Advanced Avionics: Single Jet and single Rocket Engine Spaceplane

[tsgaerospace]

i have made this contraption yesterday but i didn´t have the time to upload it so here it is

http://imgur.com/a/HAYyK

https://kerbalx.com/TSGaerospace/aligny

it is capable of getting to the KSC but i´m a moron and deorbited it instantly so i didn´t reach the KSC

[StanK]

Well done @tsgaerospace! And that is a bold design to omit trust vectoring! I like how the aerospike seems to push the craft up, rather than forwards, into space when it's turned on.

And indeed, landing anywhere on Kerbin is allowed, so this one counts.

[tsgaerospace]

yay!

and you could do the orbital insertion burn (or what is it called) on full thrust, you just need to re-destribute the fuel

is there a system that shows you your com/col/cot in flight in stock ksp?

and if not is tere a mod like that out there?

that would be handy on the craft...

[Rosvall]

Here's my try.

I made it with a rapier and an aerospike pointing at CoM.

Turned out the aerospike with not pointing at CoM when I was in space so I had hold down roll while circularizing . Worked out though

http://imgur.com/a/BI4z9

[tseitsei89]

On 8.7.2017 at 11:08 PM, tsgaerospace said:

 

is there a system that shows you your com/col/cot in flight in stock ksp?

and if not is tere a mod like that out there?

 

This. I need this.

[StanK]

@Rosvall joins the list of Advanced Aviators with yet another creative design. Good work! Rolling to counter a small CoM/CoT misalignment is great plan too, and it evidently works.

 

 

On 7/8/2017 at 9:08 PM, tsgaerospace said:

is there a system that shows you your com/col/cot in flight in stock ksp?

and if not is there a mod like that out there?

If it can be done in stock I don't know about it. It would be a great addition. I have not personally looked for a mod here so perhaps that is out there.

I have two workarounds here if this is important for fuel distribution. First, the CoM is implicitly available, because it is the center of your screen. Zoom in as far as you can and you'll have a reasonable estimate. The CoL does not change for SSTOs (ignoring airbrakes). So if you put an object - like a radial battery - on the CoL, you can compare this to the zoomed in CoM and ensure aerodynamic stability before reentry.

Second, lower trust so that SAS keeps the craft steady. Then you can see on the bottom left how much SAS needs to be steering. Pumping fuel around can change the CoM and the amount of steering required by SAS. When the dials indicate minimal steering, stop pumping fuel and increase trust. Repeat for the desired trust level

[Human Person]

Better late than never: My flip plane. The trick is to flip it high up, where the atmosphere won't cause much trouble anymore. To get that high, your jet engine has to be overpowered.

http://imgur.com/a/x6jci

Edited July 10, 2017 by Physics Student

[jonny]

16 minutes ago, Physics Student said:

Better late than never: My flip plane. The trick is to flip it high up, where the atmosphere won't cause much trouble anymore.

I like that idea, but i wonder if one could design a plane that could flip automatically as the fuel gets depleted and CoM shifts forward backward.

Edited July 10, 2017 by jonny

[Human Person]

1 minute ago, jonny said:

I like that idea, but i wonder if one could design a plane that could flip automatically as the fuel gets depleted and CoM shifts forward.

maybe, you will have to reverse the controls (reverse probe core?) when it flips or your control surfaces will make you tumble.

[StanK]

That's a beauty @Physics Student. Did you also manage to land it in one piece? And now I'm asking for stuff, I would love to see a cockpit view after the flip if you've got one :-)

 

1 hour ago, jonny said:

I like that idea, but i wonder if one could design a plane that could flip automatically as the fuel gets depleted and CoM shifts forward backward.

This will be a nice design challenge, and I think possible. Perhaps using fuel pumping to initiate the flip. Just using jet fuel consumption will probably be too slow to get the effect fast enough. And Physycs Student's reverse probe core solution will help a lot too.

[Human Person]

33 minutes ago, StanK said:

Did you also manage to land it in one piece?

As a matter of fact, no. But I blame that on my terrible pilot skills, not the design. I've yet to repeat that one time I managed to land a plane in one piece.

33 minutes ago, StanK said:

I would love to see a cockpit view after the flip if you've got one

I made this one

http://imgur.com/JWHLBaz

Edited July 10, 2017 by Physics Student

[Teilnehmer]

On 7/9/2017 at 3:08 AM, tsgaerospace said:

s there a system that shows you your com/col/cot in flight in stock ksp?

and if not is tere a mod like that out there?

MechJeb can do it.

Attitude Adjustment → Display the CoM / CoL / CoT.

It also can display velocity vectors.

Edited July 12, 2017 by Teilnehmer

[michal.don]

Hi there,

I slapped together a quick and dirty design that came to my mind today. It's not pretty, not practical, but it got the job done with reasonable amount of fuel to spare.

One RAPIER on the back, and one Terrier on the bottom. Pics of the whole mission here:

http://imgur.com/a/TsHvo

Thanks for this nice challenge,

Michal.don

 

 

[StanK]

Congratulations to @michal.don. Even though it is a quick build, your concept looks promising to me and satisfies this challenge's requirements. Rocket assisted landing on a short runway, or VTOL on a vacuum world could be benefits of this design. At the acceptable cost of looking a bit silly when pancaking through the last bit of atmosphere.

 

On 7/10/2017 at 6:33 PM, Physics Student said:

As a matter of fact, no. But I blame that on my terrible pilot skills, not the design. I've yet to repeat that one time I managed to land a plane in one piece.

@Physics Student, you'll need to land in one piece to be added to the Advanced Aviator list. Without returning safely and bragging about your mission at the Kerbal bar a badge would be useless anyway, right? I love the design though, so will mention that landing on parachutes is very much allowed - only the take off has to be horizontal.

And thanks for the cockpit screenshot, just imagine sitting in that seat