Jump to content

That 1 craft you spent hours on but never left the launchpad (or runway)


davieholgate

So, what happened to your inventions?  

  1. 1. So, what happened to your inventions?

    • My creations Always reach orbit
      26
    • Ive had some failings here and there :p
      152
    • Orbit? whats that?
      17


Recommended Posts

Not so much crazy creations, but rockets with payloads that are too large. I've had to "go back to the drawling board" a dozen times designing lifters. My most notable trial was with the Soviet pack N1. The payload was twice its lifting capacity so I had to strap 4 of the Soyuz-like boosters from KW to it. Needless to say it never made it to orbit. Didn't even get passed first stage sep. ( go figure lol ) But boy was this thing pretty.. ill post a pic if I can.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always use calculators when building my rockets, and i make sure that the Delta-v of my ships is always above 4800 m/s. If there is any failure, it's because the stock KSP linkages have the stiffness of a chewing gum. The craft often wobbled crazily when flying. But since i downloaded Ferram's Reinforced Joints mod, i am okay for now :D.

My probably most notable trial was the first space station lifter. I decided to lift the station in one piece, so i used asparagus staging.

KSP physics and the space kraken made it a total hell for me, since the craft got torn apart in-flight or upon reloading physics.

Since then, i always use docking :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never built anything which never left the launchpad, but I've had plenty of larger rockets which have fallen apart in completely different ways under apparently the same circumstances. I don't tend to ever finish projects which end like that, which is a shame.

On the runway, I've lost count of the number of planes which have never got off the ground :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've done this about a thousand times with my lift vehicles. It's gotten to the point that i just tell myself good enough is good enough. If not, I'll spend countless hours on pointless things!

WQw0PFf.png

The above craft took me 4 hours to make over a one week period, just so I can drop those two science modules. That's all the science I got from it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just add more boosters until it gets to orbit! And struts, of course.

A few versions back, on a save that is now long gone, I had this insane 300 part mothership kethane miner thing with around 10k DV once it's in orbit. Probably the most difficult thing I've ever gotten into orbit. The hardest part was symmetry wouldn't work because the mothership itself wasn't perfectly symmetrical.

Edited by ZingidyZongxxx
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I once built a Mun colony that housed over two dozen kerbals (3 in the cockpit and 6 hitchhiker containers) that I've never legitimately got into orbit because it would break apart once I got to the upper atmosphere because I would go too fast. I've used hyper edit and I know it can land, but it doesn't count to me unless I do it modless.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

70% of my spaceplanes are failures, though I feel like I've learnt a lot over the past few weeks and have become reasonably competant at building them.

I don't have a lot of launchpad failures these days, usually it's just a matter of radially mounting a few extra rockets for a TWR boost to get me over the line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I once built a Mun colony that housed over two dozen kerbals (3 in the cockpit and 6 hitchhiker containers) that I've never legitimately got into orbit because it would break apart once I got to the upper atmosphere because I would go too fast. I've used hyper edit and I know it can land, but it doesn't count to me unless I do it modless.

You've pretty much written out the solution to your problem there :P

In any case, as long as you can keep your apoapsis ahead of you it doesn't really matter how quickly you're accelerating provided you reach orbit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back during .16 I had some pretty obscene designs for the sake of wanting to try out a mock interplanetary voyage. 30% were too heavy to get off the ground. 30% exploded on load, 35% tilted and exploded below 12km, and the 5% that made it to orbit barely had enough fuel left to make Minmus, much less an interplanetary burn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I regularly overengineer stuff beyond what's reasonable. My worst case is usually overpowered rockets that either tear themselves apart or (when I limit the acceleration via MechJeb) are to heavy to lift themselves into orbit without tearing themselves apart. Had this like a hundred times. Guess that's just me... : )

Happy New Year everybody : )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...