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With .23 and R.A.P.I.E.R engines coming sometime later today, I suspect that separate air-breathing/rocket SSTO builds may be becoming a thing of the past. That said, here's my first real successful SSTO Spaceplane, the Dodo Mk 2c

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Get it Here

Not many pictures I admit, but I'm usually more preoccupied with not crashing. The Dodo does take the whole runway to lift off, and can only pitch up once all three wheels have jumped off the end. Once airborne the Dodo is fairly stable despite the COM/COL positions (the center of lift is in front of, and below the center of mass, and this only worsens as fuel is drained). The Dodo also glides wonderfully, decelerating to a stable 30m/s when pitched up 20 degrees with engines dead.

Once R.A.P.I.E.Rs hit us, I plan to put them in place of the turbojets and swap the aerospike for an LV-N.

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So I've been working on this SSTO for quite a while and I've finally settled on this design.

198.3 tons fully fueled but with an empty cargo hold.

Empty landing weight with only 500 fuel on board is about 90 tons

Max cargo seems to be 49.5 tons or so but that has been a space limitation of the cargo hold, NOT a weight issue. stretching the hold longer could get more cargo into orbit but may weaken the overall structure too much...

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Download link: http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/big-bertha-ssto/

Main thread for this craft: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/62078-Big-Bertha-SSTO

With a light load or empty cargo hold, it will lift off at 180-190 M/s. Fully loaded, it has to go off the end of the runway much like the Dodo above. ;)

Edited by dc4bs
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So I've been working on this SSTO for quite a while and I've finally settled on this design.

198.3 tons fully fueled but with an empty cargo hold.

Empty landing weight with only 500 fuel on board is about 90 tons

Max cargo seems to be 49.5 tons or so but that has been a space limitation of the cargo hold, NOT a weight issue. stretching the hold longer could get more cargo into orbit but may weaken the overall structure too much...

;)

I highly suggest Kerbal Joint Reinforcement. It has done wonders for my larger SSTOs. I also suggest Procedural Wing for your wings. It will save you on parts count and odd wing flex issues.

Oh And to help with flex through the cargo bay on long body cargo bays, use the B9 invisible struts, connect one to one segment and the other to the other segment it will help reinforce the whole body making it far more ridged. I also do the samething for my wings so they dont flex up under lift.

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With .23 and R.A.P.I.E.R engines coming sometime later today, I suspect that separate air-breathing/rocket SSTO builds may be becoming a thing of the past.

You suspect well. It's ridiculously easy to SSTO now, if you were able to do it before. This thing is my first 15 minutes with 0.23. 5 of those were spent testing it to orbit in the first try:

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(Yes, that is more than half the fuel on orbit on a 4-1 intake ratio, and I can fill it with 100% rocket mix. Niiice)

That, and tweakable fuel tanks. I have to dust off the calculator and figure out the new awesome mass fractions of the "new" aviation fuel tanks! :D

Rune. I'll be back once I have found out more.

Edited by Rune
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My first ssto with a rato system. This modified sabre definitely has enough delta-v to get into orbit, but I admittedly suck at flying sstos.

Download the prototype ssto: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wtx02llyaxmdccx/YSS-2000.craft

Flight instructions:

1. Keep stable until at 20 m/s, and stage for rocket asisters while veering off the ramp as smoothly as possible.

2. You probably have a better idea than I do after shutting down the rato by pressing 2...

Hotkeys:

1. Activate RATO system

2. Deactivate RATO system

3. Activate the turbine engines

4. Deactivate the turbine engines

5. Activate the aerospike

6. Deactivate the aerospike

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The New RAPIER edition is much more efficient. It even boasts the ability to dock, since the download version has an rcs system and about 200 units of monopropellent.

Download link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/v1g9afu3d5as4vz/YSS-2000%20RAPIER%20Edition.craft

Tested version with no RCS system:

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Tested version with my new RCS system:

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ASM-1 Exto-Atmospheric interception (Anti shipping)

Download link (Takeoff is almost impossible, so wait until it is updated) (It's been fixed and updated): https://www.dropbox.com/s/zqh231pdovvr19c/YSS-2000%20RAPIER%20Edition%20JSM%201.craft

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Updated version:

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Edited by andrew123
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The new engines are so awesome..

I've basically made a previously unstable on re-entry SSTO "craft would tumble uncontrollably".. into a completely stable and usable SSTO craft just by switching out the previous engine setup.

Next!! is to build a new craft from scratch based around these engines.

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I highly suggest Kerbal Joint Reinforcement. It has done wonders for my larger SSTOs. I also suggest Procedural Wing for your wings. It will save you on parts count and odd wing flex issues.

Oh And to help with flex through the cargo bay on long body cargo bays, use the B9 invisible struts, connect one to one segment and the other to the other segment it will help reinforce the whole body making it far more ridged. I also do the samething for my wings so they dont flex up under lift.

Well, the point was to be able to use only B9 and stock parts for the core of the ship.

Then have some optional extra bells and whistles (buran arm, av lights, quatum struts, etc...).

So no procedural wings on this one.

Well, at least for now. ;)

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Well, the point was to be able to use only B9 and stock parts for the core of the ship.

Then have some optional extra bells and whistles (buran arm, av lights, quatum struts, etc...).

So no procedural wings on this one.

Well, at least for now. ;)

You can still use the B9 struts, they are in B9. They have the strength of an I-Beam but are invisible so they work great for wings, and cargobays.

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This will be a little off-topic because it's a X-15-like suborbital plane. Made to fly with RSS and Deadly Re-entry mods.

The carrier plane is Husky transport from FAR mod with a little modified tail.

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The separation.

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Dropping external fuel tanks.

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At the the apogee.

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Pitching up and burning to re-enter at a lower angle.

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Trying some maneuvers and landing.

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It turns out quite hard to fly spaceplanes with RSS and DRE mods. Speeds are much higher and everything tends to overheat and explode in case of wrong re-entry angle. I'm planning to build a spiral-like system some time. Has anyone tried this yet?

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Trying to make a new SSTO based around the new engines.. This flight was a failure due to a screw up with the fuel lines making the craft drain fuel from the left side of the ship and leaving the right side full of fuel... I didn't realize until de-orbit... hahahaha... Resulting in uncontrollable spin and the inevitable explosion.

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I love the new feature of being able to change the fuel amount inside fuel tanks... if you turn on the center of mass marker you can watch how the fuel drain affects the craft's center of mass.. this is VERY VERY VERY helpful for building SSTO aircraft.

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I love the new feature of being able to change the fuel amount inside fuel tanks... if you turn on the center of mass marker you can watch how the fuel drain affects the craft's center of mass.. this is VERY VERY VERY helpful for building SSTO aircraft.

Being able to guesstimate the CoM changes during flight was one of the things that distinguished "pro" builders from the rest. That, and the piloting skills to milk a design before flameout. So if anything, this update brought SSTO's to the masses.

Rune. And, speaking as one of those "pro" builders, that is a good thing. :)

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