Kerbin Circumnavigation Challenge 2: Electric Boogaloo

[Wait- Was That Important?]

The Challenge: Circumnavigate Kerbin going no higher than 45km. You will be ranked according to time, so be sure to include images including the flight clock! You can land on or near the runway, but it has to be within 2km of the KSC.

The Rules:

1.) All mods and plugins are allowed, but may be differentiated into various scoring categories. Outright cheats will be laughed at and may or may not be added to the leaderboards.

2.) Do not go to space today! This is a challenge for atmospheric vehicles only. Orbiting Kerbin from a rocket is easier than flying around it.

3.) You must post various screenshots with the UI on to be scored: 1 at any point in flight, and 1 of the landed craft and post-flight information box. You should feel free to post more images, but those two are the only ones required. Also post craft files!

4.) You must list the mods and plugins used.

5.) Appropriate craft information should be included for extra scoring purposes (mass, etc.), but is not necessary

6.) I reserve the right to deny any entry for any reason or lack thereof. I promise I won't be a jerk about it, but if you're blatantly cheating I'm not going to pull teeth to get you to admit it.

The Details: This was a popular challenge before the great forum wipe, and I looked back two pages to find it. Not being able to see that specific challenge (the only other circumnavigation challenge was locked for necro-ing where I looked), I've decided to start my own. I will update the OP with those who complete it. I know this isn't the toughest challenge, but for veterans it's a fun way to compete for the various achievements and for newbies it's a great way to get started into spaceplane engineering. Good luck!

Edit 5/21: I know Captain Kalawang, an entry in this very challenge, has bumped his month-old thread after entering here. However, they both have different rules and, while they're structured similarly, differ in a few key ways. It's totally up to you whether you enter in this one, the other one, or even both! If your entry's valid, I very much suggest posting in both threads. A good rule of thumb: whatever's valid in the other thread is certainly valid here. This challenge is a bit more broad in scope than the other. Good luck, and safe flying!

The Acheivements:

List these in your entries, I'll judge if it's accurate or not

1.) Oh, so close: crash landed in the KSC zone (-4s)

2.) A Winnar Is You: completed the challenge and landed safely (-5s)

3.) Precision pilot: landed on the spaceplane runway (-6s)

4.) Wrong way, champ: landed on the spaceplane runway heading West instead of East (-7s)

5.) I SAID WRONG WAY: circumnavigated West instead of East (-10s)

6.) Monolithic: no decoupling or breaking off of tanks (-11s)

7.) Speed demon: hit a top speed of over 1,500m/s (-12s)

8.) Speed angel: hit a top speed of over 2,000m/s (does not stack with previous acheivement)(-20s)

9.) Wings? Where we're going we don't need wings: craft has no lifting surfaces (-25s)

10.) Wait, what do you mean you can't put the gear down: craft has no landing gear yet loses no parts on landing (-30s)

11.) Jets? Those are like wheels but for air, right?: craft has no jet engines (-35s)

12.) Going green: Kerbal has no cockpit yet remains with the craft the entire time (-40s)

13.) See any penguins?: polar instead of equatorial (-50s)

14.) Road trip: use a rover instead of a plane (-600s)

15.) Electric Boogaloo: Craft uses ion power only (-1200s)

Stock Leaderboards:

1.) Alakaël with (So close, Monolithic, Angel) 1973 seconds in the Circum Thing 2

2.) keptin (Winnar, Monolithic, Angel) with 2179 seconds in the Constellation-ID

3.) Teirusu (Winnar, Precision, Monolithic, Angel) with 2204 seconds in the I Wish People Would Name Their Planes So I Don't Have To

4.) Keptin (Winnar, Monolithic, Demon) with 2338 seconds in the Constellation-IC

5.) Torham234 (Winnar, Monolithic, Angel) with 2568 seconds in the Lark VI

6.) Keptin (Winnar, Monolithic, Demon) with 2815 seconds in the Constellation-IB

7.) palker (Winnar, Precision, Champ, Monolithic) with 3465 in the Around Kerbin

8.) ZingidyZongxxx (Winnar, Wrong Way Champ, I SAID WRONG WAY, monolithic, angel) with 3617 seconds in the Unnamed and Backwards Craft

9.) the_bT (Winnar, Precision, Monolithic, Demon) with 3813 seconds in the Griffin XR

10.) Kerbies_are_my_Minions (Winnar, Monolithic, Precision) with 3946 seconds in the Eleventh Unnamed Plane, That Kinda Looks Like A Blackbird SR-71

