What did you do in KSP1 today?

[ColdJ]

11 minutes ago, Hotel26 said:

A skilful landing of my new sailplane, Nimbus, upon a strategic hilltop with a slightly downward incline:

allows a rolling start to catch the next thermal (after a short bio-break):

In consultation with 'Dr Config' (ColdJ), I have fitted the 'Blue Sky Thermal' component to Nimbus...  It provides a limited reservoir of a resource named 'Thermal', which is replenished by a trickle generator.  (The instruction leaflet reads: "use it wisely".)

I know you have to use vessel mover to move things to water. But in mine where I can launch from water I can attest that both your original thermal system and the 1 I did can get the glider to take off from water. So if you gently ditch in the sea, then if you have your reserve you could take off again.

Edited April 24, 2021 by ColdJ

[Hotel26]

1 minute ago, ColdJ said:

I know you have to use vessel mover to move things to water. But in mine where I can launch from water I can attest that both your original thermal system and the 1 I did can get the glider to take off from water. So if you gently ditch in the sea, then if you have your reserve you could take off again.

SSssshhhhh!!  You're spoiling the theatrics...  (The Marketing Dept. isn't too happy with you, right now, either...)

[ColdJ]

. On a side note. Any body know what the  HSP setting in the Resource Definition settings means?

[Hotel26]

3 minutes ago, ColdJ said:

Any body know what the  HSP setting in the Resource Definition settings means?

Resources have their own specific heats defined in ResourcesGeneric.cfg in Gamedata/Squad/Resources (hsp)

[ColdJ]

Thanks @Hotel26. I finally found it. It is annoying that the direct index never seems to find what you are looking for, so I have to go to Duck Duck Go to find what is in the Forums.

 

[MR L A]

Today, like every day, I did some tweaking to that ship I posted a few weeks back :)

Also, we've not had a dev update since November 25, 2020 - anyone else worried that nearly half a year has gone by since we've had word on any updates?

[purpleivan]

Today was the first day I fired up the game this year, so what was the first thing on the drawing board.

A jet powered triplane, which unfortunately did not go well. At least Jeb walked away in one piece.

 

So what next, what next, er...

Val took to the skies in what she named the "Feel the Breeze".

 

Though later she decided that "Face Melter" was more appropriate, as face melting (along with the rest of the pilot) tends to happen when your victim, (er... skilled pilot), jumps into a cockpit-less craft, powered by 3 whiplashes.

Looks like it's time to cut the engines and coast.

Spoiler

 

The fairly steep arc Face Melter was on, topped out at a bit over 44km up, so it's all downhill from here.

Only the limited heat resistance of Val's helmet prevented a much high altitude

Spoiler

 

Down she comes, picking up speed and heat once more.

 

At an altitiude low enough for the Whiplashes to kick back in, it was time to swing the bird round and head for home.

Spoiler

 

Although the plan was to head back to the KSC, to make use of that nice smooth flat runway, Val couldn't resist dropping in on an islant along her flightpath.

Spoiler

 

Some nice looking beaches here and Val attempted to remove her helmet to get a whiff of the seaside smell, only to be told she was too hot.

She agrees she does look fetching in her standard white and red ensemble, but she really would like to get that lid off.

 

Ok... not a landing Val can be proud of. She's a bit rusty as she's not flown in months and that lack of stick time had fiery results.

Looks like the jets at the back aren't the only whiplash on this crate judging by the look of the pilot.

 

Val was less than pleased with her first trip out this year, lots of paperwork to come from this one. Plus Saturday is pizza day in the KSC canteen, so the rescue crew isn't going to be in a hurry to pick her up.

Edited April 24, 2021 by purpleivan

[Klapaucius]

29 minutes ago, purpleivan said:

Today was the first day I fired up the game this year

Nice to see you back!

 

****

 

While looking for some files for a film I made, I came across a KSP folder. Looking inside I found a backup of all the stuff I thought had lost for good when an external drive died.

So, K.R.A.S.S.H. Industries has a lot of stuff to upload to KerbalX, including my solid rocket SSTO challenge entry and my sepratron obiter.  I am very excited.

However, I also discovered some works in progress. Being me, they are weird.  I feel obligated to get at least some of them working well enough to upload.

Not all landings go according to plan.  It was doing fine until I  applied the brakes.

 

Edited April 24, 2021 by Klapaucius

[Stewcumber]

It's been a very long time since I went to space (about 2017 based on my posting activity) . So I'm learning the ropes again, and got to orbit the other day and got to the Mun today using brute force:

I got to a 35km orbit around the Mun with 4,000m/s of fuel left. Then realised that I forgot landing legs, lights, and a crew (it was a based on a remote controlled ship before). Whoops. Mun textures look nice though!

