SSTOs! Post your pictures here~

[Stochasty]

The Vethrfolnir: to Eeloo and back:

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Edited August 15, 2013 by Stochasty

[Exothermos]

My current toy. It'll be ready for release soon.

[mellojoe]

I finally made a working SSTO plane! It works! barely. I mean I have to literally finish off my circularization burn with RCS, but it works. Can make it into an 80x80 orbit. And then I have a re-fuel tanker in orbit to rendezvous.

Used part clipping to get 4 intakes per engine.

[KissSh0t]

My current toy. It'll be ready for release soon.

This is Sexy.

[PetWolverine]

My first spaceplane to orbit and land safely on the same flight. I have another called Little Wing that got up to Mk. 6, which had an orbit and crash, as well as a fly-in-a-circle and land safely, but Mk. 1 of the Freebird is my first real success with this - and it even has a cargo bay.

Main mods present are B9 Aerospace, Proceduring Wings, FAR and MechJeb.

Freebird Mk. 1

[Captain Sierra]

My current toy. It'll be ready for release soon.

I want one.

[p1t1o]

IMG...

My current toy. It'll be ready for release soon.

Nice Valkyrie replica

[Guest]

I have been struggling to get an SSTO in orbit forever. I did it yesterday finally. "Polaris Express" http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/polaris-express-ssto-0-21-1/

[Hodo]

My first successful SSTO.

The SH-301 Cub.

Max payload, as tested so far, about 20 tons. But that severely limits its max orbit height. With its max load it gets up to 72km orbit. With a light load, less than 10tons it can reach 100km orbit.

[Exothermos]

I have been struggling to get an SSTO in orbit forever. I did it yesterday finally. "Polaris Express" ]

Wow, that huge thing was your first SSTO to orbit? When you set goals, you don't achieve them, you annihilate them!

I've been plugging along with SSTOs with singular obsession, as usual. All my other missions to Duna, the Mun, and Laythe are completely ignored. It has been fruitful though.

My tribute to the Valkyrie in SSTO form is complete, and ready for Download (click my signature).

I have some more stuff in the pipeline as well. Some need a lot of work, others just need me to stop procrastinating and finish the last 5% before I can share.

This is a larger version of my previous Space Bus SSTO, the Ardent.

It carries 10 little green men. I'm still messing with tail configurations.

This one is big because it is meant to carry stuff to Duna.

What sort of stuff? Rover stuff! And whatever else will fit in that bay.

It pulls a trick to unload.

It was built as a sort of proof of concept vehicle, and as such I need to rebuild it from scratch with more care, as things are a little wobbly and wonky and off-center. It gets to space (with heroic efforts from the ASAS and some swearing) and has plenty of DV to get to Duna with some serious aerobreaking at the end. It isn't really meant as ship that can take off from Kerban, go to Duna, and come back unsupported ala pa1983's amazing stuff. It needs refueling after achieving each SSTO maneuver if it is to have enough DV to get around. Fortunately I have the Logistics in place for that contingency, and the added complexity of the mission saves complexity and part count in the vehicle.

The third is another pretty, but useless SSTO built to the "wave riding" concept of most hypersonic vehicles. The idea is that shockwaves compress under the vehicle and provide lift. Most modern Military fighters actually use this concept to some degree too. So this was just a fun building exercise.

The final thing is actually NOT an SSTO. YET! I am so close and this thing is driving me up the wall so I am taking a break. It is a vehicle in the vein of a Star Trek Shuttlecraft. It is supposed to be a small 3 person Vertical takeoff SSTO with Cargo bay (in this case it just has chairs for now) capable of docking to a Mothership or space station. I've had one problem after the next with this thing and everytime I fix a minor issue I make 2 more major ones. So, I'll put it into the corner and I throw disappointed and accusatory looks at it until I can figure it out. Here is a teaser Image.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Exothermos

[Guest]

Thank you for the kind words Exothermos , your SSTO's are badass. I am gonna give SSTO a rest and when I come back to it I will be trying for cargo too.

[Sparker]

Hi!

That's my SSTO spacecraft. It has only rocket engines and it is capable of delivering about 3 tons into LKO without making debris(except for fairings if they are needed for payload). Takes off vertically. After doing its mission it can deorbit itself and land safely at the runway. One possible usage for it is delivering kerbals to space stations.

[KissSh0t]

wow, that huge thing was your first ssto to orbit? When you set goals, you don't achieve them, you annihilate them!

I've been plugging along with sstos with singular obsession, as usual. All my other missions to duna, the mun, and laythe are completely ignored. It has been fruitful though.

My tribute to the valkyrie in ssto form is complete, and ready for download (click my signature).

i have some more stuff in the pipeline as well. Some need a lot of work, others just need me to stop procrastinating and finish the last 5% before i can share.

This is a larger version of my previous space bus ssto, the ardent.

it carries 10 little green men. I'm still messing with tail configurations.

this one is big because it is meant to carry stuff to duna.

what sort of stuff? Rover stuff! And whatever else will fit in that bay.

it pulls a trick to unload.

it was built as a sort of proof of concept vehicle, and as such i need to rebuild it from scratch with more care, as things are a little wobbly and wonky and off-center. It gets to space (with heroic efforts from the asas and some swearing) and has plenty of dv to get to duna with some serious aerobreaking at the end. It isn't really meant as ship that can take off from kerban, go to duna, and come back unsupported ala pa1983's amazing stuff. It needs refueling after achieving each ssto maneuver if it is to have enough dv to get around. Fortunately i have the logistics in place for that contingency, and the added complexity of the mission saves complexity and part count in the vehicle.