Modded Leaderboards:

1.) 1096bimu (So close, Precision, Monolithic, Speed Angel) with 2069 seconds in the Fourth Unnamed Plane So Far I Mean Come On

2.) tavert (Winnar, Precision, Monolithic, Angel) with 2253 seconds in the Little Baby Plane Entry

3.) Akalaël (So Close, Monolithic, Angel) with 2312 seconds in the Circum Thing

4.) Wait, Was That Important? (Winnar, Monolithic, Demon, Penguins) with 3280 seconds in the Kerbin Cruiser Mk. II

5.) Torham234 (Winnar, Monolithic, Wrong Way) with 3809 seconds in the Lark V

6.)

Cheating Leaderboards:

1.) 1096bimu (Winnar, Precision, Wrong Way, Angel, No Wings, No Gear, No Jets, Going Green, Penguins) with 2098 seconds in the SR-2 Normandy

2.)

One Big Mother (largest craft by mass):

1.) the_bT (Winnar, Precision, Monolithic, Demon) with 3813 seconds in the Griffin XR

Little Baby Plane (smallest craft by mass):

1.) tavert (Winnar, Precision, Monolithic, Angel) with 2253 seconds in the Little Baby Plane Entry

Phallic Symbol (largest craft by overall length):

1.) Captain Kalawang (Winnar) with 6108 seconds in the XXGC-5109 "The Circumnavigator"

It's Not Fat, It's Big-Boned (largest craft by width, perpendicular to direction of flight):

1.) Keptin (Winnar, Monolithic, Demon) with 2338 seconds in the Constellation-IC

Just Pretty Cool (personal selection):

1.)

All Other Entries:

1.) Alakaël with (So close, Monolithic, Angel) 1973 seconds in the Circum Thing 2

2.) 1096bimu (So close, Precision, Monolithic, Speed Angel) with 2069 seconds in the Third Unnamed Plane So Far I Mean Come On

3.) 1096bimu (Winnar, Precision, Wrong Way, Angel, No Wings, No Gear, No Jets, Going Green, Penguins) with 2098 seconds in the SR-2 Normandy

4.) keptin (Winnar, Monolithic, Angel) with 2179 seconds in the Constellation-ID

5.) Teirusu (Winnar, Precision, Monolithic, Angel) with 2204 seconds in the I Wish People Would Name Their Planes So I Don't Have To

6.) Akalaël (So Close, Monolithic, Angel) with 2312 seconds in the Circum Thing

7.) Keptin (Winnar, Monolithic, Demon) with 2338 seconds in the Constellation-IC

8.) Torham234 (Winnar, Monolithic, Angel) with 2568 seconds in the Lark VI

9.) Keptin (Winnar, Monolithic, Demon) with 2815 seconds in the Constellation-IB

10.) SuperFastJellyfish (Winnar, Monolithic, Precision, Demon) with 2906 seconds in the Magellan I

11.) Vaisman (Winnar, Monolithic, Demon) with 2946 seconds in the Tenth Unnamed Plane, People Should Take More Pride In Their Work If You Ask Me

12.) Kolt (Winnar, Monolithic, Precision, Demon) with 2969 seconds in the Eighth Unnamed Plane, What Is This An Orphanage For Planes?

13.) Kuris (Winnar, Monolithic, Precision, Demon with 3043 seconds in the Ninth Unnamed Plane, This Is Some Real Soviet-Style Stuff Right Here

14.) PolecatEZ (Winnar, Monolithic, Demon) with 3192 seconds in the Albatross

15.) Wait, Was That Important? (Winnar, Monolithic, Demon, Penguins) with 3280 seconds

16.) GROOV3ST3R (Winnar, Monolithic, Precision) with 3397 seconds in the Kerbin Navigator Mk5 Long

11.) palker (Winnar, Precision, Champ, Monolithic) with 3465 in the Around Kerbin

12.) ZingidyZongxxx (Winnar, Wrong Way Champ, I SAID WRONG WAY, monolithic, angel) with 3617 seconds in the Unnamed and Backwards Craft

13.) BlueFox801 (Winnar, Monolithic) with 3680 seconds in the Seventh Unnamed Plane, I'm Starting To Think There's a Conspiracy Here

14.) Torham234 (Winnar, Monolithic, Wrong Way) with 3809 seconds in the Lark V

15.) the_bT (Winnar, Precision, Monolithic, Demon) with 3813 seconds in the Griffin XR

