Amphibious VTOLSSTO (Image heavy)

[cxg2827]

This has to be my favorite SSTO that I have seen so far.

same here. I decided to use it as well to deploy probes on Kerbin at the Anomalies found via the MapSat. Did a quick and dirty modification to fit a probe beneath it.

[timpossible]

Actually amazing. Love it good job ay

[bIOHAzARD]

That, sir, is _Awesome.

[KingJeb]

Could you please post the Kethane transport version? I would love it for my future Kethane operations on Laythe.

[Levelord]

Holy balls, this thread is still alive after all this time! O_o I'll try to keep you guys updated as I test prototypes of the ships.

It looks like you did more than a few modifications to the rover version - a third vertical engine for one. The other mods look like they'd be simple enough to perform with the base model, but the rover variant looks like you've reworked the balancing a fair bit to keep it stable. Could we get a craft file for it by chance?

Also, your Kethane ferry version - is that simply to move Kethane from the surface to a station or did you put Kethane engines on it as well?

Sure, I'll update the front page and this reply as well. I had to struggle with balance issues in vacuum, because the third engine was causing some pitch down problems. With the newer versions, it still has small balance problems in orbit, but its nothing that ASAS or minor trimming can't solve. Craft: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16683090/KSP/AVTOLSSTO%20Rover%202_2%20%5Bstock%5D.rar

As for my Kethane Ferry version, it's used to refuel my floating Laythe base as well as transporting Kerbals around Laythe for scientific experiments and exploration.

Can you tell me how you managed to do the curve of wing sections on the bottom of the hyperspace ring? I'm designing my own version (for a much larger craft) and I have no idea how to do that part

I guess you hold down shift and WASD to make fine adjustment to the angle?

Could you please post the Kethane transport version? I would love it for my future Kethane operations on Laythe.

Okey dokey. Craft: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16683090/KSP/AVTOLSSTO%20BUS%20Kethane%20%5Brelease%5D.rar

Edited May 3, 2013 by Levelord

[way2smrt]

The inter-planetary ring is an awesome idea. Haven't seen one before. Nice job

Have you not seen Star Wars?

[Levelord]

Have you not seen Star Wars?

THE PREQUELS DON'T EXIST!!!!1!!!!!11!!!1!1!

[Amentes]

Yes, that is indeed the turbojet in the middle, it doesn't damage anything even at full thrust

I have a version that uses aerospikes for vacuum VTOL. I tested it for it's SSTO capabilities because of the increased weight, and it ends up in orbit with a fair bit of fuel left. Around 560 units of fuel.

if you would like, I'll upload my version by request.

Consider it requested

Just another of all the people saying: Hella-****ing-balls-to-the-wall-awesome job on making this thing mate. Epic.

[Pyromaniacal]

Here's a thought I should have asked a while ago, I haven't used the kethane rig yet as my depot isn't finished yet. Does the rig have a converter or will I have to put one on the station?

[Levelord]

Here's a thought I should have asked a while ago, I haven't used the kethane rig yet as my depot isn't finished yet. Does the rig have a converter or will I have to put one on the station?

You mean the plane? The plane comes with it's own converter. With the conversion ratio from kethane/fuel it's more efficient for me to carry converted fuel than it is to carry Kethane.

[Storm Technology]

These are amazing! Playing around with the VTOL, need to get the ring into orbit. Such a great idea!

Thanks!

[apoch1999]

ok..so ive been flying the kethane model and am having issues getting into orbit from kerbin...ive tried both vtol and jet engines , just jet engines,..flying almost level, flying 25%, 45% and 75%...and all i ever seem to get to is 35-37Km....am i doing something wrong???

not long after i posted this i FINALLY made it to orbit...i was at -5 X 85 so i hit the RCS and barely scraped by before it ran out to make it to 73 x 101

Edited May 16, 2013 by apoch1999

[Durkbeefhammer]

hey guys I am having problems installing the kethane version of the VTOl craft it says I dont have a MMI.debugger part installed any suggestions?

