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SSTOs! Post your pictures here~

KissSh0t
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KissSh0t

KissSh0t

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Leaving Kerbin Orbit~

Please excuse the music.. forgot I had music playing in the background while recording.. xD

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Flying over Duna~

I entered in quite low over the snow... but managed to stay up... perhaps if I added some drogue shoots I could land on Duna? ... mmm... Duna is so hard to land on.

tumblr_n2xveuDt1o1r2k180o1_1280.png

Edited by KissSh0t
Adding Second Video
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Unknownman

Unknownman

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All of my replica aircraft have SSTO capability!

They all have some sort of high ISP rocket engine mounted which also doubles as an afterburner effect if desired:)

I'll browse for more captures of these craft, but they generally reach an apoapsis of 150km with jets and then do a circularization burn with rocket engines.

Also, here is my take on the Space Shuttle-style design of SSTO

I know the amount of inaccuracy is abysmal, but I just wanted something shuttle-like to be able to reach orbit, deliver crew, and come back!

(The design has been modified and upgraded several times long ago, but here are some original screenshots I dug up on my savefile!)

It uses 3 turbojets for suborbital injection and then circularizes with a pair of radial rocket engines slanted upwards and outwards sorta like the shuttle OMS pods.

These provide consistent thrust through the center of mass with a little help from SAS.

It can also de-orbit itself while still facing direct, using the RCS nodes mounted on the front.

Since these pics were taken I have renewed the design parameters to be more accurate to the space shuttle (wing profile and such)

and also developed a NERVA variant which carries less fuel(will look for pics!).

I have also tried my luck with a more accurate booster & external fuel tank launch system which was shut down because of a weird bug where the craft would just self disassemble whenever it orbited above the launch site; but thats a whole other story...

Enough said, here are the pics! I remember thinking 'I need to take this!!' as an munar eclipse happened just while I was approaching my mini blockade runner for docking.:sticktongue:

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Rune

Rune

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Good jow, unknownman! Have a cookie :)

Flying over Duna~

I entered in quite low over the snow... but managed to stay up... perhaps if I added some drogue shoots I could land on Duna? ... mmm... Duna is so hard to land on.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/fe217eca842f8e4cea89371f6582b0b2/tumblr_n2xveuDt1o1r2k180o1_1280.png

Wing loading. Chutes might work too, but with a really, really low wing loading you can glide in a much thinner atmosphere. And chutes have the drawback that they will also slow you horizontally, so your lift surfaces will stop working real fast (i.e, you need a lot of chutes or thrust to keep flying forwards).

That means, basically, MOAR wings (or a lot less weight). And a modest VTOL rocket system to kill a bit of vertical velocity just before touchdown can also work nicely.

Rune. Besides, wings are very light.

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Fellow314

Fellow314

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So, just building a random SSTO as I do to pass the time and, once it was up, I thought 'Hey, that's not bad, I wonder if it could make it to Duna orbit.' And it did! :)

Once in Duna orbit, I thought, 'I wonder if it can land on Duna.' And it did! :)

Once on the surface I thought 'I wonder if it could make orbit again'. And it did! :)

Once in orbit I thought, 'Hey, I wonder if it can make it home.' It didn't. :(

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If anyone wants the craft file, let me know and I'll tidy it up and post it. :)

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KissSh0t

KissSh0t

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So, just building a random SSTO as I do to pass the time and, once it was up, I thought 'Hey, that's not bad, I wonder if it could make it to Duna orbit.' And it did! :)

Once in Duna orbit, I thought, 'I wonder if it can land on Duna.' And it did! :)

Once on the surface I thought 'I wonder if it could make orbit again'. And it did! :)

Once in orbit I thought, 'Hey, I wonder if it can make it home.' It didn't. :(

http://imgur.com/a/Yqpnv

If anyone wants the craft file, let me know and I'll tidy it up and post it. :)

Make a Kraken Drive!!! Then you will be able to get back!~!

