The Airplane Challenge

[Talisman]

make a 'rocket' that has wings and try to achieve a stable horizontal flight for as long as you possibly can, you CANNOT leave the athmosphere!, see how far you can get.

Bonus points for being extremely low altitude.

(I can't get much farther then this , rocket seems to just keep tipping down, still experimenting. If you have a good place for wings or good plane design please share!)

[oheels]

If you get rid of the top fin it shouldnt tip down.

[Afoxi]

A bunch of us were actually playing with this for a while, this was my entry.

[etmoonshade]

This is fun o.o

This ship was just a pair of wings, tailfin, capsule, parachute, and liquid rocket with one fuel tank.

The wings are just a simple modification of the R8 fin - that's attached below. The problem seems to be that the assorted fins don't give lift worth a damn, so anything resembling flight/gliding once your engines are off... good luck.

With the tweaks to these wings, on the other hand... well. I've had better flying in FSX with a glider in a hurricane, but it'll keep you off the ground if you position 'em right. It's hard to strike a balance between 'lift' and 'spinning around in circles'

(for the attached part.cfg, just copy the winglet2 directory in KSP/Parts/ and overwrite the file.)

[DeCi]

This is fun o.o

Did the G-Forces killed your crew?

[etmoonshade]

In a manner of speaking.

G-forces happen when you hit the ground, right? My flight path was actually a loop a few km out, over the lake, and then back. I tried pitching up and launching the parachute to land in that area, but it didn't work. >_>

[DeCi]

In a manner of speaking.

G-forces happen when you hit the ground, right? My flight path was actually a loop a few km out, over the lake, and then back. I tried pitching up and launching the parachute to land in that area, but it didn't work. >_>

The chute not working oh my... Jeb Died with a smile i trust!?

[etmoonshade]

Beats me. I was flyin' to the last moment, so all I saw was a bunch of 'KIA' screens.

... and then I forgot to save the -stable- design, and now I can't recreate it.

[DeCi]

Try loading the autosave.

[Victor]

I accept this challenge and will come back with proof of my epic traveling!

[illectro]

Had a go and unintentionally managed a fantastic low level flight, I literally came within 10 meters to crashing this thing into the sea before I was able to get a bit of altitude. Just wish I was able to record on my laptop.

[deltagear]

As far as i can tell the wings don't do anything except create drag and weigh down the part of the ship they're attached to.

[illectro]

In my experience the wings tend to help turn the ship into the airflow, so they actually make steering the vehicle like a plane a whole lot harder since the velocity vector typically ends up below the thrust vector.

[Victor]

Had a go and unintentionally managed a fantastic low level flight, I literally came within 10 meters to crashing this thing into the sea before I was able to get a bit of altitude. Just wish I was able to record on my laptop.

Answer to record problem, Fraps.

[innociv]

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197977736040/screenshot/559788500204172149

This got me going 240m/s at a stable 3km for quite some distance.

The trick is balancing out the center of gravity with aero parts.

[etmoonshade]

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197977736040/screenshot/559788500204172149

This got me going 240m/s at a stable 3km for quite some distance.

The trick is balancing out the center of gravity with aero parts.

I guess the big question here is, what are the rules of the challenge? Do the wings actually need to look like wings, or can it just be a rocket? Also, is there a requirement for the ability to do unpowered flight?

[Rickenbacker]

Hmm, guess the planned space planes will have wings (with ailerons) and tail surfaces (fin with rudder and tailplanes with elevators). Until then I find it really hard to figure out exactly how fin placement affects aerodynamics. Mostly very badly, in my case .

[Capt'n Skunky]

Here's my Plane Mk II flight.

[Galactic Nexus]

Hmm, guess the planned space planes will have wings (with ailerons) and tail surfaces (fin with rudder and tailplanes with elevators). Until then I find it really hard to figure out exactly how fin placement affects aerodynamics. Mostly very badly, in my case .

It doesn't seem spaceplanes need to have especially extravagant wings judging by the look of the Skylon.

[innociv]

I guess the big question here is, what are the rules of the challenge? Do the wings actually need to look like wings, or can it just be a rocket? Also, is there a requirement for the ability to do unpowered flight?

Well it's impossible to have them shifted up like wings without mod parts

SkunkMonkey's works because of that mod thruster that lets him pitch up hard.

[illectro]

Answer to record problem, Fraps.

Fraps costs $37 and on my laptop reduces the framerate on KSP to single digits.

[EmperorJon]

The free version doesn't. @ the first bit, that is.

[Talisman]

Here's my Plane Mk II flight.

Well done sir!

[Johno]

Well, Plane 3 was the first of my attempts at a spaceplane to actually launch successfully. 4 Solids to carry it to altitude, then flight on twin liquid engines.

The best thing you can say about this fiasco is that it got to altitude and the engines lit before things went pear-shaped.

I don't quite know how I achieved this, but I somehow managed to kill the crew TWICE. How do you do that? I guess their first death wasn't comprehensive enough . . .

[esd]

I managed to lift-off, level, bank and circle back to (near) the launch-pad (yes, some custom parts as you'll see). Video uploading now

*edit*

Upload finished.