What did you do in KSP1 today?

[KestrelAerospace]

6 hours ago, Zosma Procyon said:

 I added the third segment to what I'm calling the "Minmus Long Base"; I know, a brilliantly creative name. I accept all of your implicit adulation. The idea is to see how long a base can get before either the curvature of the moon becomes a problem, the game slows to the point movement in the vicinity is essentially impossible, or it summons a Kraken. If something doesn't go wrong, I intend to keep adding to the base every time a contract to do so pops up until is stretches across this section of the Minmus lesser flats...and I deliberately chose a narrow point in the flats to build it.

 

 

What an aptly-named long base. It looks like a gigantic centipede.

Edited November 6, 2018 by KestrelAerospace

[Hotel26]

Maiden flight of the Condor:  [click the first, then use right arrow for a slide show]

It's not a pretty bird but it flies well; hence the name...

It's something of a Frankenstein, as if parts from two different bodies were stuck together!?

The for'ard section, reminiscent of my NerfJet, is a smaller prototype of what is intended to become a larger, interplanetary passenger cruise liner.  The aft section, with the big engines and main landing gear (is a concept pioneered by @Brikoleur that I somewhat irreverently call a Forward-Accelerating Rear-mounted Thruster) powers the machine to space, at which point it is detached to remain in orbit.  I'm likely then to use a (recyclable) 4-Rhino Escort to boost Condor on its interplanetary trajectory (either Laythe or, with bigger wings, Duna), where another F.A.R.T. unit will be waiting in orbit for docking so that Condor can then descend to the surface.

What could go wrong, Kerbals?? 

Edited November 6, 2018 by Hotel26

[DarkOwl57]

I got bored, decided to make a wiki over my A-10 replica- the A-11 Boar. No pictures as of yet, as it's unfinished. Wanna see it? Well too bad- you're seeing it. 

Spoiler

A-11 Boar (Warthog)

 

A-11 Boar

Role

Close-Air Support and Ground Attack

National origin

Owlia

Manufacturer

Guardian

First flight

August, 2053

Introduction

2055

Operators

Owlian Union Army Air Force (OUAAF), Regional Army Air Force (RAAF), South Bulge Defense Air Force (SBDAF)

Produced from

2055-

Number built

75 (In Production)

 

The A-11 Boar (Now recognized as the “Warthog” by Guardian and certain pilots) is one of the most (If not the most) reliable and powerful air-to-ground weapons in the Army Air Force’s arsenal. With a potent weapons package and numerous upgrades to the airframe, the A-11 line is likely to stick around for a long time- serving alongside the Rivera Dynamics A-10 Hornet into the 2080’s and 90’s.

 

Development

Following the retirement of the short-lived F/A-20 line, the OUAAF required a plane capable of air-to-ground operations while being easy on the wallet. The initial plan by the Union was to create an attack helicopter capable of this role, but the Army quickly shot down this plan- citing the fact that a helicopter wouldn’t be able to get to a target fast enough- something that would create a big problem when a unit is pinned down by enemy fire. This led to the Army creating the A-X program between designers in 2052.

 

A-X

The threat of global conflict was growing quickly as the Owlian Union transitioned from a fledgling democracy to Socialism- joining the Pan-Arcadian Kerbin Treaty in the process. The new A-X project was built on multiple guidelines: The project would need to be able to combat enemy MBTs, carry a multi-use armament, be low-cost, and be able to stay over the combat zone for long amounts of time. The aircraft was not meant to be a stealth aircraft, but this was a possibility.

Guardian and United Aircraft were both selected to build prototypes for the A-X project. The AX-9 from United Aircraft and the AX-11 from Guardian. After its first test flight on August 15th, 2053, the AX-11 was selected over the United aircraft. Many believed that the AX-9 would be chosen, as it was a hyper-maneuverable concept with a large GAU-8 cannon on the nose- similar in design to the POS-1 fighter project. However, due to international pressure, the AX-9 was pulled out of the competition due to similarities to a Tekkian design- opening the door for the A-11 to finally come to life.