The third is another pretty, but useless ssto built to the "wave riding" concept of most hypersonic vehicles. The idea is that shockwaves compress under the vehicle and provide lift. Most modern military fighters actually use this concept to some degree too. So this was just a fun building exercise.

the final thing is actually not an ssto. Yet! I am so close and this thing is driving me up the wall so i am taking a break. It is a vehicle in the vein of a star trek shuttlecraft. It is supposed to be a small 3 person vertical takeoff ssto with cargo bay (in this case it just has chairs for now) capable of docking to a mothership or space station. I've had one problem after the next with this thing and everytime i fix a minor issue i make 2 more major ones. So, i'll put it into the corner and i throw disappointed and accusatory looks at it until i can figure it out. Here is a teaser image.

everything in this post is freaking clever because i say so.

Edited August 19, 2013 by KissSh0t

[Guest]

@Sparker I tried and tried to do what you did. My plane "Delta: Mark II" on Spaceport - is a good jet - which I tried many times to convert into an SSTO. Your design gives me hope.

Ok guys I got another one up - modded again - but that's the best I can do for now. Polaris Express: Cargoliner. Apologies for the terrible capture framerate.

http://youtu.be/fYCKSwgIUBk

Setting up Spaceport download right now ...

[RocketTurtle]

I. Just. Can't. Do. It. SSTO's hate me. Any tips? Please?

[KissSh0t]

I. Just. Can't. Do. It. SSTO's hate me. Any tips? Please?

Use lots of air intakes *_____*

[RocketTurtle]

Use lots of air intakes *_____*

I can do that, but then the SSTO is too heavy for an aerospike or LVT-130. And there is no room to add another one. And then if I make the SSTO bigger it's either too heavy or doesn't have enough DV. That's kinda my main problem. Either too heavy or not enough DV. :\

[Tripzter]

Build a proven small design and go from there.

[Captain Sierra]

SSTO's are hard, very hard. have you actually made one that takes off or are you grounded? They warrant two entirely different sets of suggestions.

[Tripzter]

You dont need a goofy design with obscene amounts of intakes.. i built mine with just 2 intakes powering a single jet and it does perfectly fine.

[KissSh0t]

Firstly you want to get as fast as you possible can on Jet Engines. if you can build a craft that can go 2000m/s on Jet engines you are doing something very right.. You want to be able to go at least 1500m/s before switching to rocket engines at the very least.

Then all you need to do is bump yourself out of atmosphere with rocket engines... It seems so simple to me now, but I have been doing it for a long time. But that's basically the jist of it, going as fast as you can on Jets before pushing yourself out of atmosphere and into orbit with rocket engines.

[RocketTurtle]

How would you rec getting fast?

[KissSh0t]

Find your maximum flight altitude then level out so you are not going up and not coming down, just try to stay level and go for speed.

The higher you go, the more powerful those Jet Engines become, if you can provide enough air intake to them, you are going to go very very fast. but the higher you go, the thinner the air becomes, hence needing a few more than just 2 Air Intakes.

[Guest]

I agree with KissSh0t , and also, pretty much everything comes into play in an SSTO. I also have spent a long time on it pretty much since 0.18 came out. I literally only succeeded three days ago with "Polaris Express". Some things I found that are important:

Air for the engines. Add intakes till you can get to at least 25000 before stalling the air breathing engines.

Be aware you will probably reduce throttle on your air breathing engines as you near the edge of the atmosphere. Keep reducing to keep the IntakeAir in the green, but don't continue reducing if you 1) begin to descend, or 2) begin to decelerate. That would be the time to switch to rocket.

Your flight control surfaces will likely become less effective in the 15000 range, so kick on the RCS at that time. Have enough RCS thrusters so that SAS can maintain positive control of the craft.

The spaceplane needs to be balanced and STAY balanced - I have been putting COL and COM on top of each other, or COM slightly ahead for stability reasons. If not balanced - the various lifting surfaces will bve fighting one another. Never use fuel to balance a CRAFT. Have fuel on COM or perhaps two tanks equidistant from COM. A fuel balancer can be helpful for the latter.

If you can't climb out of the atmosphere - you need more lift. We're not rocketing out, but lifting out (more than not). Lift is a function of how much wing area you have, and how fast you are travelling (thrust).

In the end, you need a lot of wing, a lot of thrust to give that wing lift, and a lot of air intakes so the air breathing engines can be used as long as possible.

NEVER (almost anyway) switch over to rocket power till air breathing engines are unusable.

Check out my video of the Polaris SSTO and make sure the annotations icon is on, I put a lot of comments on there.http://youtu.be/9iPdz_EuQqQ

Edited August 21, 2013 by Guest

[KissSh0t]

Here is one of my SSTO's showing the center of weight, lift, and thrust to give you an idea of something that works very good.

As fuel drains from tanks, weight shifts, so you will want to create a craft that... as the fuel drains, the weight does not shift back or forth or from side to side.

Also, I have stripped my ship of it's wings so you can see what is underneath, as you can see I have made an array of air intakes so the higher it goes, it will be able to have air right up to and slightly over an altitude of 30000. Also placing the fuel as close to the center of weight as possible, so it's center of weight with full tanks is nearly the same as the center of weight when it has no fuel.

Another thing to note is the placement of the rear landing wheels, you will want to place them just slightly aft of the center of weight, this helps you take off easier than if you had put the rear landing wheels right at the very back of the craft.

Building an SSTO is probably one of the harder things to do in this game, but once you have an understanding of what you need to do it becomes rather easy.

Please feel free to share any SSTO you build in the future in this thread.