Free fall precision drop

[Pirke]

It is war! The evil opponents have taken control of KSC. General Kerb wants to take it back. He orders Jebediah to do a free fall precision drop D-day thing behind enemy lines and reconquer KSC!

Rules:

1. Launch a carrier (plane or rocket) that carries an uncontrollable object carrying Jebediah in a command seat (PODs have torque and are disqualified, see 3rd rule)

2. To escape enemy radar: release from at least 1000m high on a horizontal trajectory with a velocity of at least 100 m/s.

3. It must have NO control after release: no control surfaces, no thrust, no torque, nothing. Pure a ballistic/aerodynamic free fall. If Jebediah fails we don't want the enemy to get their hands on our advanced control technologies Note that uncontrollable wings are allowed to smooth the landing of Jeb.

4. No parachutes: the enemy can spot those and shoot them down...

5. Jebediah must survive to be able to do battle

6. 100% stock. No mods.

Scoring:

+ Release altitude divided by 10

+ Horizontal speed at release moment

+ 250 points if landing at KSC flat area

+ 250 points if landing on the KSC runway or hitting a KSC building

+ 500 points if landing without taking damage

Leaderboard:

1. Pirke: 1092

2.

3.

4.

5.

My attempt:

http://imgur.com/a/tXkJY#0

Score:

+ altitude: 1761 / 10 = 176

+ speed: 166

+ KSC flat area: 250

+ no damage: 500

Total score: 1092. Who can beat me?

Edited August 7, 2013 by Pirke
using imgur for images now

[Enigma179]

Aren't those canards? Doesn't that mean you just broke your own rules?

EDIT: actually maybe they're tailfins never mind

Edited August 5, 2013 by Enigma179

[astropapi1]

Aren't those canards? Doesn't that mean you just broke your own rules?

Nope, you can't move those, they're only for uncontrolled gliding (I guess).

[Pirke]

They are uncontrollable tailfins. They provide lift to glide, and the top tail ones provide some nose up to smooth the landing. I assure you, after release there is absolutely no control left It is a matter of good design to balance weight and lift.

See the 4th picture: it has a glide of 8 degrees nose up while going 8 degrees down at a (final) speed of 40-50 m/s. Those are good conditions for landing on a flat surface without any control input.

On the 3rd picture you see me aiming at the runway, while rolling 1 degree left. That 1 degree roll made me miss the runway big time after a 2 minute glide down...

Furthermore: when releasing at high speeds it tends to go nose up to about 70-80 degrees first, then stalling to 60 degrees nose down, after restoring itself to the final glide position. If I go too fast, the nose up is too strong and it flips over or enters a spiral or something else goes wrong

Edited August 5, 2013 by Pirke

[DerekL1963]

They are uncontrollable tailfins. They provide lift to glide

Then it's a glider, not a ballistic projectile in free fall.

[Pirke]

Then it's a glider, not a ballistic projectile in free fall.

Terminology, the goal of the challenge is clear: no control over your trajectory after release. I updated the opening post to mention uncontrollable wings are allowed.

So, back to the challenge: who can beat my score of 1092 ???

[DerekL1963]

Terminology

Terminology matters. And now, your rules are inconsistent because in one place you specify purely ballistic flight must be used and in another you allow aerodynamic flight.

[Pirke]

Terminology matters. And now, your rules are inconsistent because in one place you specify purely ballistic flight must be used and in another you allow aerodynamic flight.

Opening post updated.