Quasarr's New Ol' Fashioned Dropships

[quasarrgames]

Let's take a minute to remember the olden days, when jet engines were practically warp drives and the atmosphere was indiscriminate of a rocket's shape. Though years of updates have taken the game a long way, some still long to feel the hypersonic wind in our hair atop a pancake-shaped ssto dropship. Alas, atmospheric drag has made dropships like this infeasible...

Until now.

How? I've reapplied an old technique tor creating crazy dropships the game THINKS are streamlined, but arent. It just involves stacking fuel tanks on top of each other, like a rocket, and then offsetting them to the sides to create a sideways fuselage. 

Sadly, all parts have to be oriented into the airstream, meaning it's much harder to make something look aesthetically pleasing. Still i tried my best with these creations.

 

Jerdon's Babbler - Proof of Concept

Named after a species of bird that was rediscovered after being thought to have gone extinct. Fitting name. Despite its unaerodynamicness, it's a great SSTO, with 1400m/s of delta v in orbit.

 

Swallow (African Variant) - Heavy Atmospheric Constructor

Tested to lift up to 70 tons. Its built-in vernier engines also make grabing payloads easy. 

To dock with a new payload:

1- Press 1 to disable 6 of the ship's engines, making it easier to control your throttle.

2- Set the ship to point "radial out". This will make the ship always point upwards, making maneuvering much easier.

3- once you get close to your payload, try to keep your thrust just barely below hovering power, and use the vernier engines to maneuver onto the target. You'll bounce a little, but you should dock in no time.

 

Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yndudyvw8ykhehp/Swallow (African Variant).craft?dl=0

 

Monarch Econ - Cheap, Fast, Fun Leisure Craft

Designed for consumers who want to have fun.

How to get to orbit:

1- Turn horizontal as soon as possible, then pull up to 25 degrees once you reach 500m/s.

2- Turn down to 10 degrees at 8km. Engines should switch over at 1650m/s or so. You should get to orbit with about 1000m/s of delta v.

 

Turning back to horizontal is a tiny bit tricky. Here's a good way to do it:

1- Slow  down as much as possible, then point upwards as much as you can.

2- If you can't get vertical, give it a little bit of gas.

3- Once you get vertical, just turn on "radial out" and you should be fine.

 

Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/izr61vfy82g9fay/Monarch econ.craft?dl=0

 

Phoenix M2: Long Range Party Ship

Comfortably gets 3 kerbals to orbit with almost 2800m/s of delta v.

Flight instructions are the same as the Monarch. Just set your control point to be the top docking port.

 

Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdin0atailjr3ke/Phoenix m2.craft?dl=0

 

Monarch - Luxury Ion Skiff [Under Development]

If you can afford the rediculous price of Xenon, this little ship is great for journeys to almost anywhere, with its near 4000m/s of delta v. Still needs some solar panel and aesthetics optimization.

 

Swallow (European Variant) - Under Development

 

 

Obviously all these designs were inspired by @Cupcake.... I hope i've made dropships worthy of his ingenuity. 

And yes, i'll post download links... eventually...

Edited November 15, 2017 by quasarrgames

[Cupcake...]

I thought SSTO dropships were consigned to the dustbin of KSP history,  perhaps my mourning was premature? Seriously though, love what you're doing, keep up the great work!

 

Cupcake...

[Hast5250]

Hooray for the return of the dropship!

[Jett_Quasar]

That is some really unique stuff you have... I love it!

 - Jett

[MiffedStarfish]

9 hours ago, quasarrgames said:

Load Lifter [Under Development, Looking For Names]

The Swallow? You could have European and African versions...

Nice craft, I espescially like the Pheonix.

[quasarrgames]

On 16/10/2017 at 11:52 AM, MiffedStarfish said:

The Swallow? You could have European and African versions...

Nice craft, I espescially like the Pheonix.

Thanks! And I  really like that idea!

Which is why I have more goodies to show today:

Sorry for the long absence as well. Didn't intend for this thread to die, I just wanted to make sure all these designs were perfected. 

 

Swallow (African Variant) - Heavy Atmospheric Constructor

Tested to lift up to 70 tons. Its built-in vernier engines also make grabing payloads easy. 

To dock with a new payload:

1- Press 1 to disable 6 of the ship's engines, making it easier to control your throttle.

2- Set the ship to point "radial out". This will make the ship always point upwards, making maneuvering much easier.

3- once you get close to your payload, try to keep your thrust just barely below hovering power, and use the vernier engines to maneuver onto the target. You'll bounce a little, but you should dock in no time.

 

Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yndudyvw8ykhehp/Swallow (African Variant).craft?dl=0

 

Monarch Econ - Cheap, Fast, Fun Leisure Craft

Designed for consumers who want to have fun.

How to get to orbit:

1- Turn horizontal as soon as possible, then pull up to 25 degrees once you reach 500m/s.

2- Turn down to 10 degrees at 8km. Engines should switch over at 1650m/s or so. You should get to orbit with about 1000m/s of delta v.

 

Turning back to horizontal is a tiny bit tricky. Here's a good way to do it:

1- Slow  down as much as possible, then point upwards as much as you can.

2- If you can't get vertical, give it a little bit of gas.

3- Once you get vertical, just turn on "radial out" and you should be fine.

 

Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/izr61vfy82g9fay/Monarch econ.craft?dl=0

 

Phoenix M2: Long Range Party Ship

Comfortably gets 3 kerbals to orbit with almost 2800m/s of delta v.

Flight instructions are the same as the Monarch. Just set your control point to be the top docking port.

 

Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdin0atailjr3ke/Phoenix m2.craft?dl=0

 

Hope you like them

Edited November 15, 2017 by quasarrgames

[MiffedStarfish]

Nice! I wonder what a long range party on the Phoenix would look like...