Small British Steps | RSS/RO/RP-1

[seyMonsters]

A Brand New Series… Part Tutorial, Part Let’s Play, All British, In the New RP-1 Programs and Launch Complexes, it's time to take some Small British Steps.

 

[Kerbalsaurus]

Space British Empire

[seyMonsters]

RP-1 PROGRAMS AND LAUNCH COMPLEXES | Small British Steps | 01

 

[seyMonsters]

MORE BRITISH ENGINES?!?! | Small British Steps | 02

 

[seyMonsters]

MONEY, ENGINES, ALL THE PROBLEMS!?! | Small British Steps | 03

 

[jimmymcgoochie]

Why not make the tanks on the Atlatl bio return 1m wide? That would make the toolings much cheaper since there’s significant shared cost between normal and HP tanks of the same type (e.g. steel fuselage) if you tool similar sizes.

And why not put bio sample capsules on those Dart return rockets to get a bit of free science? You could be building twice as many Darts and alternating between bio samples and sounding payload for contracts to get double the data units on the engines and extra science, and still timing the contracts nicely. (Update- and put a mass spectrometer on it too to get flying high and space low science from that.)

The pink engine symbol at the 25 minute mark is because it has no ignitions left.

 

[seyMonsters]

CLUSTERING PROBLEMS!?! | Small British Steps | 04

 

 

[jimmymcgoochie]

Sorry to burst your bubble so early, but you can only do one early satellites program, they’re mutually exclusive.

You should be launching film cameras and biological samples on the same rockets, regardless of contracts!

[seyMonsters]

SCROUNGING FOR SCIENCE?!? | Small British Steps | 05

 

[jimmymcgoochie]

I don’t see any need to show every repeated sounding rocket launch, at least not at normal speed with commentary- a short speedy-uppy montage would suffice.

Completely disagree on the bio/film capsule thing though, getting maximum science from each launch should be the top priority regardless of contracts.

[seyMonsters]

NEW USES FOR OLD ROCKETS? | Small British Steps | 06

 

On 8/11/2023 at 9:48 PM, jimmymcgoochie said:

Completely disagree on the bio/film capsule thing though, getting maximum science from each launch should be the top priority regardless of contracts.

But some times isn’t it just nice to avoid perfection and be a little bit more ‘spirit of the game’ ;-) 

[jimmymcgoochie]

I started a new RP-1 run, got a year in on the first day and the very next day a big update changed the starting conditions so I started again,

[seyMonsters]

WHAT GOES UP....... | Small British Steps | 07

 

[jimmymcgoochie]

You don’t need to save up for building upgrades, they happen over time in PLC and you can trim their speed to balance the budget. Some newer versions of PLC also include tooling costs in the unlock subsidy. Running a surplus of over 100 funds/day is unnecessary, you could be hiring more engineers and researchers with that to get everything done sooner.

You didn’t actually start the training for Clare Wood the first time as you didn’t select her name to add her to the course.

[seyMonsters]

IS IT A BIRD? IS IT A PLANE?!? | Small British Steps | 08

 

[jimmymcgoochie]

Woomera is a bad place for rocketplane flights, the desert around it is relentlessly lumpy and impossible to land in. Water landings are much safer, and parachutes and ejector seats are a must in case you end up heading for a sand dune. You should also use fine control mode (caps lock) for high speed flight to avoid tearing the wings off.

Funnily enough, data from the crew reports got transmitted back during the descent so there wasn’t any left by the time it landed.

Heavy satellites is geared towards Soviet R-7 style rockets, they’re much more expensive in terms of LCs and production costs so the program pays more and gives a bit more time, I doubt it’ll work with only British engines.

Edited August 22, 2023 by jimmymcgoochie

[seyMonsters]

WHAT EXPLODED?!? | Small British Steps | 09

 

[seyMonsters]

MISSING PILOTS?!? | Small British Steps | 10

 

[jimmymcgoochie]

Try setting the elevators and ailerons to deploy in opposite directions as airbrakes, or maybe a split tail. Adding some water to the cockpit as thermal mass or a nose spike to reduce the friction on the cockpit itself might help prevent overheating.

Aiming for the water is actually safer than trying to land in the desert without parachutes, at least the water is flat!

[seyMonsters]

LIES, DAMNED LIES, AND CONTRACTS! | Small British Steps | 11

 

[seyMonsters]

BIGGER, FURTHER, BETTER??? | Small British Steps | 12

 

 

[jimmymcgoochie]

Why are you saving up so much money? Spend it on engineers and researchers!

[seyMonsters]

MAKING PROGRESS, MAKING PLANS?!? | Small British Steps | 13

 

 

[jimmymcgoochie]

The rear tank on the Crummock R2 is high pressure when it shouldn’t be, it’ll cost you more to tool and build and also cost you delta-V from extra weight.

For downrange rockets, 30-35 degrees is a better angle to aim for, if you go too high on the way up then the Earth will curve away from under you until you come down almost vertically.

[seyMonsters]

ONE STEP FROM ORBIT!!! | Small British Steps | 14