Bit of a change from making things like this and this!

I'll be back with a crew and maybe a rover if I can figure out how to glue one to the top of the rocket again.

 

[Stormpilot]

Docking with SSIII (Minimus space station) for cargo and partial crew swap. I used the DE IVA mod most of the mission.

Taking off:

Going to orbit:

Going to minimus:

After a retrograde burn to lower my periapsis, I made my orbit more like a Circle.

3

Will dock tomorrow.

Also made ST-1 (Super Sonic Transport):

[ColdJ]

6 hours ago, MR L A said:

Today, like every day, I did some tweaking to that ship I posted a few weeks back

Also, we've not had a dev update since November 25, 2020 - anyone else worried that nearly half a year has gone by since we've had word on any updates?

I think they are concentrating on getting KSP2 up and running, anything new is up to independant mod makers I reckon. Like we are trying to achieve in the forum thread, Working Underwater.

 

[N_Danger]

I launched a small satellite for a contract.

Spoiler

 

And then since I had many contracts for Minmus I sent Jeb out to complete them.

Spoiler

Faring separation confirmed.

 

the boosters are next,

finishing up the Trans Minmus burn

Once we got to Minmus, Jeb rescued a stranded kebal. "Thanks Jeb!"

We put up a flag and then a surface experiment to fulfil contracts. (Took a picture too. )

Jeb finally found some green sandstone to bring back for yet another contract.

Then on the way back home they rescued Jedster from Minmus orbit.

 

And after a busy mission Jeb and the new recruits have a safe return.

[Stormpilot]

Earlier today, I went To my space station, here is me coming back.

I know I said I would do it tomorrow, but I did it today. Also I forgot screenshots of docking (sorry ).

At the Station:

Undocking:

Going to Kerbin:

Reentry:

I forgot parachutes, so I had to eject:

Now I'm out of mission ideas. Any Ideas?

Edited April 24, 2021 by Stormpilot

[ColdJ]

57 minutes ago, Stormpilot said:

Earlier today, I went To my space station, here is me coming back.

I know I said I would do it tomorrow, but I did it today. Also I forgot screenshots of docking (sorry ).

At the Station:

Undocking:

Going to Kerbin:

Reentry:

I forgot parachutes, so I had to eject:

Now I'm out of mission ideas. Any Ideas?

Build your veteran kerbals a nice retirement home in the hangar and devise a way to get it onto that large island northish of the KSC, so that they have a nice view and can go fishing.

[Stormpilot]

@ColdJ Hmmmm, I like that. Only problem is that Val, Bill, and Bob are stuck on Laythe (and have been so for about 2 years). Jeb however, is always on standby to test fly prototype aircraft at the KSC. Maybe my Kerbals that have complete many missions but are still not veteran could be the subject of this. And also they need a boat to go fishing! I like this idea and I’m going to work on it. And maybe I could also find a flat area on the island so flights could come in/ out.

Spoiler

And I could also name the island. 

 

[ColdJ]

1 minute ago, Stormpilot said:

@ColdJ Hmmmm, I like that. Only problem is that Val, Bill, and Bob are stuck on Laythe (and have been so for about 2 years). Jeb however, is always on standby to test fly prototype aircraft at the KSC. Maybe my Kerbals that have complete many missions but are still not veteran could be the subject of this. And also they need a boat to go fishing! I like this idea and I’m going to work on it. And maybe I could also find a flat area on the island so flights could come in/ out.

  Reveal hidden contents

And I could also name the island. 

 

Now you are using your noggin. But are you ever going to recover your lost brethren?

[Stormpilot]

Yes. Me alive.

[N_Danger]

Rocket Rescue stands up another launch to LKO

New and improved adjustments to the design include removing the monoprop as it was noticed on previous launches that the vehicle didn't have any reaction control thrusters.

A sort hop over the the taxi.

And finally Luuki arrives at her new home

 

 

[Cavscout74]

On 4/24/2021 at 4:01 AM, Hotel26 said:

No one's answered this yet, so...

When deploying a ship from the SPH, VAB or Space Center, there is an icon/button depicting a launchpad and gantry and you may notice that, at its lower edge, it has a tab to hover over to pull down that will present a radio-button list to select launch site.  It was made available some time after 1.3 and since at least 1.7.  Enjoy.

                                                                           

Not a terrible suggestion about angling the gear.  But doing so will pay a small penalty in drag from the gear whilst retracted because they will not be well-aligned with prograde.  It may be worth paying, but it will make a noticeable difference to top speed.