How heavy is you're craft on the runway?

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huggy

huggy

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I decided to try something different, a VTOl SSTO

This was the original design using robotics mod. It was too unstable due to all the wing surfaces making the craft want to pitch down.

screenshot99.png

This is the current version with robotics and wings removed.

screenshot103.png

screenshot105.png

screenshot106.png

screenshot107.png

screenshot108.png

screenshot109.png

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TeeGee

TeeGee

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It's been a while since I've posted anything:

lc0Ol4A.png

IsSEifj.png

2rbIznL.png

Note* These craft have changed slightly since these pics. All are stock, no part clipping, all are balanced full and dry mass to fly well (will not flip when empty).

I have a whole slew of other SSTO's that I've built since my Delta V craft. I can post them if you guys want to see them as well.

Edited by TeeGee
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Hodo

Hodo

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I decided to try something different, a VTOl SSTO

This was the original design using robotics mod. It was too unstable due to all the wing surfaces making the craft want to pitch down.

http://i1083.photobucket.com/albums/j398/Huggie1974/screenshot99.png

Something cool about that design. I may copy it with some B9 parts and see if I can use it in the RSS. I doubt it will reach space but it may have other uses.

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mellojoe

mellojoe

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My 6-seater SSTO. :) Ends up in a 75x75 orbit with over 1200 delta-v ready to go, before refuelling. Very stable in all flight modes. The only part clipping is the ram-air intakes on the front. I put a handful on each for true air-hogging. My SSTO flight path is not optimal, so I have to make up for my lack of skill with air-hogging. I am not ashamed. :)

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In picture 4 (out of 5) you can see the difference in power between the two turbo-jets. (view full resolution to be able to see it better) This is the clue that one is about to flame-out. In my case, the right engine is losing power and is on course to flame out. Reduce throttle at this point. Keeping these two screens up (alt-right-click, just like fuel transfer) lets me keep a close eye on the flame-out potential. And since it was my right engine that flamed out, it will ALWAYS be that right engine that flames-out first. Just a tip for all you SSTO folks.

Edited by mellojoe
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SotetBarom

SotetBarom

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Very nice...like the general design and wing arrangement. How does it handle?

Both of them handle quite well i believe.. The bigger one needs a careful takeoff but once it's airborne, it's pretty manouverable. On the other hand landing it without crashing the two nuclear engines to the ground is somewhat of a challange :cool: What I want to try out is two see if it's possible to re-enter the atmosphere and land with the two ships docked together..

For the above posted pictures theres quite a funny story.

I tested the new designs to see if they can orbit, and have docked both of them at my refueling station. After fooling around a bit, I decided to land the bigger one (lot more deltaV cause of the nuclears) on Minmus. I undocked, headed to the little moon, landed, planted a flag, everything seemed to be perfect. On the trip back, relying too much on mechjebs deltaV stats, I ran out of oxidizer (I forgot, that those pesky little turbojets with jetfuel have accounted for 80% of the deltaV). I switched to the smaller plane, rendezvoused, pumped all available fuel out of it, Jeb climbed over.. The two kerbalnauts than saw that the seemingly enough fuel in the small craft converted into a tiny bit of push in the larger one :D They were at the time about 800km high Kerbin orbit.. Then came the ingenius idea, to use the RCS fuel to lower the periapsis which they did to about 250kms. Then they played around with the remaining fuel to balance out the two engines so they wont spin when at maximum thrust and then engaged all engine power they had left. This brought the periapsis further down to about 60kms. From here was just a matter of time. They did a couple of full orbits aerobraking each time until finally the it payed off. They reentered the atmosphere, and successfully landed on Kerbins highlands. I must add that it was quite a lucky thing because they didnt have an idea where they are and it was nighttime :cool: Thanks to the amazing piloting skillz of the crew they managed to land (only lost the two nuclear engines and one landing gear).

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