Quest for Hypersonic FULLY STOCK HIGH SPEED AIRCRAFT CHALLENGE!

[Jeb-head-mug kerman]

http://

I have always been a fan of speed. I fly RC aircraft and pylon racing is my favourite genre of the hobby. Last year I did a challenge called 'Beating the record' where the whole point was to make the fastest craft possible in stock KSP, and so I have decided to revive that challenge this year but with a few changes. SO FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT LIKE SPEED, HAVE A GO! In this challenge you will be building super fast hypersonic aircraft that try to go as fast as possible within the altitude limit of 50,000 metres.

Rules-

-no mods, stock only!

-no cheats

-craft can't be launched from a mothership meaning no decouplers or docking ports

-craft has to be your own design

-the record has to be taken within an altitude of 50 km (the record itself, your plane can fly as high as you want it to.)

-plane has to fly and be your own design

-rockets and SRBS allowed

-GOLDEN RULES: HAVE FUN and don't obey the laws of physics

HOW TO ENTER:

Post a thread with a photo of the craft in it, it's name and it's top speed. 

You will also require to have a photo taken of the aircraft reaching the speed as proof. I will then update the leaderboard and add your craft to it!

LEADERBOARD:

- 1: @qzgy 4264m/s

-2: @panzerknoef 3581m/s

-3: @Jeb-head-mug kerman 3432m/s

-4: @AeroGav 3134m/s

- 5: @panzerknoef 2929 m/S

-6: @Mars-Bound Hokie 2751 m/s

- 7: @Mars-Bound Hokie 2216m/s

- 8: @panzerknoef 2214 m/s

 

Good luck!

Edited November 9, 2019 by Jeb-head-mug kerman

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

2 hours ago, Jeb-head-mug kerman said:

no mods, stock only!

Before we get started, I'm going to come clean now and say that I use MechJeb. However, as the following screenshots will indicate, I only used the "gauge" features (surface, orbital, delta-V info). Additionally, I have repeatedly found the aircraft autopilot functions useless; they're apparently no good for atmospheric flight.

• MJ is pretty much standard-issue (aside from probe cores) to all KSP vehicles anyway.
• Other than that, I stayed within the boundaries of the challenge.

 

To all you green-blooded ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my latest SSTO

Integral S-4 Hamacker.

• Cost: $186,787
• Mass: 61.123 Metric Tons
• Purpose: One-man Refueling-capable Interplanetary SSTO
  • To be used by engineers only.

 

I don't know if SSTOs qualify for the challenge, but I can definitely fly this bad boy Kerbin like any other plane (more or less). Anyway, here are the pictures from its performance.

Spoiler

• The S-4 with its aerobrakes extended, ready for takeoff

 

• Already at Mach 3.70, and Jeb is still under 10-km altitude.
  • I have the orbit info on display so we know when our periapsis goes above 50 km

 

 AT LAST, WE BREACHED MACH 5 

(That's 1715 m/s)

 

• This picture was taken right I cut off the engines, since the plane's apoapsis was about to hit 50 km.
• I bet that I could have gone faster if I pointed the S-4 at prograde after I reached apoapsis

Spoiler

After a few seconds of drifting through the atmosphere, I decided to see just how fast this plane can go. I then fired the engines back up - and made sure to cut them before the plane itself hit 50 kilometers altitude.

 

 

How's this for speed?

[panzerknoef]

I'm just wondering, can the altitude of the plane never exceed 50km, or does the speed record have to happen below 50km, after which the plane might glide up to an apoapsis higher than that altitude. 

 

Regardless of that question though, here's my first record attempt. 

Presenting: the Speedster mkI

Top speed of this little aircraft was 2214m/s, with an apoapsis of 48km. Pictures in the spoiler below.

Spoiler

Here's the Speedster mkI as it throttled up on the runway. For this record attempt it is being piloted by Bert Kerman, a fearless pilot, trained by Jebediah himself!

Shortly after takeoff, which is a challenge given the low ground clearance of this aircraft, Bert put the plane in a not overly steep climb. The plane quickly picked up speed as it gained altitude, in fact, we broke mach 1 shortly after this picture was taken.

The next bit is largely undocumented, not because we forgot, but because it wasn't interesting. The plane ascended rapidly and at around 600m/s the engine switched to closed cycle mode. Bert felt the kick as the plane started accelerating even faster. He flew up to about 25km at which point he started leveling out, making sure to not let the apoapsis slip over 50km as he went along. The faster the plane went, the faster it accelerated, until eventually its top speed was determined by the running out of oxidizer. Bert still managed to reach a respectable 2214m/s before the engine cut out.