 

Upgrades

The A-11 has been upgraded substantially throughout its lifetime as the aircraft has seen combat in all wars in the Owlian Union. Major Block upgrades have been completed over the last couple years (The A-11B and A-11C) to help update the fighter for modern standards. The A-11A2 upgrade- completed in 2063- removed the rear fins that gave the aircraft an unpleasant shape.

The Classification goes as follows:

“A-11”: Designates that the aircraft is an A-11.

“A”: Designates the design iteration. These letters only change if design elements have been changed like wing positioning, engine layout, etc.

“2”: Designates an armament change or slight/minor change to airframe.

 

A-11B

The A-11B utilizes changes in the wing shape and location to achieve powerful maneuverability at a fraction of the cost of other ground attack options. The aircraft uses 1 GAU-8 gun, 8 Hellfire missiles, 4 Maverick missiles, and 2 AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles.

A-11B2

The A-11B2 is a concept that removes two Hellfire missiles from the original package- giving it instead four Mk. 82 bombs.

 

A-11C

The A-11C aircraft- a major change in design from the A-11A and A-11B- has the main engines at the same position, but with the main pitch/yaw surfaces below the engines- giving it a characteristic shape and allowing it to perform its mission of attacking the enemy. It has the same armament of the A-11B, but carries advanced targeting options that assist in strikes.

 

Design

Overview

The A-11 is very basic in its design- a single straight wing that doesn’t have any form of sweep and only a limited amount of tilt in the wings. The large wingspan makes it “About as stealthy as a flying building,” according to test pilots, but allows the aircraft to have incredible maneuverability at low speeds. This large wingspan also allows the aircraft to have a reasonably short takeoff roll (That is expected to be shortened by Guardian updates to landing gear), as well as the ability to pull out of steep dives in combat situations. The airframe has the ability to loiter over a combat zone for a long time. The aircraft’s engine setup makes the aircraft typically cruise under mach speed, with combat missions taking place at speeds under 150 m/s. This allows the pilot to target ground units without having to worry about overshooting the enemy.

The wing itself has proven highly durable in combat as it has survived repeated hits from enemy ground targets. In live-fire testing, an A-11B sustained an estimated 15 to 20 hits by anti-air fire, and continued flying- losing control of the right engine, right yaw plane, and all right-side ailerons. Despite this damage, the aircraft managed to land at the runway.

 

Durability

In testing and in combat, the A-11 has been proven to be incredibly durable. The aircraft’s almost centered engines allow the aircraft to lose an engine and continue flying without substantial loss of control. The A-11’s cockpit is able to protect the pilots from harm, as shown in the 2073 KSC Live-Fire Exercise where the cockpit took around 5 .50 cal bullets and kept flying.

The high position of the twin-engines mean that the air intakes are highly unlikely to suck in objects like ground debris on small Forward Operating Bases. This location also protects the aircraft from being tracked by infrared missiles and weaponry on the ground.

 

Weaponry

The A-11C carries the ability for numerous weapons packages that enhance its massive ground attack capabilities. The aircraft’s main weapon is the GAU-8 cannon, which allows the aircraft to attack ground units with a high rate of fire. On the wing tips, 8 AGM-144 Hellfire missiles and 4 AGM-64 Maverick missiles attack enemy ground installations. On the interior portion of the wings, two AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles protect the aircraft in the event of accidental air-to-air combat over enemy territory.

 

Operational History

The Delras Conflict

The first war in Owlian history, the Delras Conflict was the first test of the A-11’s capabilities. In the Coalition Landings of the West in Operation Saber, A-11A2 aircraft provided air support for ground units. With their combined operations, A-11’s racked up 30 improvised tank kills, 10 ground bunker kills, and 50 other kills. A-11 units struck at enemy building targets, bunkers, and improvised Honey Badger IFV vehicles. After the naval invasion of Delsden, the A-11 was able to take off and operate from improvised runways and airstrips on the front line with a 95% combat capability rate. Not much damage was taken by A-11’s- allowing the aircraft to pummel enemy ground units and allow the Union to claim eventual victory in the conflict.

