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The Mother Of All Drop Ships...

Cupcake...

By Cupcake...
in KSP1 The Spacecraft Exchange

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Cupcake...

Cupcake...

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After the first month tensions in the hitchhikers pod were already running high, there was Bill's cheese encrusted socks that somehow found their way into the air conditioning system, there was the monopoly game that got cancelled before it even started after a viscous argument broke out over who got to be dog. Who knew the breaking point would come over who ate the last Malteser? The ensuing fist fight (quite tricky in 0g) completely trashed the inside of the hitchhiker pod, and forced an early abort to the mission. After the "Malteser Incident" it was decided that what was needed was a way to transport Kerbal's in comfort, a Winnebago of the skies if you will. At least that's what Bob thought, everyone else thought it was a stupid idea worthy of an idiot, which is probably why the concept was pounced upon by the Cupcake Lander Design Cupboard (we're next to coffee machine, below the stair case, behind the mops). And so it with a profound sense of shock and horror that the Queen Bee was finally unveiled. When the silence was broken it was only to ask "....So, we spent how much on this?"

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So here it is, the biggest SSTO VTOL every to come out of the Cupcake Landers factory, actually it didn't really come out we had to knock the wall down in the end.

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The ship can transport 6 Kerbals and a pilot from Kerbin to the Mun or Minmus and back again. While it is capable of landing on Minmus and the Mun before flying back to Kerbin I doubt your Kerbals will appreciate you pushing the ship to its limit, in much same way as you wouldn't want to be on a coach driven by Valentino Rossi. Each Kerbal has their own air conditioned 5 star berth with all the latest comforts and amenities, and yes we fixed the problems with the trouser presses and Bill's arm didn't need amputating in the end.

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There's also the spa pool on deck 3 where your Kerbals can unwind after a hard days science.

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And of course there's the Roller Disco which doubles as the engine room when not in use.

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The cabins are mounted for easy access for both Kerbals and their luggage. The downside of this is that the cabins actually make up part of the crumple zone, and if Queen Bee does go down with a full compliment (not that such a thing will ever happen of course) you may well find half the astronaut corps have been wiped out with her. In short, keep Jebediah away from the controls at all costs!

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Queen Bees have already been booked out for Weddings, a Bar Mitzfa, two Hen Parties, the office team building weekend and for the AGM of the Embroidery Appreciation Society, in short no job is too small or payment too low. The Queen Bee is also the first Cupcake Landers vessel to ship with Air Sync intake management system which will automatically close the intakes once the jets are shut down, yay!

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The mandatory tourist shot. This would be a good time to mention that the unique styling of the Queen Bee was created by our guest designer Salvador Dali, at least he said he was anyway...

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From the bridge the captain can see the ground coming towards him. With the docking cam mod he can also look forwards as well, how nice!

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OWNERS MANUAL:

You'd best pick up a copy of the ship to start with...

http://goo.gl/HDkacc

Like all my craft the Queen Bee features a horizontal axis cockpit for suborbital flying and a vertical axis docking port for orbital piloting and navigation. The top docking port operates in line with the engines and must be used when performing burns with the navball. You can also use the top docking port if you'd rather fly the Queen Bee like a regular rocket.

CONTROLS:

1 - Toggle Jets

2 - Toggle LV-Ns

9 - Toggle Ladder

0 - Activate - Air Sync

ABORT - De-Couple All Ports

SSTO MISSION PROFILE:

Turn on the SAS and keep it on all times, then press 0 to activate Air Sync, you can now set full throttle and press 1 to start the jets. You'll want to drive straight up to 15,000m which will take around 8 minutes. So yes, best stick the kettle on or smoke a ciggerete or something. Once you do reach 15,000m pitch over to 45`on a 90`heading and hold this course till you hit 20,000m. Now keeping on that 90`heading gently pitch forward to a 20` elevation. You'll also want to right click on one of the jets so you can monitor their life signs. At 25,000m pull the nose back to that 45`elevation and press 2 to light the LV-Ns, let the SAS take over from this point!. Keep an eye on the jets as they'll start to run out of air at about 28,000m. You don't need to be over concerned about flameouts, the ship will give you plenty of advance warning, and it's only if you ignore these then you'll spin out. If the craft does start to list don't try and correct it yourself, instead just reduce throttle and let the reaction wheels pull the ship back into line. Once you lose power from the jets press 1 to shut them down this will also close the intakes. From this point on you can slowly pitch flat to the horizon and round out your orbit.

Once you're ready to land back on Kerbin swap command back over to the cockpit. Press 1 to fire up the jets and 2 to give yourself rocket assist, this will help get rid of the throttle lag from the jets and ensure a smooth touch down.

Please send any complaints to the usual address... :)

Cupcake...

Edited by Cupcake...
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Sirine

Sirine

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About that 'bomb'. Please refer to my (BSC-Heavy Lander Challenge) submission. It build in there. Press Abort and it explode.

And btw...I have downloaded your Queen Bee, nice craft...test it tomorrow, need to hit the bed now.

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Cupcake...

Cupcake...

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You sir are a genius at building ships, can't wait to try this out when i get home :)
I am a sucker for punishment it seems. :)

Downloaded. I'll crash fly it this weekend

That is a monster of a drop ship :blush:
Really Nice!!
Niiiiiiice, like all your VTOLs! The description is fantastic as well... downloading now.
As usual great looking design

I will definitely try this and let you know :)

Thanks for the feedback guys, I have to admit working on the Queen Bee was a little out of my confort zone as I don't usually build em this big! So yeah, I really apreciate your positive comments and I hope you enjoy the ship. :)

Are the roller disco and spa stock? :sticktongue:

Great work!

