My First SSTO to Successfully make a Round Trip! That is Land on Runway at KSC!

[Landge]

AND remain in one piece!

The VindiGator takes off from KSC Runway...

The VindiGator is a SSTO/Rover Hybrid. I know, it looks goofy, but until Squad fixes the landing gear

to maneuver and turn as as well as rover wheels, this is the best option. Jebediah is at the controls.

The plane's name is taken from one of my multiplayer handles.

Activating Aerospikes...

This is when my planes usually flip out of control. I think it was due to a couple radial intakes being

only on top. I relocated them to allow additional intakes directly underneath to counterbalance the top.

To think this may have been the whole reason for me not able to get an SSTO into orbit all this time! DOH!

Increasing Angle of Ascent...

Pushing apoapsis out to > 150km.

Adjusting Orbit to Intersect with Kerbin Station...

Woo Hoo! Orbit acheived AND with fuel to spare!

On Final Approach...

Closing in on Kerbin Station.

Lining up With SSTO Docking Port...

Firing RCS to make last minute corrections. Fixes made to ASAS in 0.21.1 work great.

Successfully Docked...

ASAS/SAS needs to be shut off. Cascading resonance is still a problem.

View from the Station's Control Module...

Refueling in progress.

Reentry into Kerbin's Atmosphere...

Jagged Mountains Flyby...

The mountain range west of the space port.

Next Stop, Kerbal Space Center...

Lining up with KSC Runway...

Touchdown...

Switching to Rover Mode...

Raising landing gear to allow for better maneuverability. Like I said before,

Squad needs to fix landing gear to operate as well as rover wheels.

Pulling up to Space Plane Hangar...

Loving the new look.

Obligatory Photo Op...

Mission successful. Congratulations Jeb! Now let's see if swapping out those Aerospikes with LV-Ns will work.

Edited July 29, 2013 by Landge

[Landge]

VindiGator LV-N...

250km Orbit Achieved!...

[tntristan12]

That is one sexy looking plane. Makes my Sky-ORC look like an ungainly pig.

[Landge]

Switching out to LV-N's was a bit more challenging. The starboard ramjet kept flaming out. Only by toggling fuel flow on/off to ramjets and pressure on the left rudder, to keep from spinning out, I was able to get up to ~30,000m at ~1600 m/s where I was able to shut down ramjets and continue up to orbit with LV-N's. I'm thinking of swapping out jet fuel only tanks for another fuel/oxy combo tank for extended range spaceflight.

Edited July 30, 2013 by Landge