SSTOs! Post your pictures here~

[Deadweasel]

Thanks! I've been struggling with my own SSTOs, trying to make a small, economic and low part count spaceplane that could take 3 kerbals to my space station in Kerbin orbit. So far I got this:

It flies well, but I had to tweak a bit the ISP of the rockets so they'd be able to get it into orbit, and I feel like a cheater.

Tweaking engine properties is like playing god with the physics, which then begs the question:

[Bothersome]

In case you wanted a screenie of the Diamond 23 R3 docking and docked... I went ahead and made some for ya.

Only thing I've noticed is that you forgot (I guess you forgot) to add some RCS thrusters to the aft of the plane. You got them on the nose, but not on the aft end. This makes it real hard to strafe sideways.

I still don't know why the target is not correctly shown on the nav ball when I have selected the target's docking port as target and selected the planes docking port as control from here. But the program thinks that the center is the crew cab. Must simply be a bug in the program. You can see that there is no target shown on the nav ball in the first picture above.

Plane flies very well, I haven't landed it yet.

BTW, is it necessary to have so many intakes? The plane weight is just over 56 tons on take off and about 36 tons while docking. Seems a bit heavy but I don't know what a plane's weight ought to be. I'm just asking. I have not flown any other people's planes yet. Just this one and the few that I made myself but didn't fly well.

[KissSh0t]

Hehe you actually used that one too xD

I didn't realize I had forgotten the rear RCS thrusters *__*

Actually.. I have since moved on to version R4 now, I wasn't going to post it for others to use, just keep it for myself.. but seeing as I screwed up with R3 I will stick R4 here for you.

R4 uses a nose docking port, I was getting annoyed at having to move the top docking port all the time to match the center of weight, Maybe now it will line up xD

Unlike R3, R4 uses two LT-V30's instead of the Aerospikes.. I didn't realize how heavy the Aerospikes were until I compared them *__*

The reason it has so many air intakes is that I want it to get to 30,000 on just jet engines then get to around 1,800 m/s before switching to rocket engines, which this aircraft can do, The faster you can push it on jets, the less work the rockets have to do of pushing you out of the atmosphere, My previous SSTO can actually go 2,200m/s on Jet Engines, but is unstable on re-entry due to fuel shift causing it to tumble uncontrollably xD

Also, Toggle 1 closes all intakes along with shutting off the jets : I

Because I wasn't planing on posting the R4 I don't have any flying shots, but here is what it looks like in the space plane hanger.

Craft File >> http://www./?6eff11cw0u8k8ji

Edited July 11, 2013 by KissSh0t
Forgot to add craft file lol..

[Parkaboy]

Tweaking engine properties is like playing god with the physics

Well, I guess you saved me from playing god, because I loved your design. I've dissected it and made a new ship from scratch copying the wing and tank configuration. It has larger rocket tanks, and switched engines: two jet engines on the sides (a different, more efficient stock model), and a KWRocketry rocket engine, with higher thrust and ISP than the one you used. It can reach orbit with enough delta V to let me rendezvous and dock with my station, then come back and land. I shall name it "Doninha I" in your honor (it means weasel in portuguese).

[Deadweasel]

Well, I guess you saved me from playing god, because I loved your design. I've dissected it and made a new ship from scratch copying the wing and tank configuration. It has larger rocket tanks, and switched engines: two jet engines on the sides (a different, more efficient stock model), and a KWRocketry rocket engine, with higher thrust and ISP than the one you used. It can reach orbit with enough delta V to let me rendezvous and dock with my station, then come back and land. I shall name it "Doninha I" in your honor (it means weasel in portuguese).

Awww I'm honored!

Which one did you start from?

[Parkaboy]

Awww I'm honored!

Which one did you start from?

The FatSparrow. I wanted a ship that could take passengers to and from my space station, and the one I had - The Uirapuru I - was still too heavy and had less lift. The Doninha I has 20 tons against its predecessor's 28 tons, Is much smaller (although a bit bigger than the FatSparrow), it doesn't need the whole strip to take off and can reenter and land with the engines off.

[GreeningGalaxy]

I'm still working on this design, but it does indeed fly. It doesn't handle physwarp too well (although it can manage) and it does use a bit of intake spamming, but, hey, just last week I didn't even have one working SSTO, and this one can get clear out to Eve, possibly farther, so I'm still proud of it.