Of course! :D

About that 'bomb'. Please refer to my (BSC-Heavy Lander Challenge) submission. It build in there. Press Abort and it explode.

And btw...I have downloaded your Queen Bee, nice craft...test it tomorrow, need to hit the bed now.

Ah okay, sweet I'll download your ship and check it out. :cool:

So what is this AirSync exactly?

It sounds really obvious but I haven't seen it done (please correct me if I'm wrong). Anyway, it works by pressing 0 after launch to toggle the intakes, thereby closing them. The same intakes are also set to toggle along with the jet engines so once you press 1 the intakes will be in sync with the jets and will open and close by themselves depending on wether the jets are active or not. Does that make sence? :P

Looks magnificent!! Can we expect a complimentary "Cupcake Promotional Video" anytime soon?
Very nice, I would love to see one of your trademark videos showcasing this wonderful craft!

Sorry guys, due to commitments back on Earth I'm going to have to reduce my video emissions for the next two or three weeks at least, as they are very time consuming things to put together. :( However I've got something special planned for when I do get back into it. :wink: In the meantime I've still got a few ships ready for release including an upgraded version of the Scythe, with Airsync and Scythe Tanker!

Cupcake...

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Cupcake...

Cupcake...

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The interior pictures are amazing! How'd you do it with stock parts?

Given enough time and dedication anything can be built in KSP. :D

Alright, bout time this sucker came out! Nice work cupcake. Any plans to do a similar version of the queen be in a cargo lift version?

It's certainly doable but I think I'd rather do a dedicated design from scratch rather then retrofit the Queen Bee. I'm currently trying to squeeze the same power plant and fuel load into a much more compact chassis for a long range explorer design. Once I get the hang of that a cargo lifter is certainly on the cards. :)

Cupcake...

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chunkblaster

chunkblaster

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It's certainly doable but I think I'd rather do a dedicated design from scratch rather then retrofit the Queen Bee. I'm currently trying to squeeze the same power plant and fuel load into a much more compact chassis for a long range explorer design. Once I get the hang of that a cargo lifter is certainly on the cards. :)

Cupcake...

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=o boy look at that beaut! That thing's got some nice lines on it cupcake!

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Cupcake...

Cupcake...

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*comes back from short leave*

DANG! I missed the release :( You even gave me a sneak peak in our conversation about the Scythe circumnavigation! dawww ;.;

Don't worry, I saved you a sausage role and half a bottle of bucks fizz from the launch party. :)

Yeah but I'd say you managed to pull it off anyway. Looks powerful with those giant rocket engines towering up on the sides.

Guess so, although I've decided to go ugly and work on your lifter design/long range utility drop ship instead. Works progressing quite well, if nothing goes wrong it should be ready for release next weekend. The big tank on the top is the current maximum payload to orbit, not bad really, that's roughly the equivilent of one Minnow or two Scythes. I'm thinking of calling it the Bulldog, as it does sort of resemble a dog, at least I think so anyway. :)

Cupcake...

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Cupcake...

Cupcake...

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I can see you put a lot of effort into the pool area. Not many people do that.

It's the little things that make the experience, like the chocolate under the pillows, warm towels, fresh flowers, and the well stocked minibar that somehow went missing from the hotel, and is absolutely not the same one sitting under my desk. :blush: Um... If I give the towels back can I keep the mini bar then? I'll throw in the ashtrays as well...

Cupcake...

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The14th

The14th

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2013-10-13a.jpg

My relief team arrived refreshed, not too drunk, and have all given positive responses on the feedback forms. I think the Queen Bee has our official approval!

It's the little things that make the experience, like the chocolate under the pillows, warm towels, fresh flowers, and the well stocked minibar that somehow went missing from the hotel, and is absolutely not the same one sitting under my desk.
What's amazing is that you still had something left in the budget for the roller disco after the enormous cost of sound-proofing those passenger compartments right next to the engines! :D
Guess so, although I've decided to go ugly and work on your lifter design/long range utility drop ship instead. Works progressing quite well, if nothing goes wrong it should be ready for release next weekend. The big tank on the top is the current maximum payload to orbit, not bad really, that's roughly the equivilent of one Minnow or two Scythes. I'm thinking of calling it the Bulldog, as it does sort of resemble a dog, at least I think so anyway. :)

Wowza... so if I'm understanding this correctly, we have a Scythe Mk3, a long ranged explorer, and this awesome looking bulldog coming soon? Cupcake with this Ferrero Rocher, you're really spoiling us! :D

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Cupcake...

Cupcake...

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My relief team arrived refreshed, not too drunk, and have all given positive responses on the feedback forms. I think the Queen Bee has our official approval!

What's amazing is that you still had something left in the budget for the roller disco after the enormous cost of sound-proofing those passenger compartments right next to the engines! :D

The modifications were quite expensive, luckily there was a lot of money in the "safety account", and the roller disco seemed a lot more important then the parachute abort system and ejection modules for the cabins. Glad your team made it to Minmus okay, with that many excitable Kerbal's running round I find it's best to count them all in, we don't want any of them getting left behind... again... Do we Bob?

Wowza... so if I'm understanding this correctly, we have a Scythe Mk3, a long ranged explorer, and this awesome looking bulldog coming soon? Cupcake with this Ferrero Rocher, you're really spoiling us! :D

Yep, it's all go! I'm also quite tempted to do a proper release for the Greased Whippet seeing as how annoyingly fast and efficient it is. I'll try and have the Mk3 Scythe up and ready this evening at least. :)

Cupcake...

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