16.) Kerbies_are_my_Minions (Winnar, Monolithic, Precision) with 3946 seconds in the Eleventh Unnamed Plane, That Kinda Looks Like A Blackbird SR-71

17.) KinkyFerrets (Winnar, Monolithic, Precision) with 4243 seconds in the AND WE'RE OFF

18.) Pursuedtank (Winnar, Monolithic, Demon) with 5008 seconds in the Twelfth Unnamed Plane, I'm Done With This

19.) blackcap76 (Winnar, Monolithic) with 5138 seconds in the Sixth Unnamed Plane, It Must Be a Fad Or Something

20.)Wyseman76 (Winnar, Monolithic, Wrong Way, Precision) with 5383 seconds in the Fifth Unmanned Plane, Fantastic

21.) Captain Kalawang (Winnar) with 6108 seconds in the XXGC-5109 "The Circumnavigator"

22.)

Edited May 29, 2013 by Wait, Was That Important?

[keptin]

Few questions:

Does the aircraft have to be manned?

Can we stack intakes and have them clip through each other?

Can we use droptanks or does the all fuel have to all be on board?

Can we use detachable landing gear?

Edited May 21, 2013 by keptin

[Wait- Was That Important?]

Does the aircraft have to be manned?

No, and I expect most of the fastest entries to be unmanned, but I'll include the manned ones in the OP as well.

[1096bimu]

How is rover only a -45s bonus? maybe it should be like a 50% time bonus or more?

Ion power is also too weak, an ion craft won't go very fast you can easily beat it by 60 seconds with any other propulsion.

[keptin]

I posted a few more questions above, I must have been editing them as you were answering my previous one.

Can we stack intakes and have them clip through each other or does it have to be semi-realistic?

Can we use droptanks or does the all fuel have to all be on board?

Can we use detachable landing gear?

[Hyomoto]

1096 reflects the same questions I had.

[Wait- Was That Important?]

How is rover only a -45s bonus? maybe it should be like a 50% time bonus or more?

Ion power is also too weak, an ion craft won't go very fast you can easily beat it by 60 seconds with any other propulsion.

The achievements are really sort of arbitrary and for bragging rights. I'll balance them later if I feel that it's important, but really the point of the challenge is for spaceplanes, etc.

I posted a few more questions above, I must have been editing them as you were answering my previous one.

Can we stack intakes and have them clip through each other or does it have to be semi-realistic?

Can we use droptanks or does the all fuel have to all be on board?

Can we use detachable landing gear?

Intakes can be stacked and clipped, as I'm sure many will be.

Droptanks are allowed, but note that you will not get the "Monolithic" achievement if you so choose to use them.

Again, detachable landing gear are allowed. I suppose you'd still qualify for the "Monolithic" achievement as I did specify "tanks" but at the same time I doubt you'd be able to land safely to earn the "A Winnar is You" achievement.

[Wait- Was That Important?]

Update: the bonuses for the rovers and ion planes are now more enticing, but I'd really need to see some comparison to actual spaceplanes to figure out the numbers.

[ZingidyZongxxx]

Well, I built a jet that easily meets the requirements, but I'm having problems where it keeps accidentally going into orbit...

I'll try again tomorrow and post my entry.

[Wait- Was That Important?]

For the sake of competition and satisfying Sal_vager, I just completed my first circumnavigation.

Directly after takeoff, using the three engines to burn to its cruising altitude of 27.5km.

Outboard two engines shut off to conserve fuel while the plane climbs.

Astern shows the engines and batteries. Note the kethane scanner: no kethane equipment is on board, but it makes that nice map there in the lower left corner.

Descending after a long cruise, with three engines on to boost speed and burn off fuel.

Hold on to your hat, Milhat Kerman.

Coming in to land, perpendicular to the runway of course.

And I wimped out/ lagged out from landing on the runway. Ah well, close enough. The Kethane scanner exploded too for some reason.

Base time was 3358 seconds.

I achieved "A Winnar is You", "Monolithic", "Speed Demon (sixth picture)", and "See Any Penguins?", earning me a total bonus score of -78 seconds.

I didn't provide the end flight dialogue, but the pictures tell enough of the story

Thus, my score is 3280 seconds. Remember, lowest wins!

[1096bimu]

Cheating with style!