 

Sanctum Escalations

During the late 2060’s, conflict in Sanctum had arisen once again. The Sanctum Sovereignty had threatened to take the nation of Delras and begin cutting funding to the United Kolus Police Force- UKPF- in protest to limits in military spending. Combined with Sanctum officials failing to alert Owlian Troops to a destructive natural disaster, the Owlian Government began to respond to hostilities from Sanctum. 61 Valerian prisoners were being held hostage in Sanctum, and the Owlian government responded by launching Operation: Overwatch.

A-11A aircraft based in Delras attacked in the dark of night, and hit targets to provide a screen for AH-10 and H-44 aircraft. Aircraft began pummeling enemy RADAR and Anti-Air stations, which allowed the rescue aircraft to be covered in a stealth “blanket.” With the high-powered offensive, AH-10 aircraft pounded the Sanctum prison’s walls- allowing the H-44 aircraft to land and pick up the Valerian prisoners.

 

Fegeland and beyond

During the Feguan Civil War, the Owlian Union pledged full support of the TIGER government. With the beginning of the conflict, A-11B aircraft led the forces of A-10 and B-3 bomber aircraft- pounding separatist targets and allowing Southern loyalists to stay protected and connected. A-11’s accounted for almost all of the front-line kills, while A-10’s specialized in behind-the-line operations with B-3’s operating in the stealth of night-time precision bombing. Key infrastructure for separatists were knocked out per orders of TIGER command, and the A-11’s were perfect for taking on heavily-armored targets and providing Close Air Support for Aquarian ground forces fighting in the South. During Operation Coastal Storm, no A-11’s, A-10’s, or B-3 aircraft were lost in the targeted and powerful attack campaigns.

The A-11C and A-11B2 is expected to be used in the Green Flag multi-nation exercise between ground units of various nations that is projected to take place after Blue Flag: 2076. Currently, the A-11 and A-10 are both in close competition with each other to be the leading aircraft for CAS operations in the OUAAF. The introduction of the Rivera Dynamics X-10 platform led to the A-10 Hornet, which is taking a “secondary” role to the more durable and less expensive A-11C. Future updates and upgrades are likely to extend the A-11’s service life well into the late 80’s and early 90’s as the basic but durable design is likely going to stick around for a long time to come.

 

Variants

AX-11

Prototype. Only 2 built. Both on display;

00100: Guardian Aircraft Headquarters. Bradley, Owlia

00110: Museum of the Owlian Military. River City, Owlia

 

A-11A

Main variant that served in the Delras Conflict.

 

A-11A2

Minor updates to armament and aerodynamic pieces.

 

A-11B

Changed location of wings, added AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, and made the engines more fuel-economic.

 

A-11B2

Same design as the A-11B, but with 4 Mk. 82 500-lb. Bombs for air-to-ground operations.

 

A-11C

The newest version of the A-11. Complete with updated aerodynamic profile, better weaponry layout, advanced targeting systems, and durability updates around the plane.

 

 

Operators

Currently, the Owlian Union is the only nation to use the A-11 aircraft.

The Owlian Union Army Air Force uses the A-11B2 and A-11C.

The Regional Army Air Force uses the A-11B and A-11B2. (A-11C’s are on order)

The South Bulge Defense Air Force uses the A-11B, A-11B2, and a single A-11C (With more on order.)

 

Specifications (A-11C)

General Characteristics

Crew: 1

Length:

Wingspan:

Height:

Empty weight (No fuel, no weapons):

Loaded weight (Full fuel, full weapons):

Internal Fuel Capacity: 5,600kg of Liquid Fuel (12,345lbs)

Powerplant: 2x C-7 J-33 “Wheesley” Turbofan Engines; 120kN each.

