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Work-in-Progress [WIP] Design Thread


GusTurbo

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Stock

No RCS, no Reaction wheels. Only 2 rotors with the bell swashplate. 

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Almost done. A real pleasure to fly it with gamepad, but awful with keyboard. So I should work on it, maybe I'll make 2 versions or more.

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Edited by IkranMakto
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Working on a KSP analogue of NASA's SEV (space exploration vehicle) concept. I've been wanting to do this ever since the new MK2 Lander Can came out (and before I even contemplated to create my own model for a "look-a-like" rover cockpit).

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All Stock (with possibly both DLCs) with the exception of Aviation Lights on the top of the cockpit. Available parts severely limited because of the current progress in my career game.

Current problems:
1) I'm not yet satisfied with the looks, especially the bottom "service bay" section with fuel tanks and solar panels. Maybe I need to build it in sandbox or wait until I have more structural parts unlocked in career...
2) Without some serious use of BG robotics (which I haven't used before) to create some arms, it actually has no ingame use for me. A Klaw below the cockpit to grab things would be nice, but it just doesn't fit the scale (it is way to big).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally got some more time again to continue the navy project.

 

With the addition of new stuff, i taught id bring back something i was supposed to release ages ago.

K-class submarine "Barracuda"

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It's more or less based on a small British submarine, so should fit the bill nice enough.

 

And here's something new as-well

KTB-Spearfish

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  On 11/1/2019 at 10:21 PM, IkranMakto said:

Have you used Breaking Ground propellers for marine crafts? 

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Haven't really had a good chance yet since large ships and submarines require so much thrust (the small sub has a dozen Wheesley's) (was thinking of adding some for decoration, but was afraid they would block the thrust of the rear engines).

But, if and when i do some small torpedo boat's or gunboat's, i'll definitely have to give them a go.

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I've been kept busy by a career save recently (I'd never actually completed the tech tree until this playthrough), but with that done, I freed up enough time to start on another 1:1 build (it'd been a while).

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Not coincidentally, I've been reading Ben Rich's excellent account of his time at Skunkworks. The F-117A has been on my list for a long time, so I channeled the inspiration to being working on the iconic Stealth Fighter.

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Not coincidentally, I've been getting good use of of the techniques that I developed for building my B-2 Spirit. The faceted construction which I used to give the B-2 a properly profiled blended-wing-body is even better suited to the F-117A, and the 1:1 scale allows for larger wing parts to be used over the build for more accurate replication of angles and face shapes. It may not be clear from these screenshots, but the wing and underside is accurately profiled to match the real thing, rather than being purely flat.

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The bomb bay, capable of carrying two laser-designated bombs is replicated here as well. Unfortunately, the engine change in 1.8 breaks this design, so I will have to experiment once I finally get around to updating my game.

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  On 11/3/2019 at 10:45 AM, IkranMakto said:

Did you use contra-rotationg fans? I think it is possible to balance even without reaction wheels. 

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Yes, but since using thrust exhaust diversion ports on the wings for roll stabilization is not possible, certain control axes are assisted with reaction wheels. The main issue I encountered was the difference in engine spool-up time between the rotors and jet engines, but I think I've gotten it to be as clean as I can. 

Edit: I'm gonna try to do this so no reaction wheels are used

Edited by Yaeah
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  On 11/3/2019 at 7:29 PM, Servo said:

I've been kept busy by a career save recently (I'd never actually completed the tech tree until this playthrough), but with that done, I freed up enough time to start on another 1:1 build (it'd been a while).

 

Not coincidentally, I've been reading Ben Rich's excellent account of his time at Skunkworks. The F-117A has been on my list for a long time, so I channeled the inspiration to being working on the iconic Stealth Fighter.

 

Not coincidentally, I've been getting good use of of the techniques that I developed for building my B-2 Spirit. The faceted construction which I used to give the B-2 a properly profiled blended-wing-body is even better suited to the F-117A, and the 1:1 scale allows for larger wing parts to be used over the build for more accurate replication of angles and face shapes. It may not be clear from these screenshots, but the wing and underside is accurately profiled to match the real thing, rather than being purely flat.

 

The bomb bay, capable of carrying two laser-designated bombs is replicated here as well. Unfortunately, the engine change in 1.8 breaks this design, so I will have to experiment once I finally get around to updating my game.

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 Very nice and very clean/

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  On 11/3/2019 at 10:22 PM, Kerbalwerks said:

 Very nice and very clean/

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Thanks! It's definitely a struggle with this one, but that's reassuring to hear

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The fuselage is finished now. Not 100% happy with how the front halves of the engine nacelles turned out, but that's a change to be made later. They're too high on the fuselage, which forces the cockpit to be deformed to match. It shouldn't be too hard to fix, just takes time that I didn't have tonight.

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Other than that, the obvious next step is the vertical stabilizers. After the reshaping of the engine nacelle and the stabs, the only remaining challenge will be undoubtedly the toughest challenge remains: making the darn thing fly. Ben Rich described it as a "planeload of aerodynamic sins", and I'm inclined to agree. Somehow, thanks to the minimal front-facing wing panels, the center of lift is only about a meter in front of the center of mass, which makes the job of making it flyable somewhat easier. An additional challenge remains though, as the engines (six wheesleys, currently) are angled downwards, making takeoff difficult. This could be fixed by switching to junos, but such a ludicrous number of them would be required that I'm avoiding that option. If it comes to it, I might just edit the craft files, but that might get broken in 1.8 unfortunately.

Pictured above is an initial flight test, which both confirmed the necessity of angling the wheesleys down about 2 degrees, and the fact that the thing doesn't want to fly in its current state.

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  On 11/4/2019 at 3:02 AM, Servo said:

the fact that the thing doesn't want to fly in its current state

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Looks really nice, even in its unfinished state. And the flying thing isn't anything that can't be solved by ludicrous amounts of thrust, clipping, and SAS wheels.

Also, what's this I hear about craft file editing becoming borked in 1.8? (I haven't been following updates that closely)

Edited by qzgy
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