[Deadweasel]

Dude... This thing is straight-up awesome! I got rid of the piddling little rockets and swapped them for a set of KW burners to compensate for a few small additions to the weight that were killing its ability to reach orbit, but jeez have you ever built a well-balanced little ship! Lots of fun to fly!

The only issue I have is after I finally got it to orbit (after the aforementioned engine swap), and docked with the station, it fairly blew itself apart! The forward cabin compartment and fuselage (where they connect to the girder dead-center) and the main turbojet came off the thing in a fiery explosion of doom.

Luckily the station was undamaged, but now I've got the remainder of the bird still docked, and I'm sending over a scrapper tug to de-orbit it safely.

Meanwhile, is this something that's common for this vessel? I wouldn't be too surprised, given its rather "clippy" construction.

Anyway, still hellacious fun!!

[underthing2]

This is a really good design. I might try and fly this myself.

Very nice. Many praise

[Levelord]

Dude... This thing is straight-up awesome! I got rid of the piddling little rockets and swapped them for a set of KW burners to compensate for a few small additions to the weight that were killing its ability to reach orbit, but jeez have you ever built a well-balanced little ship! Lots of fun to fly!

The only issue I have is after I finally got it to orbit (after the aforementioned engine swap), and docked with the station, it fairly blew itself apart! The forward cabin compartment and fuselage (where they connect to the girder dead-center) and the main turbojet came off the thing in a fiery explosion of doom.

Luckily the station was undamaged, but now I've got the remainder of the bird still docked, and I'm sending over a scrapper tug to de-orbit it safely.

Meanwhile, is this something that's common for this vessel? I wouldn't be too surprised, given its rather "clippy" construction.

Anyway, still hellacious fun!!

From what I know, the clipping isn't the problem. The problem is the cubic octagonal struts, they are known to cause explosions when docking, even without clipping. I don't really know a workaround for this, unless the middle engine is removed. :S

What I have discovered though, that docking this plane works fine when you are docking with another craft on it's own, in a 1:1 ratio. However if you are docking this plane with a ship that is made up of multiple docked ships, this problem pops up. It explains why it works okay with the interplanetary ring, but flies apart when docking with complex space stations O_o

Edited May 19, 2013 by Levelord

[Colonel_Panic]

From what I know, the clipping isn't the problem. The problem is the cubic octagonal struts, they are known to cause explosions when docking, even without clipping. I don't really know a workaround for this, unless the middle engine is removed. :S

What I have discovered though, that docking this plane works fine when you are docking with another craft on it's own, in a 1:1 ratio. However if you are docking this plane with a ship that is made up of multiple docked ships, this problem pops up. It explains why it works okay with the interplanetary ring, but flies apart when docking with complex space stations O_o

Note to self: don't bring it near my carrier.

I'm super impressed with how well it handles, if only it wasn't so anemic about reaching orbit. Didn't have enough fuel to circularize when I got there. Might consider dropping in a pair of aerospikes instead of the little tooters it has now. I take it the radial engines are necessary for thrust stability though, yes?

[Sorcie]

That's some pro work, nice job! I am inspired.

[Levelord]

Note to self: don't bring it near my carrier.

I'm super impressed with how well it handles, if only it wasn't so anemic about reaching orbit. Didn't have enough fuel to circularize when I got there. Might consider dropping in a pair of aerospikes instead of the little tooters it has now. I take it the radial engines are necessary for thrust stability though, yes?

I'm assuming Deadweasel and yourself are using the rover version of the craft, and are having problems bringing it into orbit. I won't blame you if you can't get it into orbit, mainly because the craft is an early prototype and still in development. It's tough even for me to handle. The small radial engines are for balance in a vacuum because the weight of the third jet engine causes the plane to pitch down. If you have edits or suggestions for improving the ship, I'll be glad to see it and I'll post it on the first post with your honorable mention!