Performance

Maximum Speed:

Cruising Speed:

Stall Speed:

Combat Radius:

Max Range (Ferry Range):

TWR:

 

18

 

[RealKerbal3x]

So I built an SSTO. I kinda focused on aesthetics, not functionality, during the build. It got into orbit fine.

As I began re-entry, everything was going fine. I turned on the temperature indicators, and realised that the shock cone intake on the front of the craft was getting rather hot. As I began to fly over the ocean separating the desert landmass from the KSC's landmass, the intake exploded due to overheating, followed closely by the Mk1 to Mk2 adapter directly behind it. This sent us into a tumble, and slowed us down to approximately Mach 1.5. We won't reach the KSC on a glide path anymore, I thought, but we still have engines!

Despite the un-aerodynamic profile of my unintentionally blunt SSTO, we were just about able to sustain level flight. Unfortunately, as you can probably just about see to the left of the KER window, we had a different problem--fuel.

We would now need to find somewhere to land in this conveniently bumpy tract of land, as my blunt aircraft did not want to glide. Trying to turn around to find a better spot lost us too much speed to keep altitude. Luckily the fiery re-entry had spared my nose landing gear.

The plane did not want to pitch up, either, so it took a few tries (thank Felipe for quicksave) to actually land at a sane vertical speed (thank the Kraken for KER). And of course, when we landed, the Whiplash engine exploderated.

It's going to need a bit of a revision to work properly. The front intake is unnecessary and rather hazardous on re-entry, and an RCS system to properly utilise that inline docking port wouldn't hurt either. In memory of its first flight, I'm thinking of calling this SSTO the 'Blunt Pencil'

Edited November 6, 2018 by RealKerbal3x

[Geonovast]

"Well, at least we'll have spares" - Tritop, channeling her inner Batman right before totaling one during a test.

@Interstellar Yeet

51 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

And of course, when we landed, the Whiplash engine exploderated.

Well it's not like you need those after you land.

[RealKerbal3x]

13 minutes ago, Geonovast said:

Well it's not like you need those after you land.

To be fair, it is an SSTO, and the idea is to recover all of the parts (which I totally failed at, BTW )

[capi3101]

6 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

To be fair, it is an SSTO, and the idea is to recover all of the parts (which I totally failed at, BTW )

Probably just came in at too shallow of an AoA, though that's hard to judge really without taking a look at the plane intact. What was your pitch angle coming in before you lost the front end of the craft?

[RealKerbal3x]

Just now, capi3101 said:

 Probably just came in at too shallow of an AoA, though that's hard to judge really without taking a look at the plane intact. What was your pitch angle coming in before you lost the front end of the craft?

Something like 5-10 degrees, Probably too low--I'm a rocket guy, not a spaceplane guy.

[Geonovast]

13 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

Something like 5-10 degrees, Probably too low--I'm a rocket guy, not a spaceplane guy.

Where is you CoM at landing condition in relation to your landing gear?

[RealKerbal3x]

7 minutes ago, Geonovast said:

Where is you CoM at landing condition in relation to your landing gear?

Can't remember off the top of my head. I'll have to check next time I get the chance to play.

[Vahnskir]

Used KAS to make what is effectively a rudimentary ballista, capable of shooting Kerbals.
And I don't mean shooting at Kerbals I mean actually shooting Kerbals because hey if my calculations are correct the average Kerbal at least on paper is is significantly cheaper and more cost effective then just a straight up wooden bolt. Mainly because nobody has figured out a way to get wood because Kerbal's trees exists in some physics-less quasi-reality in alongside our own where our axes just phase through it like if it was a hologram.

THE TREE'S ARE HOLOGRAMS! WAKE UP SHEEPLE!

