[Stock] 30 sec Altitude Challenge!

[Tachy0n]

First attempt (that stayed stable)

Second attempt (The separatrons all overheated and I had been slowing down for a while when I hit 30 seconds)

Sixth attempt (3rd, 4th, and 5th didn't beat 2nd)

Edited May 8, 2013 by Tachy0n

[mythic_fci]

Is it ok to use a plane? One of my planes got 36 231m!

[clapanse]

Is it ok to use a plane? One of my planes got 36 231m!

I'd be very curious to see how. I would have thought a rocket would be much better for this challenge.

[Mars90000000]

Sure, you can use anything, remember you only have 30 seconds from the runway (or launch pad) to the altitude!

[SmallChange]

Is it ok to use a plane? One of my planes got 36 231m!

You so sure about that? How are you powering it? If I recall from the Maching Bird challenge, the top speed of a ram jet is currently 2,400m/s.

Also, 36.231 m/s... Thats more than 10 times Kerbin's escape velocity. I'm thinking you may have misread something. Then again, a picture is worth a thousand speculations.

[Wait- Was That Important?]

Are you allowed to burn off fuel on the launchpad? I'm thinking that a craft using almost-empty SRB's would be the best thing, as their TWR just becomes ridiculous.

1.) Burn off fuel on launch pad until you have 30s left

2.) Launch

3.) ?????

4.) Profit!

[SmallChange]

Are you allowed to burn off fuel on the launchpad? I'm thinking that a craft using almost-empty SRB's would be the best thing, as their TWR just becomes ridiculous.

Well, if it's not allowed, we can pretty much scrap the leaderboard!

In all seriousness, though, it's not that easy. Smaller SRB lasts 30 seconds total, and it's thrust isn't that spectacular for about 25 of those seconds. You need to get creative

[3_bit]

Are you sure we CAN just strap a bunch of mainsails together?

[clapanse]

Are you sure we CAN just strap a bunch of mainsails together?

Absolutely. You'll find it's fairly difficult to get everything to work out properly though.

[BikeKayakSki]

18539m

Edited May 17, 2013 by BikeKayakSki

[mythic_fci]

I meant altitude 36 231m, not 36 231m/s.

[robertordf]

BEST IN 2 HOURS!

[RussaX]

I tryed with 1 or more boosters, aerodynamics, liquid engines and the best result is 14000m Idk how can you get 30000m in 30 secounds with stock parts.

[Ninety-Three]

I tryed with 1 or more boosters, aerodynamics, liquid engines and the best result is 14000m Idk how can you get 30000m in 30 secounds with stock parts.

14000 is about what you get out of a single garden variety SRB with a probe core strapped to it. My approach for getting crazy altitudes was asparagus-staged Mainsails with 4 tons of fuel each, keeping TWR at a constant value equivalent to one mainsail and its 4 tons of fuel. The approach that the highest-scoring people are using is partially-burned SRBs. Consider a craft with three layers of SRBs, the top layer with 1, the middle layer with 10, and the bottom with 100. At T minus 20, you ignite the lower stage. At T minus 10 you ignite the middle stage. At T-0 you ignite the upper stage, release the docking clamps and take off. Your TWR is mainly set by 100 SRBs which, for 10 seconds, will have between 1/3 and 0 of their fuel left, making them very light and thus, very powerful. At +10 you stage out, dropping the lower layer that has just run out of fuel. Now the middle layer is determining most of your thrust, and its SRBs have ten seconds of life left; you can see where this is going. The actual ships use more stages with less extreme ratios than 10-1, but this should illustrate the principle well enough.

[Sli]

My set up came all down to the staging and spacebar pressing. I think I can still improve it too with some tweaks to the timing. No idea how 30k is even possible though, kudos.

[TurkeyXIII]

I meant altitude 36 231m, not 36 231m/s.

Yes, but could it be done in under 30 seconds? Here's my attempt:

Around 13,550m on jet engines alone. Had to add the canards because the ASAS just couldn't keep it straight otherwise.

[Jodo42]

My RT-10 based designs are maxing out at around 23K, I'll have to tweak the timing I guess. Is there a magic number I'm looking for?

[metaphor]

Just started on this challenge, using a solid booster design with 4 stages got to 25,976m.

[totalitor]

..........

Edited June 8, 2013 by totalitor

[totalitor]

My result: 23875 m using Mainsail and RT-10 together.

Edited June 8, 2013 by totalitor

[Mars90000000]

So I finally got around to updating the scoreboard! Have a look at where you stand and let's see some more launches!

I myself am going to attempt this!

[MR4Y]

Still questioning how one validates each entry.

[TheTsar52]

Does this count?

You can (hopefully) see the album here: http://imgur.com/a/8I1Zl#0

Edited June 9, 2013 by TheTsar52
Pictures not working

[Mars90000000]

Does this count?

After revising, I give you the (insert device name here):

At 30 seconds:

On landing:

PS, if the pics do not work, tell me. It is my first time posting pictures.

In order to post pictures, you first have to upload them to an image storing website (such as imgur or photobucket, etc). Once it's uploaded, you'll get a direct link to the picture. That link is what you put between the tags.

[Mars90000000]

Still questioning how one validates each entry.

In terms of whether you used cheats or not, I'll just have to trust with not using them. There's no way to verify that you used cheats or mods and what not, but if you do, it'll only remove the fun and excitement of this challenge!

As for the altitude itself, it's on the altitude meter. Yes, when you're flying at >2000 m/s, 1 second makes a lot of difference, so there will be a difference between 30.01 and 30.99 (both of which would show 30 on the MET). So it's up to you to time your screenshot as late as possible but not pass the 31s mark.