Working Space Plane!

[Zatie12]

After quite a few design iterations I came up with a space plane that actually flies and is capable of climbing to orbit under its own power. I thought I'd share a couple of videos of this particular design.

First one is a circuit at the Kerbal Space Center, second is climbing to orbit. I'm using the FAR mod, although really just for flight surface assignments. The plane is stable in flight, a little wobbly and hard to control up to orbit though!

I think the secret here was simplicity, keeping the weight down and airframe strong enough to stay in one piece. The only alteration is the addition of winglets when flying around the atmosphere.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyRuV76Gvpw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_CrUgB6S2Q

[ComradeGoat]

Interesting approach - a non air-breathing SSTO! I guess the question is, does this work just as well without the wings, as it seems to go pretty much straight into a vertical climb and use a rocket ascent profile, rather than a plane ascent profile?

[Zatie12]

That is true - apart from the initial turn onto heading and pitch up, I didn't really make much use of the wings when ascending to orbit. I'll have another try tomorrow and see if I can make that profile more efficient

[ComradeGoat]

With air breathers, you get the efficiency in the flatter ascent profile from not having to carry oxidiser. Given that your plane is rocket-powered, I'm thinking doing an aerodynamic flight ascent rather than a ballistic ascent is just going to waste fuel fighting gravity. I guess wings on a rocket are useful in the event it doesn't have enough thrust in the lower atmosphere to climb, and so needs the wings, but otherwise it would seem more sensible to just go straight up if you are carrying your own oxidiser.