Land Speed Record.

[Whackjob]

Ok, apparently I'm bad at this. I had a lightweight skid powered by about two hundred seperatrons, and with the landing gear wheels.

Apparently no matter what I do, I almost immediately have the nose veer to one side. Nothing I do changes this. I can't keep it straight.

[magnemoe]

Did a quick test of this.

did this

very stable for a quick project. will test a bit more to see if more or less fuel helps

[Soda Popinski]

Ok, apparently I'm bad at this. I had a lightweight skid powered by about two hundred seperatrons, and with the landing gear wheels.

Apparently no matter what I do, I almost immediately have the nose veer to one side. Nothing I do changes this. I can't keep it straight.

What worked for me was having a tail. That kept me going straight. Of course that's with FAR, which I don't believe you run.

I stole your cubic octagonal struts philosophy, knowing their strength, and used those as skids. Wheels never worked for me.

Suggest anyone interested check the Thrust KSC Land Speed Challenge thread:http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/69584-Thrust-KSC-Land-Speed-Challenge

Different constraints, but may be useful.

Edited March 2, 2014 by Soda Popinski

[Torham234]

I didn't really attempt any Kerbin speed records, but I did try my hand at high speed Mün rover ...

[magnemoe]

I didn't really attempt any Kerbin speed records, but I did try my hand at high speed Mün rover ...

http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b514/yes753cac/screenshot68_zps9283bae0.jpg~original

Make me thinking, it looks like the max speed on kerbin is around 450m/s because of drag.

You want airless bodies to go faster, one issue might be the light gravity but you will use engine for downforce anyway so not sure how important it is however you want somewhere very flat.

[pauix]

How about inverted wings, sort of like a spoiler to plant the rocket down tp the ground? Would that work?

I made a quick test and it worked fine (a bit difficult to control, but I think the SRB is to blame). I even found a way to spare poor Fergan Kerman's life:

<iframe class="imgur-album" width="100%" height="550" frameborder="0" src="http://imgur.com/a/shkIr/embed"></iframe>

EDIT: Some further improvements to this vehicle (adding an inline reaction wheel) managed to get its top speed up to 303m/s.

Edited March 2, 2014 by pauix

[magnemoe]

Well I tried this on Minmus.

Good news it worked well, only issue is that I need more downforce.

I ended up in solar orbit. http://imgur.com/DvCQM82

I think I would need some serious downforce to keep it down at the end and then I run out of fuel I will also leave the ground.

Duna might be an nice place for this it has an decent gravity and some atmosphere so you can use it for both braking and downforce.

Yes if I time the run I could get back to Kerbin, at least if I had an small upper stage to adjust trajectory.

Edited March 2, 2014 by magnemoe

[Soda Popinski]

Another old Thurst KSC Challenge video, but with the best crash ever in the 2nd half.

[Aegeas]

Is there a category for fastest bike?

Javascript is disabled. View full album

^^Jeb on the way to mach 1.4

I've also made an RCS version of this bike I'd like to test out on Duna.

I got about 770 m/s in a car earlier but couldn't put more boosters on without it exploding at launch, might wait till I download the new game update with the better joints till I try again.

All this is in stock btw, I'm not using FAR.

Separtrons are definately the way to go, the car that got 770m/s had 600 sepatrons on it lol. Power to weight!

[Skyler4856]

I might attempt to build a rocket car on Vall

[Moon Goddess]

I might attempt to build a rocket car on Vall

Actually I'm looking to see if I can find a nice flat spot on Tylo, no drag and decent gravity should be the trick here. Kerbal maps is suggesting there is a decent flat space near the south pole.

[boxman]

If you mean on surface with wheels then it was 300+ something when trying to beat the speed record in some drag racing challenge a year ago or so:

[War_Lord_Kevin]

Did the Kerbal survive that? I can't see any way out.

My best survivable run is 458m/s which is over 1022mph. I have done 462 in the same car but didn't have Dxtory recording. Can anyone beat me without killing Jeb?

I know this post is a little late, but I saw this thread and decided to try it myself. Using the new parts, I got up to 499 m/s keeping the Kerbal alive.

[Dakitess]

Well on the KSP French Forum, I created a challenge, probably also existing here, which consists to reach the maximum speed on the runway... and finish in one piece, with no debris, before the end. You said Dragster ? Yup ^^ ! It adds a nice parameter, inertia, since you can reach really nice speed with heavy structure, but you'll need to stop it before the end, which can be tricky. Oh, and a manned pod was necessary to validate the challenge.

Well, here is the link if you wish to see some prototypes. This is in french but just look at pictures and numbers haha ! http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.fr/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=2929&hilit=dragster

And my own record :

Bouya 550.9 m/s !

Oh and yeah, I choose to use a Monocycle configuration. A bit hard to balance the pitch, but this is worthy !

Maybe you know about a similar challenge here, on the official forum ? I don't know how much this speed can be improved, i'm curious.

[Rabidsimon]

around 642 m/s then the drag racer tipped and everything explodedat the end of the runway.

[andriusst]

All stock. I think it is possible to squeeze out a bit more. I managed 1250m/s but as soon as fuel runs out the rig looses stability and bad things happen. Passenger survives most of the time but whole thing does not look very elegant so that needs further improvement. Edited August 20, 2014 by andriusst

[Jean Deaux]

8-O... Dayum!!!!

[Toshogu]

I don't think any of those count because you all went airborne.

[jaddbo]

318m/s! :-D The way it works is: I blast down the runway, at the end I eject the cockpit section. I tried finding a straight and long patch of land but could not find anything better than the runway.

if you go to the north (or south) pole of kirbin, the ground is so flat that it is like you are driving on glass. the hard part is, you have to get there first!

[magnemoe]

I don't think any of those count because you all went airborne.

Going airborne at the edge of the runway is simple continuing the trajectory, can be avoided with two forward facing seperatrons

its simple to keep on the ground at Kerbin as long as you have some down pressure. On Minmus its very hard, I thought of using the flat seas for speed records but I always ended up on Minmus escape speed.

[Not-A-Rocket-Scientist]

I don't know the reqs but I got 936 with the new buggy monoprop engines and fuel tanks on the inside.

No picture because I don't know how to add steam screenshots:confused:

Edited December 31, 2014 by Not-A-Rocket-Scientist

[[email protected]]

So far my fastest was just over 500, but I wasn't trying to set a landspeed record...I took my VTOL surveyor up to the North pole where my vertical engines exploded after some weird overheating bug...so I tried to take off with my rear engines and just ended up pushing the jet along the ground across the ice at around 531 M/s....I think I have some screenshots somewhere.

Also, I use FAR, so it wasn't terribly fast.

[Voculus]

Fastest I ever did was Mach 1.4 at the North Pole, using FAR.

[Not-A-Rocket-Scientist]

Andruisst, try using the in-line cockpit, it's lighter and more aerodynamic.

Edited January 1, 2015 by Not-A-Rocket-Scientist

[Fryous]

Using LY05 Steerable Landing Gear has no shock absorbers, which gives more stability to the craft for it is less likely to tilt sideways. Advanced Nose Cone - Type B can produce downforce when rotated correctly. Mine got to 455 M/S and everything is intact, although i reached 515 M/S but killed Jeb.