, but it has the glide characteristics of a brick which makes landings tricky.  When flying Fireball Junior I recommend it be done with flaps deployed as this improves the flying characteristics at the expense of maximum speed, as they do slow the craft down.  It's not recommended that the complete craft be flown with flaps deployed however, as the flaps are all situated in Fireball Junior, and deploying them can make the craft unstable when using large amounts of elevator input.

 

Action group keys :

1 Toggle Fireball Junior rocket engines

2 Toggle flaps

3 Toggle Fireball Junior landing wheels

4 Toggle ladder

6 Undock Fireball Junior

7 Toggle Fireball Junior landing legs (for vertical landings)

 

Finally, it is important that Infinite Propellant is switched on in the Alt F12 cheats menu, as this craft doesn't have a lot of wing area to keep it airborne with full tanks, so the tanks have only been filled to maintain balance and flight characteristics, which requires infinite fuel be used if you want a flight lasting longer than a couple of minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Download Fireball XL5 craft file : https://www.dropbox.com/sh/y6drj4mc870ui7s/AADdGdGNViDYBnFFFt-RVMHwa?dl=0  

 

 

Edited June 7, 2017 by Scarecrow

[Scarecrow]

Can I ask a question of everyone?

Are these fantasy style ships not particularly popular, or do they need to do something other than just look the part?  Or maybe it's because this particular ship needs Infinite Propellant to be switched on to make it viable that means no one is interested.  The reason I ask is that this thread hasn't had very many views and, as you can see, no comments.  Or maybe it's because it's from a time way before most of the people on this forum were born, as replica Star Wars craft always seem to do quite well, and I would put Fireball XL5 in the same genre, but it isn't stirring wistful memories because no one remembers it.

[SinisterSonar]

Wait this is a Star Wars craft (instantly likes all posts on this page) it is cool though yet infinite fuel does take away some of it, but still! 

Edited June 6, 2017 by SinisterSonar

[Bubbadevlin]

Personally I had no clue it was a replica of anything, and to me it kinda just looked like a rocket plane.. TBH i also thought it was some sort of necro post because of the over saturated pictures (not sure why lol) 

While it also seems at first glance like a simple plane, looking at it now i can see that you did put lots of detail and work into it.

[whoshotdk]

It's a brilliant idea for an SSTO though I've no idea what it is. Why bring the wings et cetera to the Mun with you when you can leave them in orbit for retrieval and use later?

It looks like this would be easy to turn into a workable SSTO. I think the wing area is enough for an airbreathing SSTO; clip two or four Rapiers on the back to replace the (very nice) engine and reduce fuel amounts in those tanks as required. With enough thrust, all you really need is good control authority rather than a lot of lift.

[selfish_meme]

It's going to be a difficult one because of all the bright colors that you can't replicate, and fairly generic underlying design, I was not ware of this tv program, though I watched Thunderbirds a lot when I was a kid

[linuxgurugamer]

This brings back memories.

[HvP]

9 hours ago, Scarecrow said:

Can I ask a question of everyone?

Are these fantasy style ships not particularly popular, or do they need to do something other than just look the part?  Or maybe it's because this particular ship needs Infinite Propellant to be switched on to make it viable that means no one is interested.  The reason I ask is that this thread hasn't had very many views and, as you can see, no comments.  Or maybe it's because it's from a time way before most of the people on this forum were born, as replica Star Wars craft always seem to do quite well, and I would put Fireball XL5 in the same genre, but it isn't stirring wistful memories because no one remembers it.

I think it's brilliant! I would never have thought to use the MK2 cockpits for the rear stabilizers.

Even though it's a little before my time I have vague memories of seeing clips of this show, or at least of the ship. In fact, a while back I was looking around for inspiration from classic sci-fi ships that I don't think anyone has done yet in KSP and was reminded of the Fireball XL5. I couldn't get a handle on how to get started with it, so ultimately I decided to do the Palomino from Disney's The Black Hole instead.

Are you planning on doing any of the Thunderbird's ships? There's some nice variety that would also make some very cool looking recreations I think.

Edited June 7, 2017 by HvP

[Scarecrow]

9 hours ago, BogusDionysus48 said:

Wait this is a Star Wars craft (instantly likes all posts on this page) it is cool though yet infinite fuel does take away some of it, but still! 

No it's not a Star Wars craft, but a replica of a fictional rocket/spaceship from a different TV series, from a much earlier period.  From responses here, I'm guessing it's not as popular as genuine Star Wars replicas because no one remembers the original.

HvP I have no plans to try any of the Thunderbirds craft, though T3 shouldn't be too difficult.  The difficulty with XL5 was getting the 2 craft able to fly in the atmosphere, as well as when they were joined together, as the CoL and CoM moved around depending on whether they were joined or not.  Whilst I eventually overcame the problem this was giving me, Fireball Junior still has the flying characteristics of an overweight penguin.

I've not mastered how to make a hinged wing capable of sweeping in flight, which rules out T1, but T2 might be viable if I could work out what to use to replicate that beautiful curved shape.

 

[HvP]

On 6/7/2017 at 3:45 AM, Scarecrow said:

Fireball Junior still has the flying characteristics of an overweight penguin.

LOL, being short and stumpy would have that effect I guess. You're basically trying to fly a blunt bullet, but it works I'll give you that. And I like the indicator lights tied to the action groups. That's a helpful trick I just might have to copy for its sheer elegant utility.

[Scarecrow]

I have updated the craft since and have used the lights in Junior as well to make the indication that flaps are deployed more obvious. 

[SinisterSonar]

On 2017-06-07 at 4:45 AM, Scarecrow said:

No it's not a Star Wars craft, but a replica of a fictional rocket/spaceship from a different TV series, from a much earlier period.  From responses here, I'm guessing it's not as popular as genuine Star Wars replicas because no one remembers the original.

HvP I have no plans to try any of the Thunderbirds craft, though T3 shouldn't be too difficult.  The difficulty with XL5 was getting the 2 craft able to fly in the atmosphere, as well as when they were joined together, as the CoL and CoM moved around depending on whether they were joined or not.  Whilst I eventually overcame the problem this was giving me, Fireball Junior still has the flying characteristics of an overweight penguin.

I've not mastered how to make a hinged wing capable of sweeping in flight, which rules out T1, but T2 might be viable if I could work out what to use to replicate that beautiful curved shape.

 

I am laughing my head off right now . No idea how I got Star Wars. Classic me !!!

[dprostock]

Sorry about the reactivation...
So many memories....