.craft file download (mediafire)

Action Groups:

1- Toggle jet engines

2- Toggle aerospikes (use sparingly; use nuclear as much as possible once high enough)

3- Toggle nuclear engine

ABORT- this may be completely unnecessary, but I decided to include an emergency recovery system to eject the capsule in the event of a catastrophe while leaving the atmosphere. Once clear of the ship, mashing spacebar will deploy the parachutes. This is recommended for use only at or near Kerbin, but the RCS fuel tank and a few thrusters do come away with the capsule just so you're not totally helpless if you blow up far from home.

Yes, I did use ASAS instead of the Avionics Package. I'm probably doing something wrong, but I've had much better luck with the former than the latter. Maybe someone can help me with that? It doesn't really cause problems unless physwarp is on, and even then the Avionics Package might not fare much better. I need to do more tests.

May contain trace amounts of inspiration and design points from the ZoPL Kiwi by zekes (although I promise it was built as an original craft in the SPH; I can't even load the Kiwi in my game for some reason).

As I said before, this is under development, so it'll hopefully show marked improvement in the future.

[Trollsama]

Figured this thread needed some more Themed SSTO planes ...That and after long last, I finally made my first SSTO that succeeded in its mission (woot! \o/) so I wanted to share. Alas, my SSTO designed around the Arwings from Starfox 64.

100% stock parts, 1 stage, 49 parts.

only needs about 1/8th of the runway for a takeoff, so i guess you could call it an STOL as well.

Handles rather well, has a slight tilt downwards but can be fixed easy enough by trimming up a few points.

On 100% empty tanks, a bit more moody about flight but can still be handled by a pilot with basic skill. and it floats down like a feather.

using my method to orbit it has enough remaining fuel for orbital tweaks and such, but wont be taking you anywhere new without a refuel. I am sure someone with better knowledge could get it there with much more fuel tho

Note that the 2nd picture wasn't a full stable orbit (it did about a rotation and a half), I sent it up again after my test runs for pictures, and once i got to that point, said "close nough" shut it off and snapped

Edited July 12, 2013 by Trollsama

[littlebattler]

Hey guys I have a new one. Just finished testing.

Click Here For Download

Antheraea

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Meet the Antheraea, a Single Stage To Orbit boasting a capacity of 4 kerbals. That's 1 full hitchhiker module! Its main purpose is to ferry kerbals, either from kerbin to LKO, or from LKO to wherever you want with refueling. With its twin nuclear engines, it's also very fuel efficient. In case you need to take off from other bodies, we have also provided you with an aerospike. Be warned though, we have not tested its SSTO capabilities on bodies where jets do not work.

Of course, aside from its impressive status as a 4-seater, it also carries with it not one, not three, but TWO clamp-o-tron srs. This is not something that you often see on SSTOs due to its status as a 2m part, so in case your space station has a few of these big boys, this is your chance!

P.S.: I like to call the wing tank-engine configuration the "Nuclear Vortex Turbine". Tee hee~

[zombiphylax]

The FatSparrow. I wanted a ship that could take passengers to and from my space station, and the one I had - The Uirapuru I - was still too heavy and had less lift. The Doninha I has 20 tons against its predecessor's 28 tons, Is much smaller (although a bit bigger than the FatSparrow), it doesn't need the whole strip to take off and can reenter and land with the engines off.

You got us mixed up

I'm honored as well though!

[Parkaboy]

You got us mixed up

I'm honored as well though!

Oh, well... That's what videogames will do to your brain! Anyway, everything I said is still valid. Thanks a lot for the inspiration!

[zombiphylax]

No problem, the original Sparrow was inspired by Mythmatic's Viper SSTO that was posted on Reddit, so it's neat to see this design mutate as it gets passed from person to person.

[llamatoes]

My one is here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/39998-The-Alpaca-Freindly-simple-transport

[Lazer Cut]

So I'm not sure about 'double-posting', but anyway here's mine:

Made with stock parts, only exception being Mechjeb and Engineer Redux. No major clipping or air intake spamming. This is actually a SSTD(Single Stage To Duna) spaceplane, but does of course have capability to land on Kerbin as well if so is wished. I'm currently working on flight optimizations to allow a return trip.

Lightning Bolt MK3

Landed on Duna

Craft file and user manual (requires Mechjeb and Kerbal Engineer redux). The RAR archive includes the .craft file and an user manual for ascent.

[Radio Active]

This video showcases the functions of my first SSTO. Enjoy.

[Char0093]

Hey Hey! I've learned alot from Seeing these Planes.And After alot of work.I FINALLY Made my First SSTO! Introducing the FF-X7-Bst Core Booster!

