RCS Power

[metaphor]

This is a challenge for the highest altitude you can get to, using only RCS!

Rules

- no propulsion other than RCS (or decouplers)

- no wings or control surfaces

- no mods except info/pilot mods like Mechjeb

Scoring is by highest altitude achieved.

Submit a screenshot of the vehicle on the pad/runway, and another of it at the highest altitude.

Here's mine to start it off - 10,022 meters.

On the pad

At highest altitude

[Jaedinator]

After about an hour, i couldnt figure out a way to get close to your attempt, even with a design looking pretty much the same as yours i couldnt get over 3km. But while figuring out a way to keep this thing on course (so much rcs overreacts pretty much) i got an Idea.

I present the "RCS-Wheel":

It works ok, but im working on a more stable version that wont tip over by adding one more of those to each side on the on on the picture.

[Core2lord]

No decouplers?

[metaphor]

Haha nice Jaedinator. Monopropellant doesn't transfer with fuel lines, so I had to transfer fuel during the flight from the bottom to the top. I can't figure out how to only use monopropellant from one stage at a time.

No decouplers?

You can use decouplers.

[Jaedinator]

you can click on the resource bar and then on RCS fuel, that way all RCS tank have their UI visible and you can disable/reable the fuel flow and activate the next Tank when you decoupler the first etc.

[metaphor]

Well since not many people attempted it, I gave it another try: 26,657 m. At about 500 parts it's about at the limit of what my computer can handle. I used Jaedinator's advice and disabled fuel flow for all tanks except the bottom one, and re-enabled one tank at a time when staging.

The thing about RCS is that it gets much more efficient above a thousand meters or so, from 100 Isp sea level to 250 Isp vacuum. So maybe someone with a better computer and more patience can get an RCS-powered craft to orbit!

[Deadpangod3]

Dang... Now I wanna attempt to go to the mun on only RCS...