SSTOs! Post your pictures here~

[Fellow314]

VTOL LKO Hopper.

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https://www.dropbox.com/s/bkvx06v9re0pnga/LKO%20Hopper%20NMJ.craft

[KerrMü]

I finally got around to test the new parts today. (I went on a visit to my old hometown just when the patch was released) Thanks to my brother for letting me use his laptop.

Always wanted to build something like this:

Really nothing to share right now. I'm gonna iron out some flaws when i get home. Then do a nice mission, take lots of pretty screenshots and get back here.

But for now my hands stopped shaking.

Edited April 7, 2014 by KerrMü

[AerospaceME]

In an effort to see what could be done with the new ARM parts, which in my opinion are unbalanced, i went and did this:

http://i.imgur.com/ydWay4E.png

Got it into orbit, but thats hardly surprising. you could do the same thing with six stacks of Jumbos and Mainsails. So I took it for a little longer spin

http://i.imgur.com/ToMa1Bs.png

Yes that is Laythe

http://i.imgur.com/gpRUt7p.png

Unfortunately I misjudged my parachute to mass ratio and I hit ocean instead of ground, so it didn't manage landing on Laythe as well as I had hoped. Had I been a little better at piloting then it would have ended better. But that hardly matters as it was an unmanned test and I think I made my point.

The point of this hastily thrown together mission (30 minutes total) was to test the limits of the new ARM engines, and I have yet to see a singel case of a Single-stage-to-Laythe Mission using only one (pre-ARM) engine type.

You say the new ARM parts are over powered. But what is your payload at Lathe? IRL, the Saturn S-1C (first stage of Saturn V) would SSTO in theory if the 2nd stage, 3rd stage, and Apollo CSM/LM weren't stacked on top. But the point of big boosters isn't to put an empty tank into space. Its to put a big payload into space, or in the case of ARM, bring a big one back. Their overpowered until you want to put a Kerbodyne S3-14400 Tank full of LFO into interplanetary space, grab a class E, and powered soft land it back at KSC.

[TeeGee]

One turbofan, one LV-N.

[anonymousgamer]

So I made this spaceplane SSTO.

On the runway it weighs 1009.33 tons.

It's way too big and unbalanced to go anywhere, so I'll keep it up in space to use as a space station. I've got four docking ports to use to expand. It already has 971 parts so that may not be a good idea.

I have no idea how much of a payload it can carry, but I recently added 5 tons to the plane (up from 1004 tons... also 5 tons is nothing in comparison to the rest of the plane) and it only improved flight by a massive amount. I've got no room to test payload capacities, though. I doubt it can hold that much, as it only barely gets to space before running out of fuel.

Either way I feel accomplished. Giant things are awesome.

[DirkLarien]

some of my SSTOs

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[Voculus]

Dirk, those are some seriously sexy spaceplanes. Very sleek, and still functional. I may have to pay homage to (shamelessly steal) some of those design cues!

[How2FoldSoup]

Dirk, could you post more pictures of your sparrow? I've been particularly interested in planes that fit into cargobays lately for that exact reason

[DirkLarien]

Hi there

Thank you for such high praises :-)

If you like you can check out my youtube channel.

There are vids with some of the crafts

+ links to crafts

if you like i can publish all my sstos

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcXXk5nb7wBO0pgvc-NbBnA

In teaser is shown more action of Sparrow

Edited April 9, 2014 by DirkLarien

[Fellow314]

VTOL SSTO.

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[Mesklin]

Skylark - personal shuttle for Kerbin system

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[How2FoldSoup]

I love it! I have a very serious question though, how did you have 0 wobble even though those wings were attached to hinges? Please tell me there is some secret heh

[DirkLarien]

I love it! I have a very serious question though, how did you have 0 wobble even though those wings were attached to hinges? Please tell me there is some secret heh

Well in case of Sparrow, there is really lot of torque for such small plane.

If you look closely wings are wobbling in turns. But reaction wheels are keeping the plane straight.

+ compressed air thrusters are another thing that help.

I would say its overkill and unrealistic. :-)

[TeeGee]

Skylark - personal shuttle for Kerbin system

http://i.imgur.com/rCLuqfrh.png

http://imgur.com/a/WnpfO

AWESMOME! What kind of rocket did you use? LV-N? And where are the intakes?

[How2FoldSoup]

Well in case of Sparrow, there is really lot of torque for such small plane.

If you look closely wings are wobbling in turns. But reaction wheels are keeping the plane straight.

+ compressed air thrusters are another thing that help.

I would say its overkill and unrealistic. :-)

I've made a ship(it's posted in the VTOL thread if you want to take a look) That has its wings attached to hinges but during flight the wobble is WAY more pronounced. It's probably due to the fact that my craft is much heavier though...somewhere around 20-25tons. Whats the mass of the Sparrow? I saw the compressed air thrusters and I'm considering trying them out on various planes because to date I've never used them. I thought overkill and unrealistic(and awesome) is the theme of ksp

[Mesklin]

AWESMOME! What kind of rocket did you use? LV-N? And where are the intakes?