[anoldtincan]

The production line is humming and two important payloads launched today:

First, the KW-4 Stallion rover, headed uncrewed to Minmus. It will be an important part of the Minmus kolonization plan.

Fairings and side boosters separated, core stage headed to orbit. After separation, the rover, transfer stage, and skycrane head to Minmus while the core stage returns to the KSC:

First RTLS-recovered booster I've ever done - it is much easier to gauge ballistic trajectories for a rocket vs a SSTO. Career-wise, recovering the core stage with the boosters is awesome since it's about 52k funds per booster recovered.

I was pretty excited to have two more recoveries on the way - This is the launch of the first tank section for the Kujira.

These launch vehicles are quick off the pad but aren't very maneuverable in flight, so the flight path to orbit is almost at right angles. Thankfully there is plenty of dV to get to orbit and back.

Second booster recovery for the day.

And third - this core stage was from the Kujira command deck, already in orbit. The first-production model (No.2 overall) didn't include landing legs, but I managed to hit the recover button after the parachutes released but before it fell over.

Close to enough funds to upgrade the R&D center to level 3, I deployed Samman Kerman in the new KA-9 basic science aircraft. 

Cruising at 18,000 m and Mach 3.2, this lightweight recon plane is much easier to handle than the KA-5 previously used, whose tricky handling killed Brooke Kerman. It's speed makes up for it's lower fuel capacity, but retains a very low stall speed (less than 70 m/s) so landings are a breeze.

On the first mission Samman completed objectives for 2 surveys, but pushed the aircraft a little too far and ran out of fuel on the way back to KSC. A pretty good glide ratio and high cruise altitude made for a long descent but Samman ended up in the drink with a gentle splash and no damage to the aircraft.

I'm really happy to have a decent survey aircraft, without having to spend hours lumbering through the skies of Kerbin. More time for space!

Edited November 6, 2018 by anoldtincan

[capi3101]

2 hours ago, RealKerbal3x said:

Something like 5-10 degrees, Probably too low--I'm a rocket guy, not a spaceplane guy.

Yeah, that's a bit low for entering spaceplanes. I do both rockets and spaceplanes depending on the mission. 

My own self, I go for an entry profile akin to the Shuttle's. Start by deorbiting on the other side of the planet. I use FAR, so I shoot for a target periapsis of 37,500; your mileage will vary depending on whether or not you use stock air and the general design of the craft. At entry, shoot for a pitch angle of about 40 degrees with your airbrakes on. Flaps too if you got 'em; the idea is to generate as much drag as you can. You'll want to keep that pitch angle between 40-50 degrees the whole way. Keep your nose up that high until you no longer have the pitch authority to maintain it and your nose starts dropping on its own. When you're down below 30,000, you don't want to be going much faster than 1,000 m/s on approach; keep your airbrakes engaged until you no longer see heating effects (unless you start losing control of the craft, in which case good luck). 

Probably going to want to examine where your CoM is in relation to your gear with dry tanks ASAP. Same token, you're going to want to see where it is in relation to all of your control surfaces - a CoM that moves tailward will almost always give you trouble. There are ways to mitigate that. Probably the easiest way is to put the bulk of your fuel in the center of the fuselage. If you're using a mod like Procedural Wings with Interstellar Fuel Switch, feel free to put the fuel in the wings themselves (like RL craft do).

 

Edited November 6, 2018 by capi3101

[RealKerbal3x]

4 minutes ago, capi3101 said:

Yeah, that's a bit low for entering spaceplanes. I do both rockets and spaceplanes depending on the mission. 

My own self, I go for an entry profile akin to the shuttle's. Start by deorbiting on the other side of the planet. I use FAR, so I shoot for a target periapsis of 37,500; your mileage will vary depending on whether or not you use stock air and the general design of the craft. At entry, shoot for a pitch angle of about 40 degrees with your airbrakes on. Flaps too if you got 'em; the idea is to generate as much drag as you can. You'll want to keep that pitch angle between 40-50 degrees the whole way. Keep your nose up that high until you no longer have the pitch authority to maintain it and your nose starts dropping on its own. When you're down below 30,000, you don't want to be going much faster than 1,000 m/s on approach; keep your airbrakes engaged until you no longer see heating effects (unless you start losing control of the craft, in which case good luck). 

