Little Flyer - Solar Ultralight

[Draemar]

Hy everyone, just thought about showing my latest toy. The Little Flyer. A solar/Xenon powered ultralight.

The design is very simple. Hope you like it. If you want I can post the link for the craft file.

Alrighty.

-Part count: 91 (lots of structural pieces)

-Range: Not tested, but I imagine quite a lot.

-Mods used: Bob Cat industries Ejection seat. (I can't find the link, the space port seems to be down for maintenance right now)

- Max speed: So far, about 60 m/s.

Craft file from my dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9zwgqvkafl...%20Flyer.craft

Oh, one more thing, use 1 key to start the ion engines - 2 key to disable wheel engines and NEVER hit space, or youl start the ejection seat and the parachute. Have fun.

While on take off

During flight:

Edited May 22, 2013 by Draemar
To evidence better the update on the model information.

[1612]

That is so cool!

I am gonna make my own version!

[Vemassa]

Yes, post the link please, it's a beautifull ULM

[Scoundrel]

Ha! This looks awesome. You should add a link to a craft file for those not skilled enough to recreate it from your pictures. Because every time someone posts about a cool craft but doesn't include a craft file, HarvesteR kills a kerbal. So save teh kerbals!

[astropapi1]

Any craft specs like:

-Part count.

-Range.

-Mods used.

-Max speed.

and a .craft file plz?

People always forget these things.

[Draemar]

Alrighty.

-Part count: 91 (lots of structural pieces)

-Range: Not tested, but I imagine quite a lot.

-Mods used: Bob Cat industries Ejection seat. (I can't find the link, the space port seems to be down for maintenance right now)

- Max speed: So far, about 60 m/s.

Craft file from my dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9zwgqvkafl2iiuj/Little%20Flyer.craft

Oh, one more thing, use 1 key to start the ion engines - 2 key to disable wheel engines and NEVER hit space, or youl start the ejection seat and the parachute. Have fun.

Edited May 22, 2013 by Draemar

[comradephil]

You've actually solved the problem I've been trying to figure out for a while! I was using take off sleds to make probe planes, but all you need is the wheels!

Here's my tribute to you

I used the procedural wings mod, which is now my very favorite toy.

Begun, the drone wars have.

EDIT: Twin engine design! This is remarkably easy! Includes SAS for easy cruising

Even lands easily, and the rear wheels never hit the ground over 20m/s

Edited May 22, 2013 by comradephil

[AgentPaper]

This looks pretty slick, but two engines and rover wheels seems like overkill, so I designed this:

Mass: 2.24 tons

Parts: 64

I think this is about as small as it's possible to go and still be flyable. Once in the air, it flies like a dream, though you should make sure to use the precision controls. Be warned that it is very slow, but it is very stable, so you can easily pull stunts like barrel rolls and loops without any hassle. In fact, I would say that this is probably the perfect training plane for newer players, since it's basically impossible to crash unless you really try.

I'd recommend trying it out. Here's the .craft file for anyone who wants to try it out.

One tip: You need to be going at 20 m/s to lift off, which can take some time to reach normally, but for whatever reason you seem to accelerate a lot faster if you start pulling up as soon as you turn on the engine. Using that trick, you don't even need a long runway to take off

Edited May 22, 2013 by AgentPaper

[Draemar]

I'd never imagine that creating this thread would start an ultralight sharing thread... (happy) Thank you guys!

[Spartwo]

there is a challenge for this.

2.14 tons

top speed of 60 m/s

[Draemar]

Gotta find a way to know how much my ships weight.

[AgentPaper]

Gotta find a way to know how much my ships weight.

You can actually do this in stock now with .20. Just launch your ship, go to the map view, and click on the little i on the right side of the screen.

[PIRATEONTHERUN]

Very cool! I love it! And it's so much better now that we have the seats!

[AgentPaper]

I tried adding a seat to mine, but for whatever reason the patch seems to have broken it, so now it shakes itself apart whenever a kerbal tries to fly it. Tried to fix it, but I'll probably end up needing to just build it again from scratch, which should hopefully resolve whatever issue there was.

[Tommygun]

Gotta find a way to know how much my ships weight.

Kerbal Engineer Redux and MechJeb will both tell you that in the assembly building.

[Draemar]

Thanks a lot for the info... but there should be a way of knowing this while on the VAB (or SPH), during assembly!

[Colonel_Panic]

My entry, ~1.7 tons, flies amazingly well, rolls amazingly well... only problem is it's completely un-landable. Not that you can't get it safely to the ground, but there's no way to keep it there! with the engine off, it just glides back into the air again, and the rover wheels are no good for stopping, no matter which way you press they just accelerate, and it's too light to use the brakes... if you so much as touch them, it flips over the nose onto its back.

This looks pretty slick, but two engines and rover wheels seems like overkill, so I designed this:

Mass: 2.24 tons

Parts: 64

I think this is about as small as it's possible to go and still be flyable. Once in the air, it flies like a dream, though you should make sure to use the precision controls. Be warned that it is very slow, but it is very stable, so you can easily pull stunts like barrel rolls and loops without any hassle. In fact, I would say that this is probably the perfect training plane for newer players, since it's basically impossible to crash unless you really try.

I'd recommend trying it out. Here's the .craft file for anyone who wants to try it out.

One tip: You need to be going at 20 m/s to lift off, which can take some time to reach normally, but for whatever reason you seem to accelerate a lot faster if you start pulling up as soon as you turn on the engine. Using that trick, you don't even need a long runway to take off

The landing gear is actually heavier than the rover wheels, which turn out to work well since they also give you a boost to takeoff speed and run on electricity. Tinkering around I got mine down to about 1.7 tons with 3 xenon tanks and a thermoelectric generator for after dark roving. I had it down to around 1.4 tons with just one tank.

Edited May 24, 2013 by Colonel_Panic

[Draemar]

my original one has the same problem... plus, if you start pitching up and down you'll get even more speed, this is like a silly ornithopter. Better them guys at squad take a look at this, its "unphysical". Nice design you guys, BTW!

[AgentPaper]

Re-made my solar flier, and it's now working better than ever. Unfortunately it was a bit spoiled when I learned that (after a...minor accident) that you don't actually need engines at all to fly these things due to the odd physics. Ah well.

And I know that rover wheels are lighter, I just prefer landing gear for aesthetic reasons mostly. You only need two, anyways.

[MisterTelecaster]

When I get home from school today I'll see if I can't make one with the new Kerbal seat

[Draemar]

Re-made my solar flier, and it's now working better than ever. Unfortunately it was a bit spoiled when I learned that (after a...minor accident) that you don't actually need engines at all to fly these things due to the odd physics. Ah well.

My point exactly!