totm june 2018 Work-in-Progress [WIP] Design Thread

[ScriptKitt3h]

Well, I just finished a giant colony ship, so it's an ex-WIP.

(However, I need to put some colony modules for it to haul onboard.)

Has a humongous cargo bay/hangar/dock:

What do ya'll think?

[Redrobin]

Watch out, cosine losses really add up.

[iDan122]

Here is my latest Minmus probe:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[Giggleplex777]

What's up with all that monopropellant tanks?

[Redrobin]

Looks like his descent stage is powered by RCS

[iDan122]

What's up with all that monopropellant tanks?

The lander part of the probe lands on RCS, the re-entry part has 4 RCS thrusters too to get away from the Minmus escape stage prior to re-entry.

[Darth Lazarus]

finaly imgur works again for me

here a pic of my Delta IV heavy. it's already finished.

the tank on top is just the payloadtest

[Redrobin]

I've gotten into making WWI/WWII era planes.

[Cupcake...]

Still a wee bit of fine tuning to do but its getting there.

Cupcake...

[Darth Lazarus]

time to work again on my Soyuzpack

here an other WIP

[Elmetian]

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Installed a veritable crapton of mods this weekend. Been running stock KSP for months now and I've wanted to play with Pwings and B9 bits really badly. First thing I did was build a Skylon, then discovered the CFASTT design study by the University of Strathclyde quite by accident while I was looking for good Skylon pics to work from.

The chines make it look much more sinister in my opinion. In order to make them I mounted the Pwings at 90° so that the leading edge is more or less parallel with the fuselage. Unfortunately when they're placed like this they don't provide lift in stock KSP (hence the additional canards). The chines are dead weight. It'll just about carry a 5 ton payload to orbit, but it glides like a brick. Anyone know if FAR would model the lift on the chines correctly? I haven't felt the urge to install it until now.

[Darnok]

Second try in service module for MPCV

Now it can hold two tiny objects and there is a little space for 1.25 parts

But why tiny docking ports have to be so large... I need to design cargo doors :/

[Captain Sierra]

Short answer: Yes.

FAR also models proper lifting body physics which is what I believe those would fall under. I'm not sure of the technical details but if it works IRL, then there's a 92% chance it will work with FAR.]

@Darnok, are you limiting yourself to stock? If not, take a look at the 6S part by Nothke. There's another I can think of but I cannot remember the name off the top of my head.

[Darnok]

Yes, I am doing stock, except mechjeb for dv and lifters tests with autopilot.

There was time when I used fairings mod, but now I am trying to avoid it, I hope soon we will have stock fairings

[Redrobin]

Big Vostok under work.

[iDan122]

Not exactly Russian, but here she is, Vega launcher:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Uh oh, post number 666! I am unlucky...

Edited May 13, 2014 by iDan122

[Darth Lazarus]

Designimprovments of my Proton and (hidden inside the fairings) the LOK.

got some ideas for an overall better look and shape and stabilityimprovments. ... i love the enginecover of the second stage !

[Darth Lazarus]

i got bored with rockets so i build my first plane EVER in KSP (and i play for more then one and a half year LOL)

still highly WIP, think about to making it SSTO ...

[Mesklin]

2 stages fully reusable rocket based launch system (like DH-1). 4 passengers, 1 pilot, Mun orbit capable, dock and return without refueling

Vertical ascend

Start horizontal acceleration

First stage landed and ready for refuelling

[Darth Lazarus]

hrm ... some improvments of my flying wing ... still not that satisfied, but it's flying very well ... for my first plane

Edited May 14, 2014 by Darth Lazarus

[iDan122]

My new Kaltair lander WIP, an Altair lander lookalike:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[SofusRud]

The second iteration of a craft that I have previously shared on this thread, the Orthros Mk-2. The first version was an atmospheric plane, the purpose of which was to improve my airframe making skills (I basically nicked the main body from that). This version is going to be a full-on SSTO, with the hope that it can carry a full Jumbo into LKO.

So far I have been fiddling with it and gotten it to be relatively stable and managed to keep the COM from moving too much after the cargo has been dropped.

However, it has problems with maneuverability when it has cargo in the hold, and it starts to loose attitude control at around 6 km up. I can only get it to about 7 km before it starts going down.

I'm probably just going to have to keep throwing engines, fuel and wing parts at it until it works, but if anybody has some useful advice on how to make it work better I'd be happy to hear it.

[Rune]

In my quest after the perfect turbojet/RAPIER combo for a SSTO, I have stumbled into a very weird bug... engines that drop thrust when they overheat! See, here's the best picture I can give of this bug (I think it's a bug) kinda happening:

The setup is basically a RAPIER put after a fuel tank, and then a turbojet mounted on an upside-down strut surface-mounted to the back of the fuel tank. No fuel lines to make it work, and it takes off without a hitch with both engines giving off usable thrust.

Now here comes the funny part. Once you hit about 20kms, the jet engine starts to overheat. Nothing wrong there, it it wasn't for the fact that even though it reads only a slightly lowering thrust, vertical speed starts dropping like a stone, because the engine stops producing any measurable thrust. Drop the thrust limiter to get rid of the overheating sign, and you again rise up. Anyone care to explain what is going on if they know? It took me a lot of time to track it down to the engine stopping thrusting, at first I thought it as an aerodynamic thing... (the plane struggled a bit over 10kms as most of my T/W starved designs)

Rune. Is very baffled by this.

[Overfloater]

The second iteration of a craft that I have previously shared on this thread, the Orthros Mk-2. The first version was an atmospheric plane, the purpose of which was to improve my airframe making skills (I basically nicked the main body from that). This version is going to be a full-on SSTO, with the hope that it can carry a full Jumbo into LKO.

http://i.imgur.com/Z6W9OIX.png

http://i.imgur.com/AJqTlgY.png

So far I have been fiddling with it and gotten it to be relatively stable and managed to keep the COM from moving too much after the cargo has been dropped.

However, it has problems with maneuverability when it has cargo in the hold, and it starts to loose attitude control at around 6 km up. I can only get it to about 7 km before it starts going down.

http://i.imgur.com/AgJ7xed.png

http://i.imgur.com/uRJMpg0.png

http://i.imgur.com/gZjyGGJ.png

I'm probably just going to have to keep throwing engines, fuel and wing parts at it until it works, but if anybody has some useful advice on how to make it work better I'd be happy to hear it.

CONTROL SURFACES!!! Did you put controls on the front of your plane?

I suggest you put an adequate amount of controls on the front and on the back.

Also, look at the bottom image, this is a good technique for heavy craft:

Tilt the rear controls 10~15 degrees down and the front upward - This way your plane will naturally want to pull up. It turned my clumsiest planes to the most excellent gliders.

You could do it like this(That's Spartwo's craft):

Or if you like dirty tricks like me:

Edited May 16, 2014 by Overfloater

[Darth Lazarus]

next update: work on my flying wing is nearly done standard and advanced versions are complete and the SSTO needs some minor updates (and i need flyingpractice)