Probably going to want to examine where your CoM is in relation to your gear with dry tanks ASAP. Same token, you're going to want to see where it is in relation to all of your control surfaces - a CoM that moves tailward will almost always give you trouble. There are ways to mitigate that. Probably the easiest way is to put the bulk of your fuel in the center of the fuselage. If you're using a mod like Procedural Wings with Interstellar Fuel Switch, feel free to put the fuel in the wings themselves (like RL craft do).

 

Thanks for the tips! 

I’ll try to get some screenshots in the SPH tomorrow of the dry and wet CoM.

I do occasionally fly the Cormorant space shuttle by @Pak; in that case I have an angled probe core which I can control from, so that SAS holds me at the correct pitch. The Trajectories mod is also quite useful for pinpointing your trajectory back to the KSC.

[Madrias]

Decided to do a bit of a challenge I've wanted to do for a while now.  That aircraft only has two controls:  Throttle and Rudder.  Surprisingly, it flies really, really well for not having Elevator or Aileron controls, but then again, I did kinda design it around my old trainers...

So after a few lazy loops around the KSC, I headed out and landed it on the Island Runway.  I'm planning on flying it back to the KSC soon, but I had fun with this little challenge.  Always wanted to see what the minimum number of controls needed to fly would be.  Oh, and the Reaction Wheels in the cockpit were turned off, so I didn't have roll or pitch adjustments from that.

[Athen]

17 hours ago, MR L A said:

FRONT... well, in front of your centre of lift anyway

That explains it...

[Tonka Crash]

I finished a major expansion of the drilling and refining capacity at my Minmus base. Last week I landed the drilling rig in the left foreground. Last night I landed the storage tanks behind it. Tonight was spent driving them around very slowly and getting the major sections docked. Then some EVA work was needed to connect up the Ore tanks and rearrange some of the airlocks and lights.

[Zosma Procyon]

I tried to launch a rocket to Mun at an angle to reduce the amount of maneuvering required.

Looked good, but...

it REALLY didn't work. I obviously reverted to the VAB.

[Ultimate Steve]

I, uhh, flew a zeppelin around an alien moon.

[Madrias]

57 minutes ago, Zosma Procyon said:

I tried to launch a rocket to Mun at an angle to reduce the amount of maneuvering required.

From experience, try one or two notches off of vertical.  You might have better luck.

[Zosma Procyon]

20 minutes ago, Madrias said:

From experience, try one or two notches off of vertical.  You might have better luck.

That was two notches. It got hung up on the clamps.

[XLjedi]

Posted this stunt plane to KerbalX last night...  Hoping to try flying it through the hangars over at the island tonight!

https://kerbalx.com/XLjedi/Boing-Barnstormer

Edited November 7, 2018 by XLjedi

[capi3101]

It's been a full week since I made a proper post on this thread, so my apologies in advance for what's probably going to be an unnecessarily large post. At least it'll have screenies.

So on Halloween, I had fourteen tourists I wanted to bring up to space station Kerbinport, with the bulk of them headed for Minmus. Tourists Jaslorf, Samory, Samcal, Jafrid, Ludbur, Richdous, Janzoe, Shepwise, Lunand, Sutrey, Derman, Jonrod, Lemfurt and Doneny Kerman were all loaded aboard an Auk VII 16-passenger spaceplane and brought up to the station. Docking proved to be unnecessarily painful - apparently when I was refitting the Auk series to have their docking ports facing the underside of the fuselage, I missed working on the VII; the plane's tail collided with the Exxon Valdez 7a tanker craft already docked at the station's aft port, and it became necessary to move that craft as well. Whole thing was a giant pain since both the Valdez and the Auk are massive craft with completely inadequate RCS thruster arrays. After a lot of finagling, I did ultimately get them both docked to the station simultaneously.

