The Flea Jump Challenge

[Marschig]

23 minutes ago, Magzimum said:

@Marschig, Do you mind sharing the craft file? Just to ensure all is fair: the screenshot says that there are 12 parts, but I only see 10 in the picture.

This: https://kerbalx.com/Marschig/Flea

Invisible parts:

Spoiler

 

Cubic to attach Lander Can to the decoupler and Nose Cone clipped into Flea to reduce drag. 

[purpleivan]

Not a real entry, but I had some fun with this Flea based rocket glider.

Val insisted that the SRB be set to full thrust for some ramp assisted shenanigans... who was I to argue.

 

[Marschig]

According to comment in https://kerbalx.com/Marschig/Flea:

Flea, that can escape the atmosphere: https://imgur.com/a/3ArZw

and survive, only clipped nose cone was crashed:

 

Edited December 14, 2017 by Marschig

[swjr-swis]

Seeing as everyone else did a vertical take off (*), I wondered if it'd be possible to be competitive with a horizontal one. So I present the FleaC'er Ic:

Spoiler

A decoupler was used to shed the pod before take off, but as the decoupling happens before lighting the flea, while still on gear brakes, I hope this is within the spirit of the challenge.

Valentina is boarded in the command seat, pod has been decoupled, awaiting signal for take off.

Apoapsis is just shy of 3.5km with this ascent profile (slow climb on 4% thrust). In several tests, it kept resulting in a longer distance than when climbing hard and high.

Safely landed, at a full stop with the flight record open. Even limited to 4%, the flea blew the decoupled pod into a tumble, which exploded it, but Val and the craft both survived the flight without damage.

Full imgur album here. There's a few additional pics of the flight in there.

Craft file shared on KerbalX: FleaC'er Ic

(*: I missed @purpleivan's rail rocket entry. Is a 45 degree take off still vertical? )

Edited December 14, 2017 by swjr-swis
people still post when I'm not looking...

[swjr-swis]

On 12/13/2017 at 9:06 AM, Marschig said:

This: https://kerbalx.com/Marschig/Flea

Can I ask what flight profile you used to get your record distance?

The cabin of my FleaC'er is basically a lighter less draggy version of your craft, and even exchanging the fins with your winglets (which are a bit worse than 2x3 basic fins), the max distance I got in several attempts with a vertical launch is 301km. Theoretically it should perform better, so obviously the problem must be my flying - which tells me that if I knew how you flew yours, I could maybe improve the distance I got for the FleaC'er too. So, I'm curious.

(It's fine if you wish to keep it a trade secret, but I figured it doesn't hurt to ask)

[Marschig]

1 hour ago, swjr-swis said:

Can I ask what flight profile you used to get your record distance?

Have you seen my video on the previous page? Pay attention to switching SAS mode, speed and pitch.

[purpleivan]

5 hours ago, swjr-swis said:

Seeing as everyone else did a vertical take off (*), I wondered if it'd be possible to be competitive with a horizontal one. So I present the FleaC'er Ic:

  Reveal hidden contents

A decoupler was used to shed the pod before take off, but as the decoupling happens before lighting the flea, while still on gear brakes, I hope this is within the spirit of the challenge.

Valentina is boarded in the command seat, pod has been decoupled, awaiting signal for take off.

Apoapsis is just shy of 3.5km with this ascent profile (slow climb on 4% thrust). In several tests, it kept resulting in a longer distance than when climbing hard and high.

Safely landed, at a full stop with the flight record open. Even limited to 4%, the flea blew the decoupled pod into a tumble, which exploded it, but Val and the craft both survived the flight without damage.

Full imgur album here. There's a few additional pics of the flight in there.

Craft file shared on KerbalX: FleaC'er Ic

(*: I missed @purpleivan's rail rocket entry. Is a 45 degree take off still vertical? )

I think it's classified as verizontal

[LightBender]

Is the challenge still on?

 

[swjr-swis]

5 minutes ago, LightBender said:

Is the challenge still on?

Technically, the OP states it ended yesterday, so any further entries may not get on the score board.

But I don't think anyone is going to complain if you show us what you got.

[LightBender]

29 minutes ago, swjr-swis said:

Technically, the OP states it ended yesterday, so any further entries may not get on the score board.

But I don't think anyone is going to complain if you show us what you got.

Oh ok then

[Magzimum]

The winner!

This challenge was meant to run for 1 week. In that period, we have found a clear winner: @Marschig, with 371,825m! 

My limited graphics skills gives you this gorgeous badge. Wear it with pride (or ignore it - it's up to you ). 

(higher resolution here)

Continuation

I notice some people like the challenge (i.e. @LightBender). I propose that people just keep submitting their attempts. First of all, it's not always about winning. But if there is someone who can beat the current winning distance of 371,825m, then it's probably interesting for all of us.

The main reason that this challenge ran just 1 week is that I have little time to make updates after today. But I will take a peek every now and then. If the challenge gets enough new submissions, then we may have to keep updating the leaderboard...

But none of that will ever take away the victory of Marschig, who won this challenge according to the rules as posted.

 

Other comments

@purpleivan, I have no issues with a 45 degree launch. The main issue I would have with your submission is that you start at a higher elevation. Using just 1 big tank and some rails doesn't do much in terms of elevation, but I drew the line at zero. In the previous challenge, some smart people launched from 100m up. And that obviously helps with the results. If you somehow manage to build it so that the craft itself touches the runway, it's good to go. Still, thanks for the post! It looked nice!

@Marschig, it is ridiculous you got a Flea above 70 km. It was unmanned unkerballed, but still... wow. That plucky engine does have a kick in it.

Finally, my own submission: 84,782m

And for fun, I already made an attempt myself last week already - just to see if the challenge was fun. I didn't come near the winner though.

Spoiler

My idea was to use the doors of the cargo bay to tilt the craft a little. Then pitch straight up, and glide to victory.

Obviously, like many other entries, Jeb first climbed into the command seat.

Decoupling the pod raises the nose of the craft a little bit.

Upon launch, the ship pitches up immediately. Having no yaw control, she chooses her own direction.

Apoapsis was at 7113m altitude. From there, a small dive was needed to gain some speed (I am sure that this could be done more efficiently, but I failed to improve during several attempts).

The craft was a pretty good glider though...

Squeezing out the last bit of kinetic energy before the ship stalls at around 25 m/s.

Jeb is excited, as usual when he gets to play in the water.

And my submission (which at the time I thought was quite good) is 84,782m.

I am glad some people did better than me. There's no fun in winning your own challenge... I am however humbled by the difference by which I was beaten...

 

[purpleivan]

2 hours ago, Magzimum said:

 

@purpleivan, I have no issues with a 45 degree launch. The main issue I would have with your submission is that you start at a higher elevation.

Like I said it wasn't a real entry, just a bit of fun.

[LightBender]

I got mentioned yeah ok...