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

[iDan122]

Yeah, there were some minor malfunctions, it was the very first flight after all...

[Ravenchant]

iDan122, that propulsion stage is gorgeous!

Meanwhile, can anyone share their opinion on this fairing? Should I make it pointier, or is it okay for an Ariane lookalike? (it separates in two pieces, btw)

[Majorjim!]

iDan122, that propulsion stage is gorgeous!

Meanwhile, can anyone share their opinion on this fairing? Should I make it pointier, or is it okay for an Ariane lookalike? (it separates in two pieces, btw)

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af109/Ravenchant/KSP/screenshot44_zps0c5a010a.png

I like it.

You say that it separates into two halves. Looking at it I am guessing that the two halves are unequal?

I like the way you used the cubics and solar panels to cover the gaps. I used this on my Skylab selene craft.

You did a nice job on this mate. Can you post a video of the release?

MJ

[iDan122]

Since you asked, I might as well make a video, I'm feeling this will look great on video!

[Majorjim!]

Since you asked, I might as well make a video, I'm feeling this will look great on video!

Nice. *Twiddles thumbs*

[iDan122]

Mir still WIP, finishing developing Kavnt-2, and got the thing to Duna, had to use Explorer which happened to be in Duna orbit with a ton of fuel

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[Ravenchant]

You say that it separates into two halves. Looking at it I am guessing that the two halves are unequal?

Your guess would be correct One half has 7 columns of panels, the other 5. I am crappy at making videos, though, so this picture and a craft file in the near future will have to do:

Also, I owe you big thanks for posting your building techniques, especially the inside-out panels one! They are always "woah" moments for me, and get shamelessly plagiarised put to good use

[Majorjim!]

Your guess would be correct One half has 7 columns of panels, the other 5. I am crappy at making videos, though, so this picture and a craft file in the near future will have to do:

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af109/Ravenchant/KSP/screenshot46_zps907e9311.png

Also, I owe you big thanks for posting your building techniques, especially the inside-out panels one! They are always "woah" moments for me, and get shamelessly plagiarised put to good use

I'm glad i could help even a little mate. You've done a great job with that fairing Ravenchant. Making them equal with panels is tricky as if more than one clip into one panel they glitch when releasing.

MJ

[iDan122]

Hmm, I should learn the art of fairings a bit more. Half fairings are a real pain for me, btw those look awesome raven!

EDIT: The Orion MPCV video is done! All that is left is to take some more pics and upload to youtube!

My first 'proper' video

Edited May 5, 2014 by iDan122

[SofusRud]

Here are a couple of projects I have underway

Orthros Mk-1

At this point its a purely atmospheric plane. I wanted to work on my air-frame-making skills, in particular with regards to the construction of a large SSTO. What with all the lifting surfaces it flies like a dream, even though its not as balanced as I would like, but then again this was without a payload. I hope to later turning it into a proper SSTO, with cargo capacity and interplanetary range and what have you.

Kylon Mk-1

an attempt at making a Skylon look-and-workalike using the new extra large fuel tanks as the main fuselage. As you can see in the pictures, it has gone through several iterations, with each one subtracting excess fuel, increasing number of engines, increasing amount of wing surface and so on. At present moment it has 8 RAPIERs and 2 Turbojets, and can actually lift off after the end of the runway although it looks far less like the Skylon than it did initially. I previously had to switch to rocket mode on the RAPIERs or add disposable solid rocket boosters in order to take off, and disposable SRBs kinda goes against the concept of an SSTO. At present moment it can climb to about 6km before it begins to loose vertical speed and starts descending.

early version

current state

any ideas on how to improve this design or should i drop this crazy idea?

[eorin]

I'm working on my old XB-70 replica to make it better (looks and performance) take some photos

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[Rune]

Hmm, I should learn the art of fairings a bit more. Half fairings are a real pain for me, btw those look awesome raven!

EDIT: The Orion MPCV video is done! All that is left is to take some more pics and upload to youtube!

My first 'proper' video

I've found the trick to be vertical snapping (with editor tools) and, more importantly, to build them in the opposite order your brain tells you to: first lay the whole thing flat horizontal without angles somewhere, and then start angling from the outside in, and vertical snap will let you get everything perfect and in the exact middle.

On a related note, now that I can make good fairings, I've set about correcting the fact that R-SUV offers no line of general purpose lifters. So far only the 20mT one is properly tested/tweaked, but the family is starting to take shape. I might throw in another one with 75mT payload, what do you guys think? Considering I do know they sacrifice a lot to aesthetics and "realism"...

