Aeris 3A-RV VTOL/VSTOL Rover Plane

[Yalin Hawk]

This is my first ship I've thought worthy of submission. Inspired by a rover/plane I saw online somewhere, I decided to build my own for exploring Kerbin and/or laythe one day. Building off of the stock Aeris 3A jet, I bring to you the Aeris 3A-RV.

Action Groups:

1: Toggles VTOL Engines

2: Toggles Primary Jet Engine

Thats it. Not too complicated, eh?

Moar pics. http://imgur.com/a/j2Vqn

Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3nz653oqltc1p99/Aeris%203A-RV.craft

She handles pretty well in VTOL mode and cruises pretty nicely in plane mode. She'll take off straight up and if you're a decent enough pilot you can bring her down very slowly (I haven't managed a perfect vertical landing yet, but very slow landings yes.) In rover mode she drives decent, just need to keep in mind the VTOL engines hanging under the wings. She can navigate some small lips, like climbing back up onto the runway, with a small boost from her rear mounted jet. But be careful, as shown in the last pic, you can easily destroy the VTOL engines by driving off said lip too fast. At 37 parts she's easy on the PC too. Last but not least, the top mounted docking port allows for easy transportation/re-supply/storage.

Enjoy.

Edited June 28, 2013 by Yalin Hawk
Forgot .craft file (duh)

[Dimitriye98]

It looks really nice, definitely going to try it. I'll report back here after I test fly.

[Dimitriye98]

Ok, I got around to test piloting it and I liked it mostly. I do have a few complaints though. The first and foremost is the lack of an ASAS module. It results in the craft requiring constant babysitting to fly straight, as well as making it far more difficult to successfully take of in VTOL mode. One other extremely minor problem is the unneeded fuel lines. Wings are fuel cross-feed compatible anyway, so the fuel lines do nothing but add drag. Now, on the other hand, after I added the ASAS, the craft was remarkably stable and could be left cruising with no problems, even at two-times acceleration. I did have a problem with the craft being slightly TOO maneuverable, in that it maneuvered so quickly that it was difficult to avoid over-steering.

[llamatoes]

Its based on the Aeris 3a, which is about as twitchy as a rabbit on 5 shots of espresso

[Dimitriye98]

Heh, I haven't really ever flown stock crafts, so I wouldn't know.

[Yalin Hawk]

Yeah she's what I'd call...ahhh..."extremely responsive." For most flight ops I never throttle up past 40-50%. At just a tap of throttle on the VTOL engines she'll float right up. This is one plane where less throttle is more. With a good downhill run with the rover wheels helping you can take off with no jet assist.