After this, it was just cruising until the plane reached an altitude at which the air-breating cyle of the engine would turn on again, meanwhile making sure that the apoapsis didn't go above 50km, the eventual maximum altitude achieved was some 45km. The engine eventually turned on again not too far from a small island or peninsula. Bert made sure that his plane would reach the landmass, turned the engine off again and started his approach for landing.

Because of the relatively small wings, the plane lost altitude fairly quickly, so shortly after Bert had found a flat piece of land, lowered the gear and prepared for landing.

Landing was almost flawless, the plane did eventually bank over and came to a stop with one wingtip touching the ground. No major damage was done though, Bert felt proud.

Bert then pulled the lever to release the fairing that protected him from the intense heat generated by atmospheric friction, this fairing also gave his craft the aerodynamic shape needed for such a record attempt. Sure enough, it popped off without any issues, revealing Bert's pod and the extra fuel storage built into the nose. 

After getting out, Bert quickly took his camera and tripod, placed it somewhere to take a picture and took another look at his plane. It's only now that he noticed he actually lost his engine! It appears that his report of no major damage earlier was a lie. It all made sense though, the landing gave quite a shock, he thought he just came down hard, but oops, it was a bit worse than that... Still, his record stands! He did however move his camera around to a spot where the damage can't be seen, the news reports didn't need to know he wrecked his plane.

 

Edited November 7, 2019 by panzerknoef

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

Well done, @panzerknoef. A very simple, yet effective, design. I just have one question for you:

IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?

 

The Blacksburg Space Program would like to submit another entry to the competition.

 

Lovebird

• Cost: $45,510
• Mass: 27.246 Metric Tons
• Purpose: Two-man LKO SSTO
  • Though it has a probe core, this is not to be flown by amateurs or those with Level-Two or higher Accident Liability Records.

 

• Surface Velocity with {47 km < apoapsis < 50 km}: 2216.6 m/s
  • I probably could do better.

 

Spoiler

• The Lovebird parked on 0-9 KSC. Bill Kerman and his wife, Val, are all strapped in and ready to go.
  • Jeb was not allowed to fly since he had a Level-Three Accident Liability Record.
    • And last week, he worked to get it bumped down from Level Four.

 

• Below 150 m altitude, and Bill and Val have already breached Mach 1.
• They worked to keep the pitch as low as possible so that they could get up to maximum speed before reaching a 50-km altitude.

 

• You know that the Lovebird is worthy of the gold (at least more than the Hamacker) when you get really close to Mach 4 below a 10-km altitude (let alone 8 km)

 

After that, things started to heat up - quite literally. Val had to ease back on the throttle a few times so that the protective shell wouldn't blow up. Once the plane started to lose speed, she switched the rapier engines to closed-cycle and kept as low a pitch as possible while ensuring the plane didn't explode.

 

• Bill and Val reaching 2,216.6 meters per second, cutting off the engines immediately after - with some oxidizer to spare.
  • Any longer and the plane would either blow up or pass the 50-km periapsis limit.

 

• Bill and Val glided for over seven minutes after cutting the rapiers - and remembering to switch back to air-breathing for when they were needed again. While they were gliding, the Lovebird was on fire.

 

Bill Kerman: "I know love can warm you up, but this is ridiculous."

 

• After flying (mostly gliding) over the Highlands, Bill and Val landed in a grassy field, not too far from where they landed on Kerbin after their Eeloo mission years ago.

 

Upon recovery, Bill and Val say that they could have gone faster at that low an apoapsis (e.g. lower the pitch to buy time), but they were already pretty close to blowing up the nose fairing. 

 

Here are the full details for my flight:

• Damage Report: NONE
• Flight Time: 25 min, 10 sec
• Maximum Apoapsis: ~46 - 47 km
• Maximum Occupancy: 2

 

 Maximum Speed: 2216.6 m/s 

(Higher than @panzerknoef's 2214.9)

[Jeb-head-mug kerman]

MY Entry: The Olympia, capable of 3432 m/S, believe it or not!

https://imgur.com/djsYwGS

https://imgur.com/U7ebPh1

since there are a few entries already, it is time for the leaderboard.

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

Question, @Jeb-head-mug kerman. 

 

When you said that "the record has to be taken within an altitude of 50 km," do you mean that:

1. Our plane's apoapsis should remain below 50 km at all times (or at least when you clock the record)?
   1. Which means cut the engines before you pass that apoapsis?
2. The plane itself should be below 50 km when clocking the record - without regard for the plane's apoapsis?

[Jeb-head-mug kerman]

43 minutes ago, Mars-Bound Hokie said:

Question, @Jeb-head-mug kerman. 