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Edit: Now the 10mT Booster is also tested. Check the imgur album for progress details!

Rune. No, I'm not missing, I just have little time for the forums nowadays.

Edited May 6, 2014 by Rune

[iDan122]

Woah, those are very nice lifters(and fairings). I just made 2 reliable SLS lifters, one of them can take a whole mothership to Jool XD

[Giggleplex777]

Wow, Rune! Awesome rockets!

I'm building a little rocket family, too:

2.5 mT launcher:

For sending probes to space. 3 stages

5 mT launcher:

Has a large fairing to fit wide payloads. 2 stages

...And of course, my Space Shuttle:

5 mT and a crew of 3 to orbit. Designed to be used instead of the other 5 mT launcher if the payload is less than 2m in diameter. Also used for crew transfers and LKO/MKO rescues.

Making unconventional rockets is fun.

Edited May 6, 2014 by Giggleplex777

[Woopert]

Amazing stuff, both Rune and Giggleplex! Well, everything on this thread is amazing!

By the way, do you still use Better Atmospheres, Giggleplex?

[eorin]

XB-70 Valkyrie with infernal robotics variable wing inclination like the real one, for a perfect wave rider!

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[Giggleplex777]

By the way, do you still use Better Atmospheres, Giggleplex?

No, I removed it.

On a different note, a 1 ton launcher:

It can actually send 1 mT to GTO rather than just LKO.

[Darnok]

MPCV Service Module

[Giggleplex777]

Okay here's what I've built so far (and a few more that are not pictured).

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The naming system:

First number: The number of URMs (Universal Rocket Module) used. Currently ranges from 1 to 3.

Second number: The number of engines on the second stage. Ranges from 1 to 3. If no second stage is used, a 0 would be in this place.

Third number: The type of upper stage used. There are three upper stages as of time of posting. A zero is used if there is no upper stage.

Additional symbols: The number after the dash signifies how many Pico Boosters are used. An 'M' after the dash signifies the use of an additional Block 2 upper stage (if another upper stage is also used). An 'X' indicates that the launcher uses crossfeeding between boosters.

Example: Epsilon 331X-2M

- 3 URMs

- 3 engines on the second stage

- Block 1 upper stage used

- Crossfeeding used

- 2 Pico Boosters used

- a Block 2 upper stage is also used (on top if the Block 1)

The differences between their lifting capacities isn't big, but they are quite different physically and have different roles, too (e.g. sending payloads to GTO/GSO or high inclination orbits).

Edited May 8, 2014 by Giggleplex777

[Darth Lazarus]

FINALY found some good informations about the RCS system on the PPTS ... seems i have to completely rework my version ... or i will stay kerbal-style. landinggears and rockets are working and i have enough fuel in the Proton to loft more, maybe i will add the orbital scienceorb or so ...

imgur still nt working for me -.-

[panzerknoef]

I've been working on a Saturn-V looking rocket (lander isn't suposed to look eagleish). Although it has already been released, i just can't get those fairings to not look crappy! So yeah... Work in progress

The Neptune-IV:

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Thread: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/79133-Neptune-IV-%28Apollo-style%21%29

[SofusRud]

I went back to my large cargo SSTO that i posted about earlier this week and did some major reworking. Here's what I've got so far:

As you can see, i decided to get rid of the Kerbodyne S3-7200 tanks in favor of the large adapter and some good old-fashioned X200-32s. with this reduction in mass it flew much better than the previous version, and it means that i can keep the cargo bay, which I am quite fond of.

And yes, this one can actually make it into orbit.

It handles reentry quite well. It is very stable overall and I have had no flip-outs or the like, something which i attribute to the way fuel is routed. Each end of the middle fuselage pumps to a separate engine block on the wings. I also am quite thankful for the tweakables system that allows me to see how my COM is going to move during flight, that has saved me a lot of grief.

I did manage to land it on it's maiden voyage. However, touchdown was a little rougher than I would have liked, and as you can see, one of my wings got a little damaged.

The craft is still very much a WIP. It runs out of air very quickly, and I had to ride the RAPIER on rocket mode from 1300m/s and up. I probably have a sub-optimal amount of fuel and oxidizer on board, and I still worry if I have too much mass in general. This worries me as it might mean that i cant carry as heavy cargo into orbit as I would like.

Also I am having trouble with the landing gear, in that in order to space them out horizontally I have put them on the wings, which means that they are quite far forward. This increases chances of a tail-strike and therefore reduces my ability to flair properly during landing. This is part of the reason why the landing on maiden voyage was so rough and why part of the right wing is missing.

