Triop Posted December 10, 2023 Share Posted December 10, 2023 Just build a craft that can fly from The Kerbal Center to the Dessert Airfield as fast as possible. My time: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
18Watt Posted December 10, 2023 Share Posted December 10, 2023 10:27 Spoiler Flight profile was not ideal, haven't played KSP (or any video games) in about 6 months. Target altitude was 20,000 m. I overshot, ended up at ~21,600 m. Which still worked. I carried a little oxidizer, in case I ended up way too high to use the Air-Breathing mode. Turned out I didn't need the oxidizer, but decided to burn it up anyway, to lose the weight. Couple more shots of the plane: Rapier engine, couple of fuel tanks, and some wheels. Kerbal is protected inside a fairing. Fairing removed. Couple of batteries, small reaction wheel, small probe core. The probe core isn't really needed, I like to throw that on so I have all the SAS modes even if a non-pilot is at the wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triop Posted December 10, 2023 Author Share Posted December 10, 2023 Nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacke Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 @Triop, you're alive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
18Watt Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 9:28 I actually thought I was doing much better, but I'm happy with 9:28. Same airplane, different flight profile. 25,000 m cruise altitude, I was able to do about 2,720 m/s. Oops, that was supposed to say 1,720 m/s… Spoiler In this screenshot, I got really excited! I was going to get in the ~6 minute range!!! Landing field in sight, might just get on the ground in under 6 minutes!!! However, there were two problems. First, I did manage to get on the ground and stopped in under 6 minutes (or so I thought..). But the landing was bad. Val lived, but several pieces of the airplane were destroyed. Second, take a look at the time display. It's not Elapsed Time, it's Total Game Time. I must have clicked the time indicator at some point, and not realized it. So no, I was not even remotely close to a 6 minute run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotel26 Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 (edited) 4 hours ago, 18Watt said: 2,720 m/s Inconceivable!! Really?? (Or a typo?) Do you mean 1,720, or did you kick in some OX this time? Edited December 11, 2023 by Hotel26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
18Watt Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 6 hours ago, Hotel26 said: Do you mean 1,720, or did you kick in some OX this time? Oh goodness! I meant 1,720 m/s. That error makes a really big difference! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotel26 Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 3 minutes ago, 18Watt said: Oh goodness! I meant 1,720 m/s. That error makes a really big difference! I have to admit that I only noticed this, coming back to your post, after I'd makde a photo-replica of your aircraft. (Mine is aptly called '18Watt'.) I had just determined that it liked 1,701 m/s @ 25 km. I used a service bay rather than a fairing and I included an RTG (omitting the battery), so that extra mass might explain mine going a little slower. It's a fun airplane, though! Thank you for the entertainment, today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
18Watt Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 1 minute ago, Hotel26 said: Thank you for the entertainment, today! LOL! I would have a suspicion that drag is the bigger issue, not mass. The fairing does such strange things to drag that I almost consider it cheating. Even with the same cross-section in front (the shock-cone intake), the fairing still provides ridiculous drag reduction. It did take a bit to accelerate to 1,720+. I’m also using an autopilot mod to hold altitude steady at 25,000 m. If you’re not using a mod to stabilize your altitude, that might be giving me an edge as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotel26 Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 (edited) 20 minutes ago, 18Watt said: autopilot mod AtmosphericAutopilot. I never leave home without it. I also added +5 deg wing incidence. And I converted the 90/110 LFOX tanks to 200 LF so I would have been carrying 400 units total fuel. I wasn't doing a speed run; just larping lollygagging. Edited December 11, 2023 by Hotel26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