However, if you are using the original VTOLSSTO in the first post, it should get into orbit with no problems. In fact you can get to orbit with about 500 units of fuel remaining. I'll re-post a short tutorial in the middle of the thread that I posted. I might add it to the first post if people are still finding problems getting to orbit.

I head up at 45 degrees up to 20,000m then I flatten out my pitch to gain horizontal speed.

At around 30,000m you would gain about 1800m/s in velocity. (I goofed mine)

Turn off the jet engines, close off the intakes, pitch the nose up to 45 degrees and turn on the LV-909 engines. Keep this profile until you reach your desired apoapsis.

Circularize, and you should have about 500-600 units of fuel to play with in orbit.

Hope this helps!

Edited May 19, 2013 by Levelord

[Deadweasel]

I'm assuming Deadweasel and yourself are using the rover version of the craft, and are having problems bringing it into orbit. I won't blame you if you can't get it into orbit, mainly because the craft is an early prototype and still in development. It's tough even for me to handle. The small radial engines are for balance in a vacuum because the weight of the third jet engine causes the plane to pitch down. If you have edits or suggestions for improving the ship, I'll be glad to see it and I'll post it on the first post with your honorable mention!

However, if you are using the original VTOLSSTO in the first post, it should get into orbit with no problems. In fact you can get to orbit with about 500 units of fuel remaining. I'll re-post a short tutorial in the middle of the thread that I posted. I might add it to the first post if people are still finding problems getting to orbit.

I'm actually running the 3-kerbal "bus" modded version you posted up, with the two small capsules mounted atop the VTOL engines.

I will readily admit that the bulk of my issues in obtaining orbit on the default configuration have more to do with inexperience in flying SSTOs, not to mention a certain level of impatience that sabotages the entire profile when I try to go too high too fast.

To get around some of this, I also mounted a part called FuelTastic (looks like the original post has been nuked and not yet re-posted) that generates fuel from electricity. I expanded the generator count on the craft to accommodate this as well, which adds weight, which requires more thrust/fuel, and so on. It's pretty slow and requires a lot of electricity (which is why I also added a pair of solar panels to the nose spars), but helps add some insurance against the "oh crap, I've botched the flight profile and now I'm out of fuel just before circularization" situation that has happened often enough to be considered a regular thing now.

I am still loving the heck out of this, though. Just added some nav lights and a couple of strobes to make it that much more fun to fly around the station and other orbiting vessels. It has already saved the life of one kerbal who was stranded when his vessel flew apart at near light speed (bug related to MechJeb, I think). I love that it can get around so quickly, especially since the primary rockets were upgraded.

[InfinityArch]

Hmmm...How do you think this would perform if the jet engines were replaced with electric firespitter props for use on Duna?

[Deadweasel]

Probably not all that well, since you'd have to get the ship into Kerbin orbit first, and the props won't get your initial velocity up high enough.

Does make me wonder how those props would actually behave on Duna anyway. After all, its atmosphere is thinner, right? I wonder if the way the props behave would be any different there.

[MegaMech]

This is really cool

[Pyromaniacal]

Here's a shot of the Kethane rig in LKO. You can see where I added in 4 dedicated liquid fuel tanks, that were ultimately unnecessary.

The first time I tried getting her out of atmo, she fought me a bit, and didn't make it. I followed the directions on the last page to the letter, and never left atmosphere.

I added those tanks on, and used a more aggressive approach when I lit off the 909's. I also kept the turbojets burning until I lost all intake air, since I knew having the engines inline wouldn't send me into a flatspin. I made it into a 87km X 86km orbit with about 360 units of liquid fuel left. If that isn't enough to get me to Mün to refuel, then oops. I may need to make a different fuel bus.

EDIT: Fun fact: It was not. Gonna try to bring Kimer home.

Edited May 20, 2013 by Pyromaniacal

[Pyromaniacal]

Give it one thing, the glide profile is phenomenal. An aerobrake, and a splashdown at 25m/s and some of the ship (Including Kimer) survived.