If those maingear are at all in front of CoM (they must be), then a full-flare landing will do the trick.  That means determining the stall speed of the airplane and then ensuring you are flying just above that speed (just above the runway) before you attempt to touch-down.  (This is actually essential practice in a tail-dragger: for a "3-point landing".)  I would wind down the braking power then on the maingear  and use brakes very gingerly so as not to nose-over during the landing roll (most obviously)...  I didn't observe the tailgear, but if it has brakes, beef them up (200%).  Those won't help much but enough possibly to avert some annoying shunts on the ground.  @Cavscout74  (OK, I see it does have brakes.  Also ensure that the tail gear is in a position in which it vaguely protects the fuselage (from bad/hard take-off/landings) but still allows the aircraft to settle into its full-flare landing pose, which will be close to the maximum angle-of-attack, ~12-14 degrees.  (Otherwise, you'll get a "1-point landing", , and an awful bounce followed by what the accident report will term 'the usual consequences'...)

 

On 4/24/2021 at 7:03 AM, ColdJ said:

@Cavscout74 I love your posts. Both pretty and the feeling of a plot and adventure. If it doesnt upset the way you like to do things. you can create a part with an in hangar adjustable mass, that you then put inside your model and shift until you get the COM balanced to where you need it to be. I have a good looking F-14 Tomcat which would be unflyable if not for adjustable weight. One of the parts packs, Coldwar Aerospace introduced me to it and I just created a larger mass version so as to not have to put multiple weights in an aircraft.

Keep up the great adventure.

@Hotel26That is what I generally do.  I actually have a tail-wheel endorsement on my real world pilot's license.  Some designs are better for wheel landings, others prefer 3-pointers.  This design is just really close at full fuel and there isn't much more I can move.  The Merlin is supposed to be a longer range aircraft than the Hawk, so it needs to nose tank to meet that criteria and stay at 30 parts or less.   The original (pre-nose tank) was a little tamer.  The nose tank is set to drain first, and when it is empty, it behaves better.   But when I just take off, do a quick speed test & come back to land, it doesn't drain much fuel.   It can be landed, but if you do much more than tap the brakes you risk a nose-over.  I may try to lower the main wheel brakes a bit more to give a better margin of error.  

@ColdJI've seen a few mods with adjustable weights and I've also often stuck radial parts (either life support or ore cans) between other parts to adjust CoM.  In this case, I'm sitting either at or really close to the 30 part limit for the level 1 SPH (not on my KSP computer at the moment to say for sure).  The Merlin is just really close on everything.   It's kinda pushing the performance capability of straight-wing props.   Glad you're liking my posts.  I'm really looking forward to restarting my JNSQ career - my first one fell victim to 1.11 bugs, so I've reverted to 1.10 and in the process trying to fine tune a tech tree to be exactly how I want it before starting again.

[jimmymcgoochie]

Experiments with pentaborane-fuelled rockets. When your propellant is described as “as toxic as nerve gas” you should probably rethink several major life choices...

[ColdJ]

Made a present for @Hotel26 and uploaded it to KerbalX.

https://kerbalx.com/ColdJ/Stock-Orion-KX

[Hotel26]

4 hours ago, ColdJ said:

Made a present

I have downloaded this and thank you very much, ColdJ!

(I am really tempted to announce a challenge for designers to build sailplanes with the best glide ratio.  It would have categories for solo & duo.  I would love to see what KSP can do.)

Edited April 26, 2021 by Hotel26

[CollectingSP]

Worked on Delta IV launch prep and wet dress rehearsal for my next mission, NROL-1.

[Cavscout74]

Fired off a few sounding rockets for science, then Val got her shot at a suborbital hop

Meanwhile, Jeb was testing out some new aircraft - the jet CF-01 Star and the turboprop CFP-05 (currently nameless)

The -05 had some serious issues with the engine dropping to just 14kN power output in flight.  If that can be alleviated, this may be a nice aircraft.  Until that happens, this will go back to the corner of the SPH to gather dust

Also used the Atlas to boost a pair of comm relays into orbit, but my communications is still horrible.  I think something is set wrong in my science save, because comm's are worse than other JNSQ saves I've had

The first one used a LFO upper stage that has a misalignment on the thrust axis.  Unfortunately with the reduced reaction wheels, that made it nearly uncontrollable so I tried a SRB upper stage - unfortunately, that was also out of alignment and it just spun out of control until the SRB burned out.   The satellite was able to regain control quickly after staging the spent SRB and on the plus side, the Atlas got me high enough that the satellite's monoprop engine was able to finish orbital insertion.

Finally, Bob got to deploy another ground relay, west of KSC this time.

 

[ColdJ]

5 hours ago, Cavscout74 said:

Fired off a few sounding rockets for science, then Val got her shot at a suborbital hop

Hi. What parachute is that 1?