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Tadpole - Light VTOL Lander & LV (100 Parts!)

Cupcake...

By Cupcake...
in KSP1 The Spacecraft Exchange

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Cupcake...

Cupcake...

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UPDATE: 08/06/2014

The Tadpole has been re-balanced and upgraded to work .24, yay! :D In addition you can now deploy the ladder by pressing 8, and fold the front landing leg by pressing 7 (useful for landing on steep gradiants). Enjoy!

Following hot on the heels of the Super Minnow the Tadpole is the latest addition to the fleet. It's a compact, light, single engine lander designed to operate exclusively on low gravity worlds such as the Mun, Minmus, Ike and Gilly. It boasts a maximum burn time of 16 minutes, and a Delta V of just under 5,100, not bad for a little lander :wink:.

3tjC3Q8.jpg

Made up of just 53 parts for the lander and 100 parts for the lander and LV, the Tadpole is very CPU friendly and can run on all but the slowest steam powered adding machines. Like it's predecessor it features smooth, well harmonised controls, and rock solid stability at all fuel loads.

bnvNTX0.jpg

While lacking the outright power of its bigger brother, the Tadpole can still haul small cargo loads down to the Munar surface using its 7 balanced docking ports, these can also be loaded up with drop tanks for even more range.

dlV7Ujo.jpg

The Tadpole is 100% Subbassembly compatible, you can even weld two LVs together and use Mechjeb as your digital wingman!

weMLpCV.jpg

OWNERS MANUAL:

Like all my vessels the Tadpole really benefits from Joystick control, personally I've been using a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro for a while now and am very happy with it.

The craft files can be found here, they need to go into your SPH folder.

http://goo.gl/iEszUs

There are two files in the archive, one is just the Tadpole on its own, the other is the Tadpole and launch vehicle.

CONTROLS:

1 - Toggle Rocket

3 - Undock/De-Couple T800 Ports

4 - Undock/De-Couple T400 Ports

7 - Toggle Front Landing Leg

8 - Deploy Ladder

9 - Cut Chute

0 - Deploy Chute

ABORT - Undock/De-couple All Ports

Like my previous designs the Tadpole features a horizontal cockpit for suborbital flying/landing and a vertically mounted docking port for orbital piloting. When performing burns with the navball the top docking port must be selected, this also applies if using Mechjeb. If you're not used to VTOLs and would rather fly the Tadpole like a regular rocket the top docking port can be used for whole missions if need be. SAS should be left on at all times. When landing back on Kerbin you'll need to dump almost all your fuel during re-entry and use your rocket to slow your descent alongside the parachute. The Tadpoles long endurance means dumping all your fuel is sometimes easier said then done! If you're having trouble I recommend attaching a couple more parachutes to the T 400 docking ports. While the Tadpole can operate on Duna it's T/W ratio there is pretty marginal, you'd really be better off with the Minnow for those missions.

LAUNCH VEHICLE INSTRUCTIONS:

Activate SAS and take off a straight away at full power climbing to 10,000m. Not gently pitch over to 45* on your chosen heading (usually 90*). Once your speed hits around 1100m/s gently pitch flat to the horizon and build up your orbit. The Skipper stage also comes in handy as a descent stage for Mun/Minmus missions. Enjoy! :)

Cupcake...

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speedboiae86

speedboiae86

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There are toy versions available in the KSP gift shop, tell them I sent you for a 10% discount. :)

Cupcake...

Haha, if only... I'd love it if I could turn some of my designs and a few of yours into toys. Your Tadpole and my little rover that I've packaged with the Bison.

Right now, I'm currently working on another off world colony lander ship. I wanna load it with Kerbals and take it somewhere, like Duna, Eve, or Laythe...

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Cupcake...

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Haha, if only... I'd love it if I could turn some of my designs and a few of yours into toys. Your Tadpole and my little rover that I've packaged with the Bison.

Right now, I'm currently working on another off world colony lander ship. I wanna load it with Kerbals and take it somewhere, like Duna, Eve, or Laythe...

Be kind of cool if somebody could make a plugin that will let you export your KSP designs to a 3D printer! Anyway, I'll look forward to seeing your lander, something tells me it's gonna be massive.... :)

Qute fascinating, although my Cones are less that around 100 parts including the small launcher and can land on the Mun and minmus. Still cool though!

Thanks! I think 100 parts is a good limit to work under, while you can make ships for less I think they start getting a bit ugly after a while! :wink:

How you manage to balance aesthetics, usability, and minimal design in this is amazing. You're too damn talented!

Also Kerbals always look like their having the time of their life in your vids. I could watch them all day! :D

Cheers! The Kerbals do seem pretty jolly, I think if I ever set foot on the moon I'd look the same! :) I really appreciate the feedback, thankyou!

That light on the capsule. Why the hell hadn't I thought of that earlier. See? That is why the spacecraft exchange is awesome, even if you don't download stuff.

Rune. Good as always, cupkake!

Rune... I was thinking about you yesterday. I've started work on a SSTO Nuke Powered VTOL that will hopefully get me to the Mun and back on one tank, you of course did this years ago with your Grasshopper, I'm just playing catch up! :D

Will probably look completely different once released but this is how it looks right now...

Cupcake...

LdCQug2.jpg

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Cupcake...

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How are u able to control the two crafts in the video at the same time

I put Mechjeb in charge of flying the lead vessel, while I tailed it with the second craft. To make sure I could keep up the Mechjeb ship was only operating at a maximum of 80% throttle. But yeah, it was nice to have someone in command that knew what they were doing! :)

Cupcake...

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