 

When you said that "the record has to be taken within an altitude of 50 km," do you mean that:

1. Our plane's apoapsis should remain below 50 km at all times (or at least when you clock the record)?
   1. Which means cut the engines before you pass that apoapsis?
2. The plane itself should be below 50 km when clocking the record - without regard for the plane's apoapsis?

I meant that the record has to be taken below 50km, the plane itself can fly to the moon if you want to. For your info landing is not required either.

Edited November 7, 2019 by Jeb-head-mug kerman

[panzerknoef]

Oh lmao, we don't even have to stay under 50km all along... That makes excrements a whole lot easier still... Time to strap some overkill together and go for another run

[Jeb-head-mug kerman]

20 minutes ago, panzerknoef said:

Oh lmao, we don't even have to stay under 50km all along... That makes excrements a whole lot easier still... Time to strap some overkill together and go for another run

I was on escape trajectory when I reached my top speed.... Sorry for making that not clear enough!

[Mars-Bound Hokie]

Since you gave us the green-light to pass the 50-km apoapsis, I decided to try the Lovebird again.

 

• Damage Report: NONE
• Flight Time: ~ 1 hr, 20 min
  • Forgot to log it, so I approximated.
• Maximum Apoapsis: ~1.3 Mm
  • Ended up as 1 Mm by the time the plane left the atmosphere.

 

 Maximum Surface Speed: 2715.5 m/s 

 

Spoiler

• After the Lovebird's maximum speed was logged, it was sent in an orbital trajectory --> with its periapsis within the atmosphere. The solar panels were deployed after passing 70 km to maintain a steady energy flow.

 

• It wouldn't be long before the Lovebird re-entered the atmosphere.

 

• I spent a good amount of time just gliding through the air after re-entry. Lucky for me, I got near the mountains west of the KSC before I had to fire up the engines.
  • I then landed at 0-9 KSC --> sorry I forgot that picture.

 

@Jeb-head-mug kerman, since you clarified the "50-km" rule, I am just letting you know that this entry is the same plane as before but without the 50-km apoapsis restriction. I'm also glad nobody was in your craft when it blew up.

[panzerknoef]

Time for my second entry

The Speedster mkII

Maximum speed achieved: 2929m/s

I'm pretty sure this behemoth can do better, but this is a quick first attempt.

Spoiler

Bert in his slightly larger speedster mkII

overpower is the best power

 

 

[qzgy]

First challenge in a while (first time playing KSP in a while too...)

The Untitled Spacefart. (IDK, didn't give it a name). Top speed: 4264 m/s

(images not as polished as normal, but here you go)

Craft (I took some liberties with the rules but its totally legal. No decouplers used, all stock)

Near top speed

Thing showing surface speed (cause navball was in orbital mode)

Ignore the stuff that blew up, its not an issue. The cabin survived, if there was a kerbal he would have been fine.

Edited November 8, 2019 by qzgy

[AeroGav]

I don't have time tonight to design anything specifically for the challenge, but I wanted to see what a recent airplane of mine would do.

I give you the Korten Fledermaus flying wing - https://kerbalx.com/AeroGav/korten-fledermaus

Still had plenty of fuel left but those Type B nose cones like to melt.  They are fairly important, they keep the NERVs attached to the wing.   Doesn't accelerate much once these pop.    

Edited November 8, 2019 by AeroGav

[qzgy]

2 minutes ago, AeroGav said:

I don't have to design anything specifically for the challenge, but I wanted to see what a recent airplane of mine would do

I wonder what happens if you pop it into a highly elliptical orbit, and just drop the periapsis below 50 km and coast through it. Don't have to worry about spontaneous power plant meltage. It looks like you have decent enough dv to do so. 

[AeroGav]

Just now, qzgy said:

I wonder what happens if you pop it into a highly elliptical orbit, and just drop the periapsis below 50 km and coast through it. Don't have to worry about spontaneous power plant meltage. It looks like you have decent enough dv to do so. 

I ended up overshooting and climbing too high on my initial burn,  reaching an AP of 65km at 1900 m/s  - this thing makes a lot of lift ! So i cut the engines and let it coast down on prograde.    Restarted engines at 50km, things start getting hot below 40km,  end up pulling several Gs from lift at 37km to level off.   Overheat bars are shrinking again so i start pitching down,  trying to delay my broaching 50km as long as i could.      If going above 70km before the record attempt is against the spirit of the challenge,  i feel like i could use some high thrust LFO engine for the final fling,  when its no longer possible to stop the ship climbing and you just want to get as much velocity as you can before you bust 50k

[panzerknoef]

okay well, here we go again...

adding a few more engines gives me the Speedster mkIII (I did promise overkill so that's exactly what you're getting)

It managed a top speed of 3581.5m/s (if you're taking orbit speed that is, otherwise it's 3399m/s).

and the surface speed window as well

Spoiler

big boy on the ground...

