Strategic Bomber Procurement (Reboot!)

[Kebab Kerman]

I'm done with my new bomber!

Here's the original:

Here's the new:

Much more powerful, and can carry more. Also faster.

[sturmhauke]

Do we have a mod category now? That looks cool and all, but that is definitely not stock. Airplanes Plus maybe?

[Kebab Kerman]

4 minutes ago, sturmhauke said:

Do we have a mod category now? That looks cool and all, but that is definitely not stock. Airplanes Plus maybe?

I think we've had one, it's just at the bottom... I think...

[Kernel Kraken]

31 minutes ago, sturmhauke said:

Do we have a mod category now? That looks cool and all, but that is definitely not stock. Airplanes Plus maybe?

No one has submitted a modded entry (outside of the allowed mods) yet. There will be once one is submitted.

[Kebab Kerman]

2 minutes ago, Kernel Kraken said:

No one has submitted a modded entry (outside of the allowed mods) yet. There will be once one is submitted.

In that case... Here you go! https://kerbalx.com/KebabKerman/LA-948

[HolidayTheLeek]

Oh boy, this tempts me to bring out the ol' lancaster out!

She can carry a surprising amount of bombs despite being a stock prop!

Though, this challenge is pretty cool, I might submit a real one eventually

EDIT: She can carry a whole 24.12 tonnes! Considering the aircraft (empty) weighs about 33t, I'd say that's pretty impressive

Edited November 2, 2018 by HolidayTheLeek

[Laie]

That's deploying 360 small bombs, which is as much as I could fit into the cargo bay. With that load it can barely take off. I also had to mod the game to make it possible at all. I'd like to call it the "IBM 360" -- I'm not good at backronyms, but maybe that's Intercontinental Bomb Mover or something.

Other trials have been completed with a much simpler 119t payload (7 large ore tanks):

• maths, 100
• boom, 119x4=1666
• top speed 920m/s (though only briefly): 1840
• maintenance -32.4 (120 parts)
• 360 convincing arguments +20
• VAB smasher, Gentle Giant, Career Switch, Service Ceiling, Worldwide Coverage: +85

Total: 3678

Craft file: IBM 360

And, a small MM patch that equips the Radial Holding Tank with a built-in decoupler. If you have MM, just plop it somewhere in your Gamedata folder, you'll find the part under "payload" (where else?). @Kernel Kraken: would you possibly greenlight this and add it to the front page? It's a major quality-of-life improvement when trying to build ludicrous loads.

[Gaarst]

I've got a new version of my B-22 bomber (probably will be called Pl-22 "Bitter"), called B-22B (imaginative I know) which because I figured a way to cramp more bombs into its bay now carries 32x 900 kg bombs (twice as much as before) for a total internal payload mass of 28.8 t.

Adding 30% takeoff mass means performance has taken a bit of a hit; even though I had some margin on the thrust limited Panthers I will need to recalculate its score in some areas.

Edited November 2, 2018 by Gaarst

[Laie]

32 minutes ago, Gaarst said:

because I figured a way to cramp more bombs into its bay

On the off chance that it might help someone, here's my tightest packages. Made using the rotation & offset tools, stored as subassemblies. Seven tanks in a Mk2 bay only works if absolutely nothing else is there. Beware of intruding wing pieces!

The Mk2 ones can still be secured with autostruts, but the Mk3 assembly definitely requires real struts.

 

[Gaarst]

36 minutes ago, Laie said:

 

On the off chance that it might help someone, here's my tightest packages. Made using the rotation & offset tools, stored as subassemblies. Seven tanks in a Mk2 bay only works if absolutely nothing else is there. Beware of intruding wing pieces!

The Mk2 ones can still be secured with autostruts, but the Mk3 assembly definitely requires real struts.

 

I got 4 in a Mk2 cargo bay in a "X" arrangement similar to the bottom cargo bay on your pic. However because I have some 1.25m fuel tanks clipping into the bay, there is no way I can fit the two outer tanks in. Even if I could i'd have to start adding more engines and extending the wings anyway.

