Jump to content

rhino engines, what are they good for?


Sweetnsaltyish

Recommended Posts

I've been looking thru all of the engines that I use, and came across the rhino engine.

I know it could be used as a first stage engine, but I has its highest efficiency in a vacuum, and not at sea lvl.

what kind of upper stage craft would need that kind of power?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  On 3/8/2019 at 12:05 AM, Sweetnsaltyish said:

I know it could be used as a first stage engine, but I has its highest efficiency in a vacuum, and not at sea lvl.

Expand  

Like you said, it has the highest efficiency in a vacuum, not at sea level. However, by the time the launch vehicle reaches 10km altitude, the Rhino is already operating at ~85-90% efficiency. So you add side-boosters, better suited for atmospheric operation and when it gets to 10-15km, you stage and let it go. Like this for example:

Gy4TPCu.jpg

And if you are taking it to space anyway, why not install proper guidance & RCS and use it as a transfer vehicle?

  Reveal hidden contents

That's obviously one way of using it. The rest, I think they fall into the category Gargamel described :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got into Rhino fever back in 1.0.5.

Played stock, before DLC.

The Rhino made a lot of sense for large transfer and insertion stages, like Eve landers and Jool missions. Even used it in tandem with nukes for some asteroid missions for those maneuvers where a fast kick was needed, vs. a slow nuke burn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't honestly say I've ever used one either, since at 3.75 m they take up rather a lot of cross-sectional area for that amount of thrust, and for general orbital maneuvering I'm more inclined to live with the low-TWR Nervs. But looking over the engine stats it appears that nothing else with that amount of thrust and TWR comes close to its vacuum ISP value, so I guess stuff like a really big Tylo lander would be a niche where it would really shine. It might also be really good for the final stage of a large Eve lifter, where you need to circularize relatively quickly to maintain altitude. In fact, I might just give it a whirl for what I'm doing on the big Eve thread....

Edited by herbal space program
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  On 3/8/2019 at 9:57 PM, ExtremeSquared said:

Two ways to send a gigantic mine/base off to Jool. Ten minute burn with nuke cluster from a 200km orbit, or 90 second burn with a rhino from a 75km orbit. Both valid. Similar cost.

Expand  

90 seconds is an acceptable length for an efficient single ejection burn, but if you take 10 whole minutes from a 200km parking orbit, you are wasting quite a bit of dV.  It's much better to go to a 70 km circular orbit and do multiple shorter kicks at its PE, until you are nearly on an escape trajectory, before doing the final burn. I guess if you're going straight to Jool that might still take a while, but I never actually do that because it takes too much dV that way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Inspired by Herbal.  

 

GmF16sh.jpg

Packing 1 Rhino, 4 poodles, large ISRU with 4 drills and extendable radiators, 2 large fuel cell arrays so the processor can run non stop....  220 tons 1.72 TWR, 4524 m/s dV.

It can land on Tylo, mine and return to orbit.  Probably unsuitable for multiple landings on Tylo,  but it could refill easily on the smaller moons.  I had about 1/4 fuel left.

 

zVfGFB6.png

The nice thing about stuctural pylons is that they can be fired one at a time by right click menu.

 

KxoHZNx.pngI

 

I had about 1.5 of these full.  They could push significant payloads to the other moons.  Remember, It doesn't count as debris if its an active comsat

Edited by farmerben
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never used one. I always use engine plate + multiple vectors instead. Two vectors provide the same vacuum thrust / much better sea level thrust at 8.075 tons vs. 9 for the Rhino. The better ISP of the Rhino probably wins out for super-heavy ships, but for one of those I'll likely have 3-9 vectors. You don't have that flexibility to choose the thrust you want with the single Rhino.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's passable as a sustainer or even core stage for really, really big rockets, but I feel like you kind of have to build around the Rhino concept to make this worthwhile.

I've used it on some stupidly large mining rigs. You can save a lot of part count vs. using a ton of nukes, and the delta-v loss doesn't matter much on low-gravity bodies.  However, the Wolfhound probably eats into this use-case now. 

It's also decent for redirecting large asteroids.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I LOVE the Rhino as a transfer stage. 

Part of my gameplay is to build the most efficient rockets possible, but looks are an important consideration. :) I like using the thing as a transfer stage to the Mun with a 3-Kerb orbiter/lander stack, it just looks so cool when it separates and burns. 

I can't show a pic; I'm doing a new career and haven't reached that stage yet, but I do use it a lot, and quite enjoy it. :)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used it as a lifting engine for an intermediate class booster, in tandem with 6-8 Kickbacks. A lot cheaper than Mammoth, bigger payload than Twin Boar + Kickbacks. Also used it a few times for sustainer on really big builds, but I can usually downscale to a lighter or cheaper engine. This was before MH, so there might be better alternatives now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...