Ultimate Challenge: Build a Glider or Plane that can fly around Kerbin

[Bothersome]

OK boys and girls, I got a new challenge for ya that will pull your hair.

Rules:

1. MUST be stock parts only. You can have mods intalled but must not affect the craft stucture or capabilities.

2. Must NOT use any outside force to get it into the air.

3. Must be able to glide or fly all the way around Kerbin if needed. You do not have to prove you did it. Just show me that you can build and fly a plane that would be able to do it.

4. Must not go into space. No rockets allowed other than getting craft into the air.

5. No cheating with any editors or anything that is not in spirit of the competition.

Bunus:

1. Build it so you drive it like a car.

2. Able to climb 20 degree slopes.

3. Vehicle is complete from takeoff to landing (no parts discarded).

Now, once again, I would not ask of you anything I could not do myself so..

Here's mine.

Enjoy the challenge.

Edited June 14, 2013 by Bothersome

[AgentPaper]

Well, if it's range you want, how about infinite range?

This is what I call the Mach 5 Glider. Because it glides (there are no engines on there, and never were), and has a top speed of ~1730 m/s.

Unfortunately if you try and go that fast, you'll almost certainly be kicked well out into space (after that my apoapsis was 191km), but with some discipline and patience you can easily circumvent Kerbin as much as you want.

It's powered by a PB-NUK, so it can keep going forever even in total darkness. To thrust, all you need to do is quickly move the flaps up and down. The quicker you do so, the faster you go.

[Nalin_Airheart]

Infiniglide ftw, also you would need a ton of delta-v to glide around Kerbin without any thrust after launch. Proof or it didn't happen OP.

[soranno]

Dare I suggest that Kerbin circumnavigation challenges are anything but a `new` challenge, although it may remain true that they result in the pulling out of hair.

and without outlawing infinglide bug exploitation, anyone can glide.. well infinitely

[AgentPaper]

Dare I suggest that Kerbin circumnavigation challenges are anything but a `new` challenge, although it may remain true that they result in the pulling out of hair.

and without outlawing infinglide bug exploitation, anyone can glide.. well infinitely

And without it, anyone can glide, well, nowhere.

Might I suggest a modification to the contest? First, ban infiniglide (you'll basically need to use the honor system, since even a seemingly normally-designed ship can pull it off), and second, score based on fuel used for a full circumnavigation. The less fuel, the higher the score. That way you encourage gliders, but allow propulsion enough to actually do the job.

[Bothersome]

Well, I guess the gig is up. You guys already knew about the infinite glide bug. But I just found out about it today by my brother's discovery of a plane that just kept wanting to fly when he was trying to land. Then upon futher study, we found out what was causing it. Now we're both into building more planes that can fly anywhere. Mostly for Laythe missions. But I didn't see the other thread before I posted this challenge. When I posted it I really thought we were the only ones that knew of it... Oh well bubbles burst.

I did make a really good looking plane too just for show.

[1096bimu]

Isn't it ironic that you don't allow any modes, or cheats. But your challenge itself is based on a totally unintended exploit of the game?

[Tex_NL]

You do it fast? I can do it slooooooooowwwwwwwwwww:

Ghost of Tony:

Totally un-powered (except for a single PB-NUK to keep it alive), 3 m/s indefinitely without any key input!

[Skyhawk]

I actually managed to get a glider based on yours up to Mach 12 (4,118 or so m/s) which I entered in the Machingbird challenge, by lightening it and adding some small wing surfaces in close proximity. How'd you manage to stick surfaces on surfaces?

[Bothersome]

Well, I've taken my planes a step further...

I've got two planes on the way to Laythe (one for backup in case of mishap or mission fail on first) and am currently in flight on the Dune plane. But it's night so, it don't make good screenies. I'm flying to the other side of Duna now.

added:

Here is the plane in the early morning light a max altitude of 6km...

added:

First Duna Meeting

Edited June 20, 2013 by Bothersome

[Reavermyst]

seems a good few of us ignored the "must not go into space" rule.

[Bothersome]

Here is my lastest. A high flyer with a good cruise speed.

This photo is on Kerbin at cruise speed and at service ceiling, actual top speed is about 280.

Can't wait to get this one to Duna to try it out there. But it's still in testing at the moment for fine tuning. I had an earlier model that could do 360 but it was a bit shakey so I reduced some power to keep it from shaking.

P.S. Almost forgot...

This one serves the need for a slow flyer for easy landing in un-even turain. Light so I can use it on Duna and has a fast cruise speed. On Kerbin, it has a service ceiling of 16700 meters and a cruise of 275 m/s. Yet takes off at KSC at about 20 m/s.

Edited June 20, 2013 by Bothersome

[megaprime13]

The quicker you do so, the faster you go.

.craft file?

[Spyritdragon]

Here is my lastest. A high flyer with a good cruise speed.

This photo is on Kerbin at cruise speed and at service ceiling, actual top speed is about 280.

(image)

Can't wait to get this one to Duna to try it out there. But it's still in testing at the moment for fine tuning. I had an earlier model that could do 360 but it was a bit shakey so I reduced some power to keep it from shaking.

P.S. Almost forgot...

This one serves the need for a slow flyer for easy landing in un-even turain. Light so I can use it on Duna and has a fast cruise speed. On Kerbin, it has a service ceiling of 16700 meters and a cruise of 275 m/s. Yet takes off at KSC at about 20 m/s.

Sorry, im relatively new here, but what are you using to get this to go forward? I don't seem to see any engines on it. (Sorry if i'm making a stupid remark here )

[Bothersome]

That's the mystery and the beauty of it. It's pushed by using the force Luke. The plane is 100% stock and using no mods or Alt-F12. It is designed in a way to optimize the use of the force. There are others that use the force in a more abusive manner, like doing parlor tricks, but this one is used in a more elegant and useful way. This allowed the plane to fly gracefully and elegantly.

[HollowMobster]

Can you post a link to the .craft files for this and the plane on the bottom of the first page where you show the plane off on duna please?

[jdpopthegamer]

so can i use the electric engines to go around for the challenge or no and i used a mod that has a slow but op engine that uses little to no fuel but is slow and i made it as small as possible and if you replace the engine on one ov the default planes it can fly around the world about 20 times i used a mod to do that so time wont kill me but i did the first one my self and wow

Edited December 9, 2016 by jdpopthegamer

[Red Iron Crown]

@jdpopthegamer This is quite an old thread and only one of the participants has visited the forum in the last year, plus the game has changed a lot during the intervening time. I suggest you find a more recent challenge to test your skills. Closed.