BSC: Aeris 4a - AND THE WINNER IS:

[DerpenWolf]

Kerbos 2A

Originally designed by Krek-Tech industries as a simple yet effective SSTO, the Kerbos Space-plane is capable of reaching orbit with over 100 units of fuel to spare (about ~750m/s) if flown properly. Action groups and launch advise are viewable in the vehicles description. For the most part this plane is very stable (it is a bit strange in a role but it is still controllable) and can accelerate to about 1600m/s whilst running the R.A.P.I.E.R. engine on jet mode if you know what you are doing. The aircraft has an EXTREMELY short takeoff distance (can get airborne by about the first middle - mark) and the vessels rear mono-propellent tanks prevent the aft of the plane from being ripped off if you are being a derp. The vessel also has a medium sized docking port as well as a ladder located on the back of the aircraft. The RCS is also balanced rather well, so much to the point where there is very little rotation with SAS off!

http://pastebin.com/MN57Ci8Q

^ Kerbos 2A parked at the island airfield

^ The original version of the spacecraft (military) docked to the Kerbos 2A

[Blaster]

I have had a very long month, and even then, I have a few slight tweaks and a new bird to post.

[Silverchain]

What do people think of my Aeris 4A RedoNE? I want it to be as perfect as whackjobs crazy designs for the challenge!

I liked the general look of the plane (except for the RCS tanks clipped into the wings), although I wondered what all those solar panels are for! Takeoff was good and it handled well during the ascent. I didn't make an orbital rendezvous as it was quite low on fuel, but it seems to have good control on RCS for the two docking ports. Flight during reentry was generally quite good. Unfortunately I didn't time the reentry right and ran out of fuel a short distance before the coast. The plane glided in slowly over the water and splashed down, which largely destroyed it except for the command pod. Looked like it would have no trouble landing elsewhere as it was steady and slow.

The central fuel tank is full of oxidiser - as it is a shared tank you could tweak the amount of oxidiser down by a third or even by half and get better performance all round. The thrust from the rockets was low for the weight of the craft, so it would help with that, too, or you could add an extra pair of radial rockets. In general terms the 24-77s are outclassed by the new 48-7S but I like the unusual layout you're using.

[Giggleplex777]

Well, now he's stranded on Minmus.

[O-Doc]

A newer model Ceremonial landed on one of those little rocky islands out in the bay. I was pleased with my mad landing skills until I broke a wing off driving over the top of the hill and trashed it.

...

I'm interested in people's impressions of the Ceremonial's air intakes. There's a lot of them, but they aren't clipped, all have a reasonably unobstructed forward field and all feed into the central fuel tank that the engine is attached to; it's essentially a giant radial intake around the sides of the fuselage. It certainly doesn't need so many, but it makes flying to orbit much easier...

I like the buggy style, it looks cool. I'm going to have to make one of those for myself. As for the intakes, I believe if they are all unobstructed and upwind from the engine then they are "legit". More so than say, two rams feeding into a single turbo. I think it's more important to have something fun to fly than it being realistic to that level of detail anyway. Especially considering how much of KSP doesn't make a whole lot of sense when you think about it.

[Woopert]

Well, now he's stranded on Minmus.

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

Wow, very nice SSTO there!

I've always wondered why everyone sends their planes to Minmus. Robbaz did it once, and Scott Manley did it in KSP Interstellar Quest. It is entertaining but a traditional style lander makes much more sense

Though I shouldn't be talking, back in 0.19 or something I landed OperationDx1's space plane on Minmus

[capi3101]

Posted to the wrong thread. Oops.

[Kasuha]

I've always wondered why everyone sends their planes to Minmus. Robbaz did it once, and Scott Manley did it in KSP Interstellar Quest. It is entertaining but a traditional style lander makes much more sense

Though I shouldn't be talking, back in 0.19 or something I landed OperationDx1's space plane on Minmus

Thanks to its orbital speed and great plains, on Minmus you can land and take off horizontally.

Also it's the easiest target, you need the least dv to land on it and return, less than on Mun.

[HazelPine]

http://i.imgur.com/YoaN1Za.png

I liked the general look of the plane (except for the RCS tanks clipped into the wings), although I wondered what all those solar panels are for! Takeoff was good and it handled well during the ascent. I didn't make an orbital rendezvous as it was quite low on fuel, but it seems to have good control on RCS for the two docking ports. Flight during reentry was generally quite good. Unfortunately I didn't time the reentry right and ran out of fuel a short distance before the coast. The plane glided in slowly over the water and splashed down, which largely destroyed it except for the command pod. Looked like it would have no trouble landing elsewhere as it was steady and slow.

The central fuel tank is full of oxidiser - as it is a shared tank you could tweak the amount of oxidiser down by a third or even by half and get better performance all round. The thrust from the rockets was low for the weight of the craft, so it would help with that, too, or you could add an extra pair of radial rockets. In general terms the 24-77s are outclassed by the new 48-7S but I like the unusual layout you're using.

Well, I guess that spaceplane will get some changes done today then! I'm gonna change the engines for the other ones, but then I will have to download a fresh install, because even though I made a stock spaceplane for a stock challenge, it still was modded, and KSPI made those engines weak(30 thrust). I'm also going to add MOAR FUEL to the top and bottom where the tiny engines are at. Glad I got some good criticism on it! Thanks!

BTW, I like that photo.

EDIT: Turns out they ae3o thrust in stock ksp too!

Edited March 7, 2014 by SaplingPick

[HazelPine]

Hey guys! New version of Aeris 4A RedoNE, and it got a makeover! check official post for details!

[BagelRabbit]

...I'm done. I can't go any further without overworking this.

The Plover

http://i.imgur.com/LgkMTeU.jpg

Features!

