[Stock] The MythBusters JATO Car Challenge

[The Jedi Master]

If you're a fan of MythBusters, you may have heard the story of the man who strapped a JATO rocket to his car and got airborne. Now, of course, the MythBusters proved that it was false... but a 66 Chevy Impala doesn't have wings...

What's the challenge, you might ask? Simple: Get a rover airborne... with solid rocket boosters.

Rules

1.This is a stock challenge. Yes, even MechJeb. Nothing against it, it just doesn't fit the spirit of the challenge.

2.It must be a rover. I.E. it has rover wheels, can move on it's own without flight, etc.

3.Wings will be allowed. This may seem overpowered, but the thing is, they don't give much control when you only have solid fuel.

4.You may not use liquid fuel or jet fuel. Despite the name, JATOs are actually solid rocket boosters.

5.No infiniglide.

6.Pics or it didn't happen. A video would also be acceptable, but no extra points for having one.

7.Must launch from the runway.

8.Ship must take off horizontally.

8.Have fun!

Achievements

Adam Would Be Proud: Complete the challenge. 10 points.

There's Airborne, And Then...: Get more than 100 meters. 10 points for every 100 meters.

If It's Worth Doing...: Use the big solid rocket boosters. 5 points.

Historically Accurate: Don't use wings--find another means of attaining flight. 25 points.

Jamie Don't Got Nothing On Me: Leave the atmosphere. 30 points.

Impossible? Myth Busted: Attain a stable orbit. 50 points.

Leaderboards

1.pxi--125 points

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Yes, yes, my attempt soon!

Edited August 24, 2013 by The Jedi Master

[capi3101]

This sounds like fun...

Actually, I'm wondering what kind of additional restrictions this is going to need. I mean, I can whip up an SRB skycrane that'll get a rover into orbit without problem; I assume the spirit of the challenge is that the SRB's have to be at least somewhat perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rover...

Maybe disallow attempts from the launch pad? I dunno...

I'd also consider throwing in a scoring element for maximum altitude attained.

Edited August 22, 2013 by capi3101

[The Jedi Master]

This sounds like fun...

Actually, I'm wondering what kind of additional restrictions this is going to need. I mean, I can whip up an SRB skycrane that'll get a rover into orbit without problem; I assume the spirit of the challenge is that the SRB's have to be at least somewhat perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rover...

Maybe disallow attempts from the launch pad? I dunno...

I'd also consider throwing in a scoring element for maximum altitude attained.

Advice taken!

[pxi]

I remember this one, not from Mythbusters, but from the Darwin Awards. It's since been debunked, but here's the original text for the sake of being pedantic (from http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1995-04.html):

URBAN LEGEND! The Arizona Highway Patrol were mystified when they came upon a pile of smoldering wreckage embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The metal debris resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it turned out to be the vaporized remains of an automobile. The make of the vehicle was unidentifiable at the scene.

The folks in the lab finally figured out what it was, and pieced together the events that led up to its demise.

It seems that a former Air Force sergeant had somehow got hold of a JATO (Jet Assisted Take-Off) unit. JATO units are solid fuel rockets used to give heavy military transport airplanes an extra push for take-off from short airfields.

Dried desert lakebeds are the location of choice for breaking the world ground vehicle speed record. The sergeant took the JATO unit into the Arizona desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the JATO unit to his car, jumped in, accelerated to a high speed, and fired off the rocket.

The facts, as best as could be determined, are as follows:

The operator was driving a 1967 Chevy Impala. He ignited the JATO unit approximately 3.9 miles from the crash site. This was established by the location of a prominently scorched and melted strip of asphalt. The vehicle quickly reached a speed of between 250 and 300 mph and continued at that speed, under full power, for an additional 20-25 seconds. The soon-to-be pilot experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog-fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners.

The Chevy remained on the straight highway for approximately 2.6 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied the brakes, completely melting them, blowing the tires, and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface. The vehicle then became airborne for an additional 1.3 miles, impacted the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, and left a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock.

Most of the driver's remains were not recovered; however, small fragments of bone, teeth, and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.

Ironically a still-legible bumper sticker was found, reading

"How do you like my driving? Dial 1-800-EAT-****."

[ihtoit]

I have a problem: big SRBs aren't stock.

[The Jedi Master]

I have a problem: big SRBs aren't stock.

Uh, what? That looks pretty big to me.

[pxi]

OK so here we go. Here's the rover I'll be using. I've driven it all the way to Kerbin's South Pole, so we've fairly well established this thing can rove.

So let's modify it to fit the challenge - mechjeb and other sciency stuff removed, bolted on some SRB's, and some fairly big wings. Also replaced the cockpit with a probodyne core, and we end up with this:

It even flies!

Flying with any degree of stability for longer than 15 seconds is not guaranteed.

Once it begins doing aerial backflips, it's safe to assume the end of the flight is close.