18Watt Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 14 minutes ago, Hotel26 said: AtmosphericAutopilot. I never leave home without it. I think the one I'm using is called Pilot Assistant. I need to look at Atmospheric Autopilot some day. 14 minutes ago, Hotel26 said: I also added +5 deg wing incidence. And I converted the 90/110 LFOX tanks to 200 LF so I would have been carrying 400 units total fuel. I wasn't doing a speed run; just larping lolligagging. I normally don't do positive wing incidence. However, at 25km my angle of attack was probably close to 5 degrees, so it certainly makes sense using some positive wing incidence. Actually, just looked- at 25km my angle of attack was almost exactly 5 degrees. The ability to re-configure tanks to suit your needs is something I've always thought should really be in stock KSP. Oh- on the plane I built the front tank was a 90-unit one, the rear tank was the 45-unit one, the shortest 1.5m LFO tank (Or is that size 1.25m? You know what I mean..). So I launched with only 135 units of LFO. So that does actually give us a significant weight difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triop Posted December 11, 2023 Author Share Posted December 11, 2023 Couldn't do much better, but for now it's a new personal record with this jet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triop Posted December 11, 2023 Author Share Posted December 11, 2023 Less fuel also worked. I like this challenge, let's see if I can shave off more time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
18Watt Posted December 11, 2023 Share Posted December 11, 2023 48 minutes ago, Triop said: I like this challenge, let's see if I can shave off more time... I really like your jet design! I tried using a Whiplash on my ‘Coke can with an engine’ design. I don’t think I could beat the times you are getting with the Whiplash. I’m sure you are experimenting with different flight profiles- but I’d say your flight profiles are already more efficient than what I’ve been using. After not playing KSP (or any games) for several months, this challenge stoked me. After doing the plane thing, I built a motorcycle to do this challenge. I got a working motorcycle together and working well, then realized the ground path from KSC to the Dessert airfield is really, really long. So I haven’t done the motorcycle trip yet. I might attempt that trip using a ferry (boat) to cut across the water-gap between KSC and the desert. That trip will be measured in days, not minutes… Love this challenge @Triop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triop Posted December 11, 2023 Author Share Posted December 11, 2023 Driving your motorcycle from the Dessert Airfield to the Piramid Temple could be a real proper test. I too havent played KSP for months either btw. Just got back into it becauso of KSP 2, which I don't like at all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triop Posted December 12, 2023 Author Share Posted December 12, 2023 Using the RAPIER engine, I wil do another run later to get under the 10 minutes. I like getting back in the game, I think I also will drive my first DAKAR challenge again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotel26 Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 (edited) 31 minutes ago, Triop said: Using the RAPIER engine That's one erotic picture too many, M.Triop. En garde! Where's my monocle? I cannot resist this sweet morsel any longer... That's a lot of fuel, hey, I reckon we can squeeze a couple of paying Kerbs in there. A name, a name, what shall we call it, my precious!? O, just 21 parts. my lovely; here we go... Spoiler Et, oui, I have entitled ma nouvelle amour, Mademorselle. Ah, I am in love again! Edited December 12, 2023 by Hotel26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triop Posted December 12, 2023 Author Share Posted December 12, 2023 Cool taxi Hotel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotel26 Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Triop said: You're an inspiration, Monsieur Triop. Spoiler Mon dieu!! 23 parts!! In my haste to complete, I overlooked the canards! Oouof.... Quel dommage! Edited December 12, 2023 by Hotel26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triop Posted December 12, 2023 Author Share Posted December 12, 2023 Lol, 1 second under 10 but not on the runway, so this does not count... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boriz Posted December 14, 2023 Share Posted December 14, 2023 9:08 I landed with enough fuel to return to the KSC and I forgot to tweak the break strength, so lost a couple of seconds stopping. I think sub 9 is possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boriz Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 (edited) 8:24 Same craft, different ascent profile. 56k Apoapsis. Max speed over 2100. Riding the edge of thermal destruction is the key I think. Note. I am using rocket assisted take off. Edited December 15, 2023 by boriz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotel26 Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, boriz said: Same craft I am curious what kind (and how many) air intakes you used? Maybe 3x XM-G50 Radials? Or a couple of clipped Air Coolers? Edited December 15, 2023 by Hotel26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boriz Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 (edited) 4 x Ramp intake (radial). Rocket assisted takeoff. Edited December 16, 2023 by boriz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
18Watt Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 26 minutes ago, boriz said: Rocket assisted takeoff. My first thought was, wow that’s almost too much booster. My second thought was, don’t they make even bigger boosters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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