Another issue is that i had quite a bit of trouble getting the cargo out of the hold while in orbit. This was due to the delta-canards at the back of the cargo bay. In the end I had to use Time Warp to get it out, so that something I need to fix.

The craft uses the Stock Rebalance mod, but this only means that the nosecones and adapters have fuel in them. At any rate I think it might fly better without the fuel in those parts, so future versions will for all practical purposes be stock.

I should also mention that the whole thing, apart from the generic test payload that it put into orbit, is a subassembly. For ease of use you understand.

Any helpful advice would be appreciated.

Edited May 8, 2014 by SofusRud

[Jetenginestar]

An-225 Mock-up

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It probably wouldn't see daylight until the next few months when I have time. Making a movable Cargo Door that is reliable should be a challenge

[iDan122]

Mir is slowly starting to take shape. Dev is not lighting fast since I have to send every module to Duna

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[Rune]

I went back to my large cargo SSTO that i posted about earlier this week and did some major reworking. Here's what I've got so far:

http://i.imgur.com/KW9WbjQ.png

As you can see, i decided to get rid of the Kerbodyne S3-7200 tanks in favor of the large adapter and some good old-fashioned X200-32s. with this reduction in mass it flew much better than the previous version, and it means that i can keep the cargo bay, which I am quite fond of.

And yes, this one can actually make it into orbit.

http://i.imgur.com/06p08Kc.png

It handles reentry quite well. It is very stable overall and I have had no flip-outs or the like, something which i attribute to the way fuel is routed. Each end of the middle fuselage pumps to a separate engine block on the wings. I also am quite thankful for the tweakables system that allows me to see how my COM is going to move during flight, that has saved me a lot of grief.

http://i.imgur.com/eofQh64.png

http://i.imgur.com/OQ0G9aC.png

I did manage to land it on it's maiden voyage. However, touchdown was a little rougher than I would have liked, and as you can see, one of my wings got a little damaged.

http://i.imgur.com/TXPsmO8.png

The craft is still very much a WIP. It runs out of air very quickly, and I had to ride the RAPIER on rocket mode from 1300m/s and up. I probably have a sub-optimal amount of fuel and oxidizer on board, and I still worry if I have too much mass in general. This worries me as it might mean that i cant carry as heavy cargo into orbit as I would like.

Also I am having trouble with the landing gear, in that in order to space them out horizontally I have put them on the wings, which means that they are quite far forward. This increases chances of a tail-strike and therefore reduces my ability to flair properly during landing. This is part of the reason why the landing on maiden voyage was so rough and why part of the right wing is missing.

Another issue is that i had quite a bit of trouble getting the cargo out of the hold while in orbit. This was due to the delta-canards at the back of the cargo bay. In the end I had to use Time Warp to get it out, so that something I need to fix.

The craft uses the Stock Rebalance mod, but this only means that the nosecones and adapters have fuel in them. At any rate I think it might fly better without the fuel in those parts, so future versions will for all practical purposes be stock.

I should also mention that the whole thing, apart from the generic test payload that it put into orbit, is a subassembly. For ease of use you understand.

Any helpful advice would be appreciated.

Well, it is looking much better, but I still think you have too much fuel for a payload bay that size. Also, try stretching the wing forwards with structural wings and/or delta wings, that would look cool and give a lot of lift per area. But you are really, really heavy for that wing in any case, so perhaps hiding a few more wings insidew the fuselage? You know, "to simulate the lifting body effect the real skylon uses" (the last part is actually true, skylon has more lifting surface in the body than in the wings).

So yeah, in general, increase the lift/weight ratio somehow, and it'll fly much better. Check out the SSTO's on R-SUV (especially the Broadsword, since it lifts pretty much whatever fits your bay) to see some powerplant/fuel combos that work, the rest is aerodynamics (i.e: add wings till it flies).

As to what I'm up to, among other things, the lifter family proceeds happily along, you can check out how I'm doing by seeing the imgur album a few posts up. The 10mT booster has completely changed but now I'm happy with it, and I have this gorgeous monstrosity refined:

100mT to orbit with no fuel line trickery and a beautiful ascent profile. The beast is so big I need two shots to show it in the VAB, on account of that humongous shroud. Yeah, those are 2x2 panels, and it can fit 3.75m payloads inside with room to spare. I hope that's big enough for you guys.

Rune. Yeah, I didn't expect it to be, really.