[0.20] XRSTS-04E "Sigbin" SSTO Spaceplane

[rodion_herrera]

This is the current version of my SSTO-Spaceplane. Orbit-capable, and stable for re-entry and fly back and land at KSC runway.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

a) Bindings:

1 = jet engines toggle

2 = aerospikes toggle

3 = 2 intakes toggle

4 = 6 remaining intakes toggle (open only above 18-19k meters)

When you re-enter, your jet engine fuel tanks will be EMPTY (I did this for re-entry weight reasons). So right after you don't see the flames of re-entry anymore on your craft, immediately set SAS, then proceed to transfer remaining fuel from central fuel tank to the jet fuel tanks--caution: manual balancing required. I know, hard, but can be fun

c) It has a docking port between the two cockpits, so you can refuel at an orbital refuel station. And yes, there's an extra cockpit seat (rear) for another Kerbal, but this can drastically change your flight performance--you need to experiment on this (haven't tried it yet).

d) Final note--I haven't tried flying this using the WASD keys--I fly KSP aircraft/spaceplanes using a joystick, so if you have one, then you might be able to handle it well, but for keyboard users, sorry, I don't know what kind of behavior to expect.

Take note I don't have mediafire, only YouSendIt, and thus this link will be dead in seven days:

https://www.yousendit.com/download/WFJYS3dpZ2c1bmdsYzhUQw

Enjoy!

EDIT: I just found out that user Cupcake already has a ship named "Black Mamba" So I will rename my ship the "Sigbin"...I won't explain what that word means though You can go try and find out yourself.

Edited June 2, 2013 by rodion_herrera

[John FX]

looks cool. I`ve been checking out SSTO planes lately. Will give this a go.

[rodion_herrera]

Ok to those having problems on ascent, here's some basic tips (I want you to discover how to reach orbit yourself, part of the game, part of the fun!)

1. On runway, press 4 (close 6 intakes) then press 1, then increase throttle to max. Your V1 should be around 110 kts just before rotation.

2. Take off (pitch up, very slowly and gently!) at VERY END of runway, being careful not to pitch too high or you'll damage the Aerospikes.

3. Maintain heading of 90 degrees (Eastwards) then slowly pitch up to about 45 degrees. Try engaging SAS. You will notice that even with SAS on, the craft tends to drift left or right...this is normal...just manually correct it...alternate between pressing SAS then adjusting to keep headed 90 degrees.

4. Due to slow velocity (around 70-120 m/s), it's a long wait til you reach 10,000 meters, just be patient. Once you reach 10k, make sure your speed is over 350 m/s, otherwise, pitch down a little so that the speed will increase. Once it's over 500 m/s, you can resume a shallow climb of 10-15 degrees.

5. Now watch your intake value (resources tab). At around 17-19k, you should be seeing the value dropping down fast from 0.25 to 0.16, this is the time to be careful....so when your speed is above 700 m/s and intake value is 0.16, press 4 to open the remaining intakes, and watch the intake value rise again to more than 1.00...

6. Now watch the speed rise dramatically, passing 1,000 m/s...watch the intake value closely, esp. when you start passing 24k...once you see your v at around 1,250 m/s and intake val of 0.15, then time to engage the AEROSPIKE ROCKETS! Press 2, then Press 1 (to shut down the jet engines), and finally Press 3 and then Press 4. ROCKETMAN...You're now set for orbital insert!

7. Slowly climb and build speed (don't pitch up too much yet), until you reach around 1,450 and altitude of 34,000 m. Once you reach this altitude, pitch up to around 70-80 degrees up. Now go to map mode and monitor your apoapsis...you can go for 90 km or 120 km depending on your remaining fuel.

8. Once your orbital path tangents with the target altitude (apoapsis), do a MECO...then coast to the apoapsis. Start a maneuver node at the apoapsis to circularize your orbit...do THE BURN...and...voila!!! Congrats! You just did a single stage to orbit in a spaceplane!

Re-entry and landing tips will follow soon, upon request.

Edited May 30, 2013 by rodion_herrera

[Daniel Kerpernicus]

Very interesting! I'm going to build my first plane to fly around and pick up Kerbals coming back from space in addition to getting into orbit some day with one.

[wetwetwet]

Just wondering but why dont you switch to meidafire? ohh.. and by the way you have one of the best planes i have seen... i might modify it a bit to go other planets ( without re-uploading).

[Sma]

Figures I want to download this now, after it's expired Trying the reddit challenge "Ribbit, Ribbit". Plan has been to do an SSTO Spaceplane, but it hasn't worked as well as I had hoped. Though I do feel pretty accomplished since I've gotten a pretty good design (IMHO) and I've never really messed with planes before now. Problem I'm having currently is just getting it into orbit.

First thing is my two central turbojets seem to run out of fuel before the outer two. If I put fuel lines from the outer jets to the inner ones then the outer ones run out first. I suspect it has something to do with having the inner jets connected to the tanks for the aerospike. Which brings us to the 2nd problem, the single aero spike isn't enough to keep the whole thing going once the jets are shutdown. Also even if I make it to orbit I'm not sure I have enough fuel to get anywhere, though I was planning on a few ion engines w/ solar/RTG's.

Also I run into partlag (less than 200parts) though it's not a major problem, unless I want to run my turbojets above ~25k. I have been trying throttling down when the intake air is getting low which helps a little but with the partlag the throttle is a little jumpy. Also a little annoying, I'm using the avionics package (seems to work better for my than asas since it keeps me going in the intended direction without turning it off/on, and when I try to keep it from accending/decending too fast it just goes back and forth between 100ms +/-, but maybe that's just how it works.

At any rate, I'm glad to see that I should be able to get to orbit with 8 intakes, I've been trying to cram more than that on there which obviously adds to the lag. I'll just have to keep at it I guess. I do have some large struts and rover wheels on the bottom (for the challenge) so I guess that could be part of it, with the added weight/drag. Could also be down to timing too.

Do you have any other screenshots from different angles of Sigbin?

As annoying as this has been...it's still fun and will be rewarding, if I can ever get it to work.