can you build an ssto?

[Penguinhero]

I cant i stink at them and i pressed the wrong button on the poll

Edit: I just made my first working SSTO Plane

Edited June 28, 2013 by Penguinhero

[Kerbal01]

I have, it's located here:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/37072-The-Ravenspear-Mk-V-SSTO

[alacrity]

Not a sausage.

I can barely get regular plane off the ground so ssto space planes not really in the cards

Alacrity Fitz

[JaySmoka]

Never tried yet. So no I can't. For the moment

[RocketPilot573]

I can, but only with a lot of trouble.

[Sirrobert]

I haven't really put THAT much effort into it, but I highly doubt it.

Mostly because I stink at flying planes. Or building them for that matter.

I might try in .21, when they give us that awesome new SAS system

[rasheed]

Nope but i came close using my mainsail powered ship.

Thats right, a MAINSAIL powered plane.

No jet engines

[whythisname]

Nope I can't. I did get the stock one in orbit once though, but imo it was way too much trouble compared to a rocket (as a new player that part is hard enough as it is xD). I'll probably try it again in the future though, I really like the idea of a space plane.

[Sma]

Sirrobert, the avionics control works rather well for space planes..well planes in general, I haven't gotten mine to space yet. I think the highest I've gotten is about 40k, and thats where it flames out. Got about as many intakes on it as I can fit without getting part lag.

Which brings me to my answer for the poll...yes, and no. Yes in that I can technically build one...but no because I haven't gotten it to space yet. I think part of it may just be it has a specific flight profile I haven't figured out yet, but that's part of the fun I guess.

[Xeldrak]

I built a SSTO once:

This thing was actualy able to leave Karbin SOI, if I'm not mistaken. But building SSTOs realy is not my speciality.

[Penguinhero]

I built a SSTO once:

This thing was actualy able to leave Karbin SOI, if I'm not mistaken. But building SSTOs realy is not my speciality.

i meant a spaceplane ssto

[Torham234]

I have spend much more time designing and flying planes than I did rockets... so yes, yes I can.

Here is one, including the playload satellite. Note this is one of my early designs...

Edited June 27, 2013 by Torham234

[Festivefire]

I have never built an ssto rocket, but planes are better, because the turbojets are so efficient. I don't do it very often because I am really bothered by having extra oxidizer or extra LOX when the engine flames out, and most sstos, which switch between jets and rockets, end up like that. I wish i could do a fuel dump before re-entry to get rid of the extras.

[Felsmak]

Not yet. The darn things always spin out of control when I go high enough.

[regex]

I haven't tried so I'm not going to participate in your poll.

[Festivefire]

Not yet. The darn things always spin out of control when I go high enough.

press capslock, use fine control mode, and asas at high altitudes. for planes, you may want to turn on rcs at 17k to 25k, as the control surfaces have almost no grip up there. also, use alt+ wasd for trim, so you have to use minimal control input while flying, because the more change you make, the more likely you are to stall at those altitudes. also, BIG wings and lots of control surfaces help at those altitudes.

[Xeldrak]

i meant a spaceplane ssto

hm, you should mention this - ssto simply means single stage to orbit...

[The Destroyer]

I had one in 0.18, a Loooooooooooong time ago. It was stock aside from some crew quarters. It was MASSIVE and required refueling at 70x70km orbit in order to do anything.

But hey,

it's a SSTO!

[FITorion]

I can't even build a plane that will simply fly...

[Corw]

Yes.

[Astrobug]

i meant a spaceplane ssto

Well, darn

[Pipcard]

Could never build a plane in KSP, let alone one that gets into orbit.

[geb]

Using intakes is the key to making a good SSTO. With enough intakes you can get up to such high speeds that you only need a tiny nudge to reach orbit. The Anisakis mk.VII seen above can reach Gilly and back in a single stage.

Another example, the Minishuttle: http://imgur.com/a/DFCtZ#0

[MajorNr01]

Certainly.

Except for the home-made cargo-bay, this is a full-stock SSTO with a payload capacity of something beyond 10 tonnes (probably with up to 15t you will still get into an orbit above 70km).

This brilliant piece of technology is the result of a prolonged and heavily funded research project, involving dozens of test failures and massive damage (destruction) costs. However, as you may notice, because the spacecraft was designed to be unmanned, the research team boasts a project-casualty count below one hundred.

The cargo-bay is a purely structural element, whose primary purpose consists of reducing the craft's part count significantly.

Tugging cargo into orbit is possible without the cargo bay (i.e. 100% stock craft), with the aid of a beam of strut cubes and a ton of struts, however this may result in up to 100 additional parts (but actually a lighter craft, because struts have zero mass).

[UmbralRaptor]

Expendable pure rocket SSTOs are trivial. Airbreathing reusable ones with significant cargo I haven't been able to do yet. Actually, reusability is what gives me the biggest headaches in SSTO design, as it ruins the simplicity of pure rocket ones, and makes airbreathing ones incredibly hard aerodynamically.