I'm curious how are they attached to the cargo bay in that last one? I've got the 4 on 4 radial decouplers oriented to the centre: they basically form a central pylon (through which the bombs go because the attachement points left after decoupling have no collider).

Edited November 2, 2018 by Gaarst

[Laie]

2 hours ago, Gaarst said:

I'm curious how are they attached to the cargo bay in that last one?

As mentioned in my last post, I made a MM patch so the tanks are their own decouplers. Strictly speaking that's a mod, but I hope our host will allow everyone to use it: effectively halving the part count is very convenient once you start cramming hundreds of small tanks into a vessel. Even without, you can use the offset tool to shift the tank so that the tank+decoupler combo is no taller than the tank alone.

I mount them as subassemblies, the parent of which is surface-attached to the inside of the cargo bay. Everything else dangles from the subassemblys' parent.

Edited November 2, 2018 by Laie

[sturmhauke]

1 hour ago, Gaarst said:

I got 4 in a Mk2 cargo bay in a "X" arrangement similar to the bottom cargo bay on your pic. However because I have some 1.25m fuel tanks clipping into the bay, there is no way I can fit the two outer tanks in. Even if I could i'd have to start adding more engines and extending the wings anyway.

I'm curious how are they attached to the cargo bay in that last one? I've got the 4 on 4 radial decouplers oriented to the centre: they basically form a central pylon (through which the bombs go because the attachement points left after decoupling have no collider).

I'm doing something like this but with a Mk 3 and larger ore tanks. Due to my potato laptop, I'm designing for high mass and lowish part count. I also have a few I-beams running along the centerline to use as attachment points. I can post a pic when I get home.

[HolidayTheLeek]

I'm about to complete my actual submission to this challenge! (it's a heavy bomber) but I do have one question: Are stock propellers allowed?

If not, I'll have to modify my bomber to include jet engines (which is no problem!)

 

 

[Kebab Kerman]

7 hours ago, HolidayTheLeek said:

I'm about to complete my actual submission to this challenge! (it's a heavy bomber) but I do have one question: Are stock propellers allowed?

If not, I'll have to modify my bomber to include jet engines (which is no problem!)

 

 

If it's stock, it's allowed! It'll just have a high part count. Also, a challenge: Make a stock propeller using the airliner wings as blades! Big helicopters!

[sturmhauke]

Here's my bomb bay layout, and a pic of the full aircraft. It flies, but I'm not too happy with the current design. The structures used for the modular bomb bay add a huge amount of drag. That was ok on my Jool SSTO launcher, because ultimately the ship was leaving the thick lower atmosphere relatively quickly. But here, I'm flying through it the whole way.

Spoiler

 

[Kebab Kerman]

On 10/19/2018 at 10:22 AM, qzgy said:

-snip- carries well over 200 bombs. -snipity snip snip snip-

I counted, and it's 264 bombs! Kind late, but I was curious. I thought it was two bays with 132 each, so I just doubled what we saw.

 

EDIT: If I spam decouplers with max ejection force on a girder and put a fairing and fins on it, is it still legal, or do I have to use  the ore tanks?

Edited November 9, 2018 by Kebab Kerman

[NoobTool]

Question: Are the career switch points only applied once? Or are they applied per craft launched from the parent craft?

[NoobTool]

So, I went to fit one of my existing craft with a bomb load to participate in this challenge and discovered that there is an occlusion issue with my cargo bays. I'm not sure why, but my payloads are not shielded from the airstream. I'm using Mk3 cargo bays (a lot of them). I went back and checked some of the other payloads I've carried on the craft and discovered that they hadn't been occluded either. Apparently it wasn't a major  issue until I tried fitting hundreds of separate tanks inside. I was hoping some helpful soul here might have some insight into what might be causing this issue, and how it might be addressed. I'll include a download link to a similar craft that's experiencing the same issue in case anyone wants to take a look.

https://kerbalx.com/NoobTool/Oso-Grande

[Kebab Kerman]

Ok, so I see nothing has been posted in a while, so here's a few old planes.