Just off the Ground,Climbing Rapidly!

75 Kilometers! Circular Orbit! Mission Accomplished!

Inverted over Kerbin

Closeup of the Front End

Coming in Hot!

My Only Problem with it so far is I kinda forgot to put fuel into the Wing Tanks meaning My Jets didn't Reactivate.Do I even need those Fuel Lines?Comments are Appreciated!

Final Notes is I'd Like to know what you think and Optimal Ascend would be with this Set-up (2x Turbojets,1x Aerospike)

Current Ascent is Climb at Maximum Throttle at 30 Degrees until 10 km. At 10 km,Ascend at 45 Degrees.Monitor intakes Via Mechjeb and Throttle back as necessary. Activate Aerospike at around 23 km or 2/3 Throttle,whichever comes first. Change to 55 Degrees and Pin Throttle,Shutting off Jets in the Process. After That it's a Pretty Standard Climb to 75 km leaving me around 330-413 m/s Delta-V after Circulation Burn.

Happy Flying Everyone!

[goldenson]

(without using mods)

[Char0093]

I realized on my last post I forgot to Say my Landing was less than Spectacular...By that I mean I lost Control of the Craft and Used my Ejection System!However,after a bit of Tweaking (Mostly moving the COL Back just a tad so it's near even on return) I Successfully landed my first Space Plane!

Using the RCS and manual Control while she bled off Airspeed before letting the ASAS take over.At about 700 m/s the ASAS can control it without my input and She Glides down rather Gracefully As shown in this picture.

Err...Well,They say any landing you can Walk away from is a good one...

[Deadweasel]

What's with the random capitalized words??

[KissSh0t]

Duna *___*

I have gone back to a previous failed SSTO design and finally figured out how to balance the fuel so it doesn't become crazy unbalanced as the fuel is used.

Now that I have this in Duna Orbit, it doesn't have enough fuel to get back home xD

Perhaps I should make a refuel tanker probe and send it out there to refuel and come back to Kerbin?

[Char0093]

I've run into a bit of problem in my next design,and I'm hoping you guys can help me out.I look at alot of these and wonder how you get these things off the runway without the back hitting? I have a little 60 Ton concept tester that continually scrapes the ground on take-off. I've given it more ground clearance,Used Radial Rockets,Moved the landing gear around,nothing works.so how you do set up your larger craft?

[Tex_NL]

I've run into a bit of problem in my next design,and I'm hoping you guys can help me out.I look at alot of these and wonder how you get these things off the runway without the back hitting? I have a little 60 Ton concept tester that continually scrapes the ground on take-off. I've given it more ground clearance,Used Radial Rockets,Moved the landing gear around,nothing works.so how you do set up your larger craft?

To my knowledge there are 4 ways to avoid tailstrike:

1: Move your rear landing gear further behind the CoG. But this does mean it will become harder to lift the nose.

2: Increase ground clearance. Apart from some added weight, drag and esthetics it doesn't have any real downsides.

3: Be more gentle on the stick. Pull up less and later.

4: Change your design into a taildragger. But not all designs are suitable to be taildraggers.

You say you've already tried #1 and #2 so I'd suggest #3.

If you can do a wheelie all the way to the end of the runway and still can't get airborne your craft is not designed to fly at all. In that case you'd probably need more lift.

[Elmetian]

三足烠(Sanzuwu)

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Based on a hypersonic test vehicle I built for the old maching bird thread, I figured it could be easily converted into a thoroughbred SSTO. Well, I can now tell you that it wasn't easy. I'm not sure if it was because of the low wing profile or having the CoM and CoL too far back, but it took a long time to make this thing stable. The good news is that it's now very flyable.

With a TWR that would make a grown man giddy, the Sanzuwu gets to altitude faster than Jeb can say "Sloof ouy tiurfeparg erom tae!", and laughs in the face of atmospheric drag. Once in orbit, it switches to its ion engine to make hyper-efficient manoeuvres. It has decent cross range capability as well; a good ascent to an 80km circular orbit will leave you with about 200 litres of liquid fuel and 120 of oxidiser, meaning at least 100 units of fuel left for atmospheric flight after reentry.

Edited July 16, 2013 by Narcosis

[Swifty]

The Raptor, 60tn payload to orbit SSTO.

[KissSh0t]

First Time Docking My SSTO... Actually Took 2 Hours... Not Even Joking... (゜-゜)