Achievements:

2.) A Winnar Is You: completed the challenge and landed safely (-5s)

3.) Precision pilot: landed on the spaceplane runway (-6s)

4.) Wrong way, champ: landed on the spaceplane runway heading West instead of East (-7s)

8.) Speed angel: hit a top speed of over 2,000m/s (does not stack with previous acheivement)(-20s)

9.) Wings? Where we're going we don't need wings: craft has no lifting surfaces (-25s) (This is a command pod only craft, only has MechJeb attached to it)

10.) Wait, what do you mean you can't put the gear down: craft has no landing gear yet loses no parts on landing (-30s) (This is a command pod only craft, only has MechJeb attached to it)

11.) Jets? Those are like wheels but for air, right?: craft has no jet engines (-35s) (Anti-proton thrusters)

12.) Going green: Kerbal has no cockpit yet remains with the craft the entire time (-40s) (It has no cockpit, it's a crew cabin)

13.) See any penguins?: polar instead of equatorial (-50s)

Mods:

MechJeb 2

My Normandy SR-2 mod (can't share with you)

Craft file:

just the Normandy SR-2+MechJeb

Craft information:

Crew: 20

Empty Mass: 527t

Full Load Mass: 692t

Length: 98.1m

Wingspan: 43.4m

Height: 17.43m

Wing area: 391 m²

Power Plant:

2x Anti-Proton thrusters, 2500kN

2x Anti-Proton thrusters, 3150kN

Tantalus Drive Core (multifunctional)

Matter-Antimatter annihilation reactor, 68GW

Fusion Power Plant, 20MW

Maximum Speed: FTL

Thrust/weight(classical): 1.761

Range: 2350pc (FTL) / 890au (classical) / indefinite (atmospheric)

Edited May 21, 2013 by 1096bimu

[Wait- Was That Important?]

EDIT: derp, I can't read apparantly

The SR-2 Normandy added under the "cheats" section. A very impressive craft and beautiful looking mod, hopefully some day you deign us worthy to release it Bimu !

Edited May 21, 2013 by Wait, Was That Important?

[1096bimu]

EDIT: derp, I can't read apparantly

The SR-2 Normandy added under the "cheats" section. A very impressive craft and beautiful looking mod, hopefully some day you deign us worthy to release it Bimu !

Well I heard it has copy right problems, that's why I can't share it here.

[bgraves]

I love this challenge, but no bonus for building a boat? Tsk. Perhaps there could be another bonus for having your highest altitude reached be just barely within the limit.

[Kerbies_are_my_Minions]

copywrite only applies if you plan on proffitting from it. if you hand it out free, it does not apply.

[keptin]

Constellation-IB, (stock)

47mins, 23secs

A Winnar Is You: completed the challenge and landed safely (-5s)

Monolithic: no decoupling or breaking off of tanks (-11s)

Speed demon: hit a top speed of over 1,500m/s (-12s)

Total time w/ achievements: 2815 secs

I drew some inspiration from gliders for the Constellation, both in design and landing gear setup. It uses 100% stock parts and only 3 intakes. Weighing only 6.4t wet, it doesn't take much throttle to keep it airborne. I'm using Romfarer Lazor System for autopilot; hopefully MechJeb/Romfarer use still allows players to qualify for the stock category as long as their parts are stock.

Landing cost me almost a whole 5 minutes as I dropped altitude too early, reducing my speed from 1,900 m/s cruising to 150 m/s off the deck. With a better flight profile I might be able to get down to ~40mins. This includes raising altitude to around 35km, which would put the Constellation's speed upwards of 2km/s.

Cruising Altitude

Landing at the Control Center

Flight Data

Edited May 21, 2013 by keptin

[keptin]

This isn't an entry for this competition, but I thought it would be fun to share how things have changed since one of the earlier circumnavigation challenges 6 months ago, before the advent of fuel/oxidizer tanks and functioning intakes. With a max jet altitude around 14k back then, it was seriously challenging to simply circumnavigate the planet, let alone do it quickly. You can tell I'm a big fan of high-aspect wing designs for long distance, high altitude challenges.

This is the image album: http://imgur.com/a/wQ2MT#0

The winning entry, Pheonix-IIC, flight time 2h 57m 18s. This is her 1/3rd into the cruising stage with only a few drop-tank-engines remaining. Eventually, she'll land on one wheel with only a single tank fuselage, single engine, and empty wings.

Her sister, the Pheonix-IIB, fully laden ready for takeoff. One of the changes made to the IIC was to shorten the forward wing to reduce drag.

Edited May 21, 2013 by keptin

[EndlessWaves]

copywrite only applies if you plan on proffitting from it. if you hand it out free, it does not apply.