https://kerbalx.com/KebabKerman/LA-613

This one's old, and probably very explode-y, but hey, if it works, go ahead and strap a few dozen bombs on it or something. Nice flying wing design, too!

https://kerbalx.com/KebabKerman/AF47-Megafortress

"Mother of Kraken..." The first words Bill uttered when he saw this monstrosity. It dwarfs even the Titanic it's so large. It's the largest bomber I have built at the time of this being posted. It, unfortunately, has 218 parts, but it's still rediculously large. It has the potential to level a small country, given the right ordinance. Currently includes no bombs. If hit in just the right spot, however, it could detonate a piece of ordinance, resulting in the largest non-nuclear explosion in history, dwarfing even the Kastle Bravo. Bring this in after AA placements have been destroyed. Can house smaller fighters if necessary, though. Attachment mechanism not included.

https://kerbalx.com/KebabKerman/LA-252

Both Bob and Bill fainted when he saw this one's blueprints. Even Val and Jeb looked a bit skeptical. This aircraft dwarfs many things; The VAB, the R&D complex, even the mighty airships of the past, including the Kindinburg. It's so large that it can't take off on the runway, as it strikes the SPH, and we're pretty sure it strikes the VAB, too. Currently untested, and probably broken and unfinished. But I'm posting it anyway.

[Rocket In My Pocket]

The MegaBomber1C. 354 parts.

This thing doesn't drop bombs. It drops bombers. Each one capable of completing the challenge with a payload of 6 bombs.

Our payload: The Mini-Bomber1. Seven of them.

It's payload: 6 of the finest bombs. (For a total of 42.)

No clue what my score is, I just did it for funsies!

UPDATE: Adding a video, I thought you guys might want to see this beast crawl it's way into the air and drop one of these bad-boys lol. Did a little simulated attack on the island runway! That performance though, I tried to circle the fps counter for you guys, but I forgot it doesn't record. Anyways, I really struggled to fly this thing at the 10-15fps I was getting while recording. As you'll see; the MiniBomber itself is a bit squirrelly to land (even at 60fps) lol. I barely got it down onto the runway under these rather laggy conditions. 

If there is any interest, I was considering dropping all the mini bombers directly onto the VAB to see what happens. Lol.

Edited November 13, 2018 by Rocket In My Pocket

[Confused Scientist]

3 hours ago, Kebab Kerman said:

[snip]

The KerbalX photo is broken on the La-252. Of course, I'm not sure I really want to see this thing, given that you have to steer around the VAB.

[Kebab Kerman]

16 hours ago, Confused Scientist said:

The KerbalX photo is broken on the La-252. Of course, I'm not sure I really want to see this thing, given that you have to steer around the VAB.

More like steer around the entire KSC.

[Wanderfound]

Imgur album:

http://imgur.com/a/jmfdGAl

 

33 ton 56 part bomber with two RAPIERs. Hydrofoil seaplane SSTO. 7 ton payload of eight bombs.

 

Qualifies for Battleduck (20pts), space bomber (20pts), worldwide coverage (20pts), Service Ceiling (15pts) and Airshow Manoeuvrability (10pts). Top speed of 1201m/s for swift payback (2401pts). Time of 14min 2sec for fastest bomber (10pts if so).

Engine maintenance -20pts for two RAPIERs. Part maintenance -0.02x56 = -1.12.

+100pts for math is not fun makes the total 2,574.88

Edited November 16, 2018 by Wanderfound

[Kebab Kerman]

I think you'll all love my next submission...

 

Get ready, because it'll likely be big enough to fit a DC-3 in it's bomb bay and deploy it without issue. Which means a fuselage over 30m wide, likely 35-40, just in case. Separate bays for fighters will be present. So, single fuselage, double fuselage, or triple fuselage? Which sounds better?

[Kernel Kraken]

To be 100 percent perfectly honest, I am much too lazy to keep up with a challenge. I probably won't do much with it in the future, unless someone else wants to do it. Then the only thing will be entering it. Sorry, y'all.