-
Two things that are way more massive than they should be attached to a tiny little space station...

Aside from Jaslorf Kerman, who was Munbound, the passengers were promptly transferred onto the ferry ships Strange Cargo and Necessary Evil docked at the station, with capsule commanders Jeb and Nedbus Kerman at their respective helms. Strange Cargo departed the station first, burning for Minmus immediately upon undocking; she arrived at Minmus 7 days later. Necessary Evil departed one orbit later, arriving at Minmus 4.5 days later. 

Flying past Mt. Killakerbal on the three-degree glide slope to KSC 09 always makes me nervous, but especially so with a plane this big...

After the ferries departed, the Auk VII undocked and made its way back to KSC, landing safely at KSC 09. The Valdez was returned to her previous position on the station's aft end. I ended my day in the litterbox with the Project Peacock 7, an experiment to get a Pathfinder Pipeline mass driver up and running. After some finagling with configuration files, I successfully refueled the Do Nothing 7 craft - an orbital station with a receiving mass driver - and sent it on to Mun.

Let's see - docking port, check. Antenna, check. Generates power, check. Doesn't do much of anything helpful, check...

The Do Nothing's design elements were later incorporated into the operational Glass Cannon 7 craft.

Last Thursday started with the design and launch of the Moneybux 7, an expansion module for space station Minmusport. Owing to the way the craft was put together, KER was fooled by the initial design and seriously over-reported the amount of delta-V available in the transfer stage, a fact that was only revealed after the craft had been launched and ran out of gas no where close to a Minmus encounter; that initial flight had to be terminated. The problem was identified at the redesigned and corrected, with the new craft ultimately affecting a successful docking last Friday. Next up for Thursday was the design of the SCSS 7 surface garbage collector craft, which was launched to Mun with Bill aboard. Bill arrived safely at Mun and retreived his target garbage - a Firespitter Bomber Tail - from the Munar surface:

I'm not going to say what the craft reminded me of once Bill finally got it KAS soldered onto his ship. Just not going to go there...

The SCSS did return safely to Munar orbit but had insufficient fuel remaining at that point to return to Kerbin, so Bill dumped off his payload for retrieval by a Bill Clinton 7b grabber probe I'd left in orbit several days before specifically for that purpose, and then the Spamcan 7a lander was dispatched from space station Munport to pick him up, with the SCSS sent on a collision course with Mun. Bill is now at Munport awaiting pickup. Friday ended with the launch of a Boot Hill 7 Pathfinder outpost craft to Minmus, with pilot Newdard Kerman, scientists Barley and Phorie Kerman, and engineer Haibur Kerman aboard. Their craft was given a designation of Boot Hill 7a with some reconfiguration to the starting Pathfinder modules occurring prior to launch. Their launch was far more successful than that of the original earlier Boot Hill base (in that the booster didn't swing around, tear off their transfer stage engine and require emergency repairs in orbit.); the crew arrived at Minmus five days later.

Friday saw the successful return of the Bill Clinton. Spent the rest of that day at Boot Hill on Mun expanding the base with several Pathfinder modules.

This thing started out with only four modules around the central spire. It's definitely increased in capabilities since I finally figured out what the crap I'm actually doing with the Pathfinder mod.

I was able to prove the efficacy of the Boot Hill design as a lower-part, lower-cost refinery alternative to the venerable Piper Alpha designs, and have since worked to expand the base to get to the point where I could construct a working surface mass driver. Work on that goal is still continuing; printing up the necessary Equipment is proving to be quite challenging on the current site.