Yep, Skylark has one LV-N and one turbojet, clipped together. About intakes - 2 pairs of circular intakes were placed in the front and back of tanks and 2 pairs of radial intakes were placed inside fuselage. It is enough for reach space with one turbojet

[Deadweasel]

Today, TranStar released images from its latest program, the Orbital Crew Shuttle. OCS-101 "Ranger" was rolled out for its first official flight mission last week, though the launch was closed to the public, some speculate possibly to mitigate any further bad PR in the event of another disastrous mishap, such as the highly-televised launch and ensuing crash of their DV-105 Dromedary test flight three months ago.

Jebediah Kerman -who was replaced as the OCS development lead last month- was selected as the mission commander for the first flight. When questioned about the move, TranStar's representative would only comment that "He's more than qualified in the 'guts' department."

As the Ranger streaked by the company-approved photographers gathered next to the runway, one was overheard to comment about the shuttle's outline. "She looks like a pig. A sexy, streamlined pig."

As the ship approached the end of the runway, a few among the crowd noticed a sharp increase in the noise coming from downrange, and the explanation offered for it was that the Ranger utilized small side-mounted thrusters to help push the nose up for initial takeoff.

"See?" the reporter interjected, "a sexy, streamlined, fat pig!"

Soon afterward, Jebediah announced having successfully reached a stable orbit, to the cheers of the gathered reporters.

A large projector was then switched on for them, offering a live view into the cockpit. Sadly, the only camera available was a handheld unit, operated by co-pilot Jelady Kerman, who spent the entire broadcast segment focusing on the pilot.

"Holy krap! I just peed in this suit for the first time, and it feels great!"

"What? Why didn't you tell me you're taping already?"

The remaining 40 minutes of video feed consisted entirely of Jeb ogling at the view out of the cockpit.

OCS-101 "Ranger" will remain in orbit, performing various maneuvering and systems shakedowns, awaiting the return of the TranStar Jade Angel, slated to return from its exploratory mission at Jool in three weeks. Ranger will then rendezvous with the massive refinery vessel and bring its crew safely back to the KSC and home.

TranStar has promised to revert its recent policy change, and invite the public to follow the return flight live.

[DirkLarien]

I've made a ship(it's posted in the VTOL thread if you want to take a look) That has its wings attached to hinges but during flight the wobble is WAY more pronounced. It's probably due to the fact that my craft is much heavier though...somewhere around 20-25tons. Whats the mass of the Sparrow? I saw the compressed air thrusters and I'm considering trying them out on various planes because to date I've never used them. I thought overkill and unrealistic(and awesome) is the theme of ksp

Nice plane you have there.

I guess you are right. It will be the weight.

Sparrow is approximately 5.7-8tons

Did you try bigger hinges?

Compressed air thrusters are amazing tool for vtols. You dont need to use reaction wheels, if balanced correctly. (which is not case of Sparrow :-)

I thought overkill and unrealistic(and awesome) is the theme of ksp

[Derpy_Llama_]

My first ever SSTO, inspired by the design of Mesklin's Skylark

It probably has enough fuel left over to get to the Mun, as it does use an LV-N atomic motor.

The two side tanks are for the turbojet only, with oxidiser tweaked to 0 in the SPH.

I docked it to a fuel/upgrade station with KAS, and fuelled it and added some solar panels and a battery to it. Woohoo for building in space!

Edited April 12, 2014 by Derpy_Llama_
added thing

[PidouX]

Hi folks, I spent some time building stuff in this awesome game and thought that I could show you my SSTO's creations.

At the moment I have three functional SSTO's. They can not carry cargo to orbit. At least I haven't tested that. They were just build for the transportation of kerbals.

The first one is a little and very efficient ssto with 3 turbo jet engines and 2 atomic rockets.

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The second one is a bit bigger and with 4 jet engines and 4 aerospikes it has a lot of thrust.

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The last one is not 100% finished but already working very nicely. With the 2 atomic rocket it is much more efficient than the second one.

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Edited April 12, 2014 by PidouX

[PidouX]

I present you my "little" cargo SSTO. Up to 5t and 4 additional kerbals to kerbin orbit. Excellent for resupply space stations.

It is using the new R.A.P.I.E.R. engines.

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[Sufficient Anonymity]

A self refueling KSPI SSTO...

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...or at least it will be, once I work out how to keep it flying straight - it rolls around the direction of flight/yaws relative to the cockpit at the front.

[PidouX]

Very interesting design SufficientAnonymity... jebediah will fly it, no question!

I'm also working on a new design. It's called the Rhino. I tested it with 21t payload. I think it can lift more, The problem is only the center of mass. Without payload it's flying very nicely and it's also easy to control.

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By the way, if anyone is interested in any craft files of my planes, let me know.

[Fellow314]

Eight passengers, three crew, lots of delta V.

In emergencies the crew can even get out

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https://www.dropbox.com/s/fl63futgnf2d3mv/Bumble%20NMJ.craft

[speedboiae86]

Skylark - personal shuttle for Kerbin system

http://i.imgur.com/rCLuqfrh.png

http://imgur.com/a/WnpfO

So I have an annoying question because I have tried reproducing this and no matter what I do, I cannot get any fuel to the atomic engine... How did you do it? Can you put this up for download so I can dissect it and have a look?