That's incorrect. Copyright is the right of the author to determine where their work is spread or copied, not the right to make money from it. There are exceptions to copyright law that vary depending on the country but certainly here in the UK I don't think there's any blanket permission for non-commercial use, only exceptions for education, non-commercial research and for exerts and quotes.

[Akalaël]

And here is the "Circum Thing"

Mods : the B9 delta wings

MechJeb

I landed pretty bad, all as gone :

Photo finish

My time 2347 sec.

Achivements :

Oh, so close: crash landed in the KSC zone (-4s)

A Winnar Is You: completed the challenge and landed safely (-5s)

Monolithic: no decoupling or breaking off of tanks (-11s)

Speed angel: hit a top speed of over 2,000m/s (does not stack with previous acheivement)(-20s)

Time resized : 2307 sec.

I'm gonna try the Scott's bizzare pod just to see...

[keptin]

Constellation-IC, (stock)

39mins, 34secs

Made some improvements to go for higher altitude and am using MechJeb for jet-air control in addition to Romfarer's Lazors for guidance, but still managed to blow a ton of time after I overshot the runway and had to circle back. I'm confident I could shave a few minutes off this time.

A Winnar Is You: completed the challenge and landed safely (-5s)

Monolithic: no decoupling or breaking off of tanks (-11s)

Speed angel: hit a top speed of over 2,000m/s (does not stack with previous acheivement)(-20s)

Total Time w/ Achievements: 2338 sec

Cruise

At the edge of space

Landing

Flight Data

Edited May 21, 2013 by keptin

[ZingidyZongxxx]

Okay, here's my entry:

I decided to go backwards, and the ascent was really long since it can go up to 36 km:

Getting the Speed Angel achievement:

Descending:

And... Well, close enough:

I fixed it, but I lost some intakes getting back on the runway. How I can still get precision pilot for that and monolithic...

Flight results:

The only mod used was Mechjeb, because I'm not staring at a plane flying too high to see anything interesting for an hour.

Achievements: A Winnar Is You, Precision Pilot?, Wrong Way, Champ, I SAID WRONG WAY, Monolithic, Speed Angel.

(? means maybe)

Original Time: 3670 seconds

Time Deduction: 59 seconds

Overall time: 3611 seconds

No time records set, but this beast has a large wingspan and mass, so it might be in the top there.

Edited May 21, 2013 by ZingidyZongxxx

[Flixxbeatz]

Does this thing count?

It is my own entry at my signature circumnavigation challenge (I'm looking at you, people who post challenges without trying it first themselves) and has a total duration of... wait for it...

6108 SECONDS

[Wait- Was That Important?]

I've added the various new entries- I'm glad to see this challenge getting interest! It's really actually pretty fun despite the simplicity of it.

@alakael I didn't award you the "A Winnar is You" because it specifies landing safely (otherwise you'd get more points for crashing than actually landing), and also put your craft in the modded section as an important portion of your plane consists of modded parts.

@zing I can't award you the Precision Pilot achievement because it specifies landing on the runway, not just taxiing on to it. If you think the award is worth it, you can take flight and land on the runway again to get the achievement, but I doubt the time you're awarded will be more than time spent. However, I did add it to the "Big Mother" leaderboard.

This isn't terribly important, but I'd like to be notified if people want to enter for the engineering leaderboards, like "Baby Plane" and "Phallic Symbol" categories. It saves me some time when entering them.

Keep 'em coming, and fly safe!

EDIT: Sniped, by Kalawang! Kal, I didn't see your thread on the first two pages, as I stated in the OP, otherwise I would've just bumped that. My thread also has different rules (higher height limit, more categories, achievements) and I did actually complete the challenge myself.

Edited May 21, 2013 by Wait, Was That Important?

[Wait- Was That Important?]

A little reminder to everyone: Captain Kalawang has bumped his month old thread with the same core challenge! His has quite a few more specific rules, but I highly suggest reading it here and seeing if your entry in this one is valid there. And for anyone coming from that thread to this one, I guarantee you that your entry will be valid in this thread if you wish to apply as well!

Good luck and fly safe!

[keptin]

It may go by the same name, but just making around the planet isn't much of a challenge these days, especially using modded parts. Vanilla parts, 15km altitude limit, and FAR would have at least made things interesting. Cool beans, but I'll happily stick with your circumnavigation challenge, especially since it has submission categories and a goal to strive for: time.