But at least we made the water.

Final analysis:

[The Jedi Master]

-snip-

125 points by my count, and the first to complete the challenge! Congrats!

[ihtoit]

My entry: the JATO Bullet Ballistic Car. Stock, built on a vanilla (no addons WHATSOEVER) KSP 0.20 install

How it went:

From a standing start: wheels down to 20m/s, then fired the SRBs, take off speed was probably just over 100m/s, top speed 236m/s, vessel was fairly stable until I hit 2000m then it went nuts.

Altitude achieved: 2694m

Survivability: Vehicle - NO (screwed up the abort landing) Kerbal - YES

OK, score me I make it 260pts.

Edited August 23, 2013 by ihtoit

[ihtoit]

Uh, what? That looks pretty big to me.

The RT-10 is the only stock SRB in the game. So I claim "shenanigens" on pxi for using a non-stock part.

Edited August 23, 2013 by ihtoit

[esinohio]

The Rockomax BACC Solid Fuel Booster is stock. Believe it was added in the last patch/upgrade. Ok to be absolutely sure I nuked the game and re-installed. Yep, stock. And your rover/rocket was very well done!

[Xeldrak]

The BACC Solid Fuel Booster has definitely been stock for the last two patches.

[zekes]

ok, we're trying this... prepare for overbuilding.

[zarakon]

The RT-10 is the only stock SRB in the game. So I claim "shenanigens" on pxi for using a non-stock part.

Look harder. The Rockomax BACC has been stock since 0.16

[ihtoit]

Not on mine, I did a vanilla install yesterday and nope, no BACC.

[Giggleplex777]

The Rockomax BACC Solid Fuel Booster is stock. Believe it was added in the last patch/upgrade. Ok to be absolutely sure I nuked the game and re-installed. Yep, stock. And your rover/rocket was very well done!

It has been there since 0.16.

[ihtoit]

hm, wonder what's happened to that then? 'Cos I can't find it on mine (0.20)... Guess I'll have to re-add it from my regular install, strap a couple onto my bullet and watch it go into solar orbit...

[mythbusters844]

Why would I not be doing this challenge? Challenge: Accepted.

[Bothersome]

"This is my very first attempt at such craziness to get into some history books", said Dudlin Kerman. "When your name doesn't start with a 'J' you gotta do something else to get girls attention."

Without further addo, Dudlin makes his daring attempt at beating the Kerbin world record of longest car jump. Here are some of the photo's captured while making this attempt.

14.480 meters traveled.

Dudlin commented, "It was a wild ride, and so exhilarating. I may have to try it again after a few refinements."

[ihtoit]

OK, readded the BACC boosters, and came up with:

I won't post another video, the same thing happened as with the RT-10 ship, only bigger better and higher (and a more spectacularly failed landing where stuff exploded right on the runway but the Kerbal still walked away!

So, maximum altitude: 4686m

vehicle: destroyed

kerbal: annoyed

[ihtoit]

"This is my very first attempt at such craziness to get into some history books", said Dudlin Kerman. "When your name doesn't start with a 'J' you gotta do something else to get girls attention."

Without further addo, Dudlin makes his daring attempt at beating the Kerbin world record of longest car jump. Here are some of the photo's captured while making this attempt.

14.480 meters traveled.

Dudlin commented, "It was a wild ride, and so exhilarating. I may have to try it again after a few refinements."

Dude, parachutes?? And you only got to 1.5km

[Bothersome]

I thought it was distance we wanted.

[ihtoit]

the trick to this, as I've managed to work out, to a 60 degree ascent angle for altitude, 30 degree for speed and distance. I've used AV-R8 control winglets and found the control ceiling under power is 1900m (using several approaches to altitude), that's when you start tumbling. Once you do start tumbling, that's it until the SRBs burn out and you're then a ballistic missile or a glider, depending on how fast you can halt the tumble.

I wonder how high I can get if I keep my altitude below 1900 until the SRBs burn out (thus gaining the maximum possible speed advantage while still keeping control) and then throw it into an unpowered ballistic curve...?

[ihtoit]

I thought it was distance we wanted.

nah, altitude, you could get 2km just on the runway without taking off, that'd be a bit cheaty. Hard to get altitude on electric wheels. Good distance tho, how much of that was actually on the runway?

Edited August 23, 2013 by ihtoit

[Bothersome]

Well, I don't know off hand. It should be distance covered as that more closely aligns to what the MythBuster's car was to achieve. The guy wasn't trying to get airborne. He was trying to go fast but happened to get airborne by accident. That is what we are trying to create here. Not altitude. At least, that's what I got out of reading the rules. It didn't say altitude. Looks like distance and speed is what the original guy doing the MythBuster car was trying to do. To get altitude just mount the rockets straight up. You don't even have to "rover" anywhere. Just go straight up. How is that mimicking the original MythBuster experiment?