Saturday saw the arrival of Necessary Evil and Moneybux 7 at Minmusport, with both craft arriving successfully. The Kerbincomm India probe was put into its final position in a high Kerbin equatorial orbit after eighty days of zooming around Kerbin's upper SOI. Finally, the Boot Hill 7a also arrived at Minmus and then landed fifty meters from the Deepwater Horizon refinery on the surface, where the mission of expanding it into a full blown colony commenced.

And this, my dear children, is how you wind up with a game that plays at 10 FPS...

Strange Cargo arrived at Minmusport on Sunday, and the job of ferrying the tourists that wanted to visit the surface commenced. That amounted to six surface excursions using Minmusport's Spamcan 7 2-passenger monoprop lander, the only lander available. Most of those excursions were to DH and happened while the outpost was being expanded. Nine of the tourists had contracts to conduct an extended stay at Deepwater Horizon; all of these transferred to the base's main dome once the final two arrived on Monday.

These civvies are obviously planning world domination. Someone should tell them that aside from the five KSC staff not in this picture, they're already the only Kerbals on Minmus... 

In the process of all of the civvie deliveries, a KAS connector port was finally machined up and installed aboard the Spamcan, allowing it at long last to refuel while at the refinery. Necessary Evil departed for Kerbin on Monday, bring along those tourists who had simply wanted to visit the minty moon and return right away along with engineer Merrick Kerman, who had been rescued from Minmus's orbit over a week ago. Strange Cargo departed for Kerbin yesterday once the Spamcan returned to Minmusport after the final tourist delivery.

Yesterday also saw my first 3D-printed craft, in this case a probe designed for a one-way flight from Mun to Kerbin, which engineer Naford Kerman at Boot Hill put together on site.

There's a design flaw with that probe attached to the side of that Doc lab...brownie points if any of y'all can spot what it is...

Aside from bouncing once upon release, the probe's launch was a completely success:

 
Quickest I could get a screenie of the launch, unfortunately...

The probe's mission to return a Pathfinder Temperature Survey to Kerbin has hit a bit of a snag...I forgot to include an inline stack decoupler, so the heat shield designed to protect the probe core is pretty much useless. The probe did survive its first aerobraking pass by being at a relatively high periapsis over Kerbin; can't say if its mission will ultimately succeed or not, however. Even if it doesn't, the thing didn't cost me any cash to print on site - just the time and the local resources - so I can try again later if I need to.

Yesterday ended with the launch of the first Glass Cannon 7 orbital mass driver space station extension module to Mun; a similar launch to Kerbinport took place this morning, with the module docking safely with the station. Plans for ground stations are underway at Boot Hill and Deepwater Horizon; just need the Equipment to deploy them at this point. I ultimately want to build a ground station on Kerbin as well, something akin to the original Project Peacock craft but with some mobility built in - I can't have it camped out on the Runway, after all...

Also got plans to print out and establish a new Minmus outpost at Deepwater Horizon and then deploy it for a pure-profit contract. That one's going to cut into the effort to get a mass driver going at DH, probably, but it'd be neat to see if it actually works as intended...
 

[Cavscout74]

6 hours ago, XLjedi said:

Posted this stunt plane to KerbalX last night... 

Darn you!!!   The guys in R&D still haven't cleaned all the stains off the bridge after Jeb's discovery of your Skyjinks. 

My own day was mostly passing time, with a few mid-course corrections.  I did have a Duna crew arrive home, and they made a nice fiery arrival back at KSC.  It slowed down quickly once I put out the brakes & cut the engines.  I made my reentry maneuver too early, and so I had to do a high altitude, high-speed cruise to reach KSC.

And I test flew another @Raptor9 design, the X-17 Forward Swept Wing Test, which was quite fun

 

 

[XLjedi]

32 minutes ago, Cavscout74 said:

Darn you!!!   The guys in R&D still haven't cleaned all the stains off the bridge after Jeb's discovery of your Skyjinks. 

Bridge?   I just watched a rather skilled pilot (definitely not me on the keyboard) fly it through the tunnel.  Twice in the same video... then under the bridge.