[WIP]Sparky Class Frigate

[Raven.]

This is something that I've been working on off and on for the last month or so. It has taken a lot of redesign and testing to get it right, as there have been a lot of little quirks of it. There is actually a balance to it, to where if the balance is not right then it does not move correctly in the water. The original idea for this frigate design was that of a kethane driller in the littoral. The current iteration of the frigate does not serve that purpose, although it will eventually. Currently it serves more as a large, general purpose science vessel, and a stopping point for small, short range VTOLs and helicopters. It contains just short of a staggering 600 parts.

The ship is equipped with an 8x24 area that is used to land small VTOL craft and helicopters. KAS is used to secure small craft while the frigate is in transit. There is a 6 DOF (degrees of freedom) robotic arm near the stern, again equipped with a KAS winch and electromagnet for loading purposes. There are six rockets up front that basically fires probes equipped with parachutes and science equipment. The KSC figured that firing science equipment at a shoreline with rockets was more fun than gently transporting the science equipment. Essentially, the rockets are sea launched probes that are intended to be fired at a shore line.

The helicopter pictured was the craft that I produced for the frigate, the H-1 "Bumble Bee". It is pretty basic and simple at only 30 parts; it's a helicopter built using Firespitter, B9, and KAS. The variant shown is the science version configured with mystery goo containers, atmospheric analysis and sensor payloads. It has a 0.625 docking port on the bottom for expansion that has in the past been used for dropping probes. Minus the advanced sensor payloads that are located way up the tech tree, this would be a great career mode craft. It's range (about 100 km) and top speed (60m/s for an experienced pilot) are not great, as it is not intended to be a long range or a long endurance flier. It is intended for missions launched from the frigate.

Mods used to construct the ship are:

Boat Parts R4 (hull of the ship)

B9 Aerospace (structural Paneling, lights, and helicopter)

Firespitter (helicopter)

Lack Luster Labs (ship super structure and antennas)

Infernal Robotics (prereg for Dromoman)

DROMOMAN (used for robotic arm)

Figaro Global Navigation Satellite System (Navigation system)

Stack Inline Lights (used on the robotic arm)

Kerbal Attachment System (used for robotic arm and heli-deck)

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Edited February 7, 2014 by Raven.
Updated the whole craft

[The Fleet Master]

Ok that's pretty cool, I play stock and this is my best stock ship so far.

EDIT:

I forgot my Experimental Cargo ship.

[Wormhol3]

I suck at ships, but if you want I could make you a half-decent VTOL for that ship. Just give me a size, and manned or unmanned.

[Raven.]

I suck at ships, but if you want I could make you a half-decent VTOL for that ship. Just give me a size, and manned or unmanned.

Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not even sure if I'm going to put the landing pad on it or not. If I do, the landing pad would be dead small, 8x8 meters. The VTOL would have to be akin to a motorcycle.

What my dream is to build a cruiser class ship that's not unlike the French cruiser Jeanne d' Arc because of it's massive helicopter deck (8 helis total): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_cruiser_Jeanne_d%27Arc_%28R97%29

However, a ship of that size is extremely difficult to make even with mods.

[Wormhol3]

8x8 isn't too small for an unmanned craft, also what is that giant area on the back of the ship used for? Couldn't it be used for a landing pad?

[Raven.]

8x8 isn't too small for an unmanned craft, also what is that giant area on the back of the ship used for? Couldn't it be used for a landing pad?

Yeah it could be. It's 8 meters wide and 24 meters long. The ship as a whole is 80 meters long (a US Navy Oliver Hazard class frigate is 138 meters long). I was going to use that area to store kethane tanks, but I can always stick those inside the super structure instead (or even move them closer to the bow) and leave the top clear.

[Raven.]

Finally got the "VTOL" working. Also updated the craft album, as the craft has had a major rework.