 

[AeroGav]

53 minutes ago, panzerknoef said:

 

  Hide contents

big boy on the ground...

Would a Rhino engine be better, since you're using it up high ? Instead of the Mammoth ?

 

[Jeb-head-mug kerman]

2 hours ago, qzgy said:

First challenge in a while (first time playing KSP in a while too...)

The Untitled Spacefart. (IDK, didn't give it a name). Top speed: 4264 m/s

(images not as polished as normal, but here you go)

Craft (I took some liberties with the rules but its totally legal. No decouplers used, all stock)

Near top speed

Thing showing surface speed (cause navball was in orbital mode)

Ignore the stuff that blew up, its not an issue. The cabin survived, if there was a kerbal he would have been fine.

Oh jeez... I have some work to do!  

Edited November 8, 2019 by Jeb-head-mug kerman

[panzerknoef]

2 hours ago, AeroGav said:

Would a Rhino engine be better, since you're using it up high ? Instead of the Mammoth ?

Interesting, I'll surely try that out next! I haven't really carefully considered anything of this craft tbh, it's just a quickly thrown together ball of engines and power! Guess now's the time to add some subtlety 

[DeadJohn]

On 11/7/2019 at 12:00 AM, Jeb-head-mug kerman said:

-the record has to be taken within an altitude of 50 km (the record itself, your plane can fly as high as you want it to.)

(I'm definitely bending the spirit of the challenge with this entry. I'm new here, so please let me know whether pushing the rules is generally encouraged or frowned upon.)

Anyway, I submit the "Minmus Missile". 4745 m/s before explosive overheating. I flew higher than 50km, way higher to the edge of Kerbin SOI, and dove into the atmosphere to get below 50km.

Built economically with only 12 parts. Bottom stage is 4 SRBs. Upper stage is LV-N nuke power. No decouplers, docking ports, or separators used; a dummy probe core with low temperature tolerance sits between the stages and the LV-N burns through it to separate. Flight profile was a mostly vertical ascent, Ap beyond Minmus, dropped velocity to 0 m/s at Ap, drifted to establish prograde direction directly at Kerbin, then burnt the rest of the fuel to increase velocity. Total flight time 24 days.

I have a lot of mods installed, but none of them were used for the build or during flight. Images of the VAB and craft at terminal velocity attached.

 

Edited November 9, 2019 by DeadJohn

[Jeb-head-mug kerman]

1 hour ago, DeadJohn said:

(I'm definitely bending the spirit of the challenge with this entry. I'm new here, so please let me know whether pushing the rules is generally encouraged or frowned upon.)

Anyway, I submit the "Minmus Missile". 4745 m/s before explosive overheating. I flew higher than 50km, way higher to the edge of Kerbin SOI, and dove into the atmosphere to get below 50km.

Built economically with only 12 parts. Bottom stage is 4 SRBs. Upper stage is LV-N nuke power. No decouplers, docking ports, or separators used; a dummy probe core with low temperature tolerance sits between the stages and the LV-N burns through it to separate. Flight profile was a mostly vertical ascent, Ap beyond Minmus, dropped velocity to 0 m/s at Ap, drifted to establish prograde direction directly at Kerbin, then burnt the rest of the fuel to increase velocity. Total flight time 24 days.

I have a lot of mods installed, but none of them were used for the build or during flight. Images of the VAB and craft at terminal velocity attached.

 

Unfortunately this entry does not qualify sińce it does not fly like it says in the rules. Other than that it is fine to bend the rules a bit!

[DeadJohn]

13 hours ago, Jeb-head-mug kerman said:

Unfortunately this entry does not qualify sińce it does not fly like it says in the rules. Other than that it is fine to bend the rules a bit!

Understood. I misinterpreted "within 50km" as just having to be beneath that altitude.

[Jeb-head-mug kerman]

LEADERBOARD updated!

 first place is @qzgy!

 second place goes to @panzerknoef!

 fourth place goes to @AeroGav!

I will try to build something else myself, that I hope will beat @qzgy‘s insane record!

[Lapis]

On 11/9/2019 at 5:26 PM, Jeb-head-mug kerman said:

LEADERBOARD updated!

 first place is @qzgy!

 second place goes to @panzerknoef!

 fourth place goes to @AeroGav!

I will try to build something else myself, that I hope will beat @qzgy‘s insane record!

wow, my fastes plane only ever made it to ~3100(no proof)  you guys are insane.

Edited December 26, 2019 by Lapis

[Jeb-head-mug kerman]

29 minutes ago, Lapis said:

wow, my fastes plane only ever made it to ~3100(no proof)  you guys are insane.

Yeah, you can really go fast! Btw challenge is still open if you want to try to build something.