>Super simple! Only 52 parts, and every one counts.

>Intuitive flight path to orbit! You can flub up and still have fuel left to do the job.

>Good at gliding! It can land at under 40 m/s at sea level. I'm not making this up.

>A wonderful plane, in general! Effective and wonderful to fly.

>No intake spam! Only two ram air intakes.

>Easy to reverse-engineer! Almost no part clipping.

It has a docking port on top.

It has plentiful RCS.

It has a probe core for unmanned flights.

It has a ladder for Kerbal EVA ease (seriously, some people don't have this.)

It is very, very compact.

It can fly to a 150x150km orbit and return safely, without refueling, and without using ANY action groups except for SAS and the spacebar.

The Plover is specifically aimed at beginners. It is reasonably easy to launch it to orbit. It is built so that beginners can see every single part, and have a better idea of how they fit together. Its not-too-clippy nature makes it a cinch to build (or reverse-engineer) and its surprisingly powerful thrust system is quite effective at launching to orbit. It has limited range - it can only reliably return from a 150km orbit. But it's a joy to fly, at all altitudes and at all times. It glides astoundingly well and is exceedingly stable in all layers of the atmosphere, and its landings are smooth and gentle regardless of terrain.

Its docking skills are also very good. While it requires a smaller docking port than most entries, it accelerates at a respectable rate with the RCS. This allows beginners to dock with the precision of a pro. Once docked, the Plover can fill its tanks until they are truly full. I would say (rough estimate here!) that this bestows 1,500 m/s Delta-V, enough to orbit the Mun or Minmus.

In addition, the Plover is the safest SSTO I have ever built. It not only has a working abort system but also a full-body parachute system. This allows it to safely land on water, safely resolve dangerous situations and encourage beginning pilots to try again. [No other craft on in challenge has both of these. Some call it overkill. I call it Progress! Landing on water is especially nice for beginners, who may find themselves landing over an ocean.]

.craft file! https://www.dropbox.com/s/t1nl9xmdei9b8fc/Plover%20SSTO.craft

...and here is my improvement on the original Plover. It takes a little longer to get to orbit, and its parachute recovery is slightly less safe, but it can dock now! It can glide without getting into flat spins! It can fly unmanned! It can reach a higher orbit!

I really like this guy.

[edit: Do you like the aesthetics? I tried to make it look cool but...]

Edited March 7, 2014 by UpsilonAerospace

[Tarmenius]

Do you like the aesthetics? I tried to make it look cool but...

I love the compact frame. If your looking for an aesthetic improvement, I'd suggest the structural wing (triangular) over the swept wing. Of course, I may be a bit partial to that piece; but the way I see it, if the fuselage is compact then the wing form should be as well. The way it is now, I think the Plover looks too wide for its length. But the looks of a craft will have little influence over my vote anyway, so take that as you will

[Xeldrak]

Well, after lot of experimenting, I present you my best Space Plane I could come up with:

The CR Atalanta

Javascript is disabled. View full album

I went with a simple, classic spaceplane - using a single jet engine and twin LV-909 rocket engines. It has a docking port with a dedicated docking light, a fully functional RCS system and probe core for unmanned missions. The patented inverted vertical stabilizers keep the dorsal side of the plane free for improved docking simplicity. At 11.39t and 44 parts is realative simple and light for a spaceplane with docking capability and some extra equipment like a ladder and docking lights. I toyed with solar panels but in the end I went with an RTG - flying a spaceplane is allready challenging enough and running dry because you forgot to deploy the solar pannels is annoying. The front break is disabled and there is no parachute or rescue system: it's either win or die.

It handles allright in the lower atmosphere - it's not a fighter plane but it's also no flying brick.

Parts: 44

Mass: 11.39 t (fully tanked)

Fuel:

510 Units Liquid Fuel

440 Units Oxidizer

108 Units Monopropelant

Engines:

1x TurboJet Engine

2x LV-909 rocket engines

Crew capacity: 1

Energy source: PB-NUK Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator

Download the CR Atalanta

[Spartwo]

Well, now he's stranded on Minmus.

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

Don't worry Giggle I'll save you!

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[Mesklin]

Don't worry Giggle I'll save you!

http://imgur.com/a/0adtu

It is really cool aerobraking maneuver , direct hit, no compromises.

[FallingIntoBlack]

Looking back, Sirine's entry looks like an Me-163.

[Giggleplex777]

Dat yaw.

[astropapi1]

Dat yaw.

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

Heh, do you remember that time somebody discovered that you could make super maneuverable planes using tons of reaction wheels and everybody started making them?

[Giggleplex777]

Heh, do you remember that time somebody discovered that you could make super maneuverable planes using tons of reaction wheels and everybody started making them?

There's one reaction wheel on broad and it was disabled for this demonstration.

[astropapi1]

There's one reaction wheel on broad and it was disabled for this demonstration.

Well, then that's a fine piece of engineering you've got there.

[Giggleplex777]

Well, then that's a fine piece of engineering you've got there.

It's neck to neck with Rune's White Dart when it comes to aerodynamics. Mine's got an edge on yaw, though.

[Kasuha]

I have updated my Kaeris I plane - number of small improvements:

- turned off brake on front and tail wheels

- improved ladder placement for easier use

- reduced mass to 13 t to increase range (less monopropellant, removed one NUK)

- added wingtip landing gear for safer landing

And I added album with Duna round trip using it.

Edit: and I just finished a round trip of Laythe with it so I added to list of potential targets.

Edited March 8, 2014 by Kasuha

[Spartwo]

Mine's got an edge on yaw, though.

Can we make this a challenge unto itself?I got ~40 off prograde(no reaction)

Edited March 8, 2014 by Spartwo

[Silverchain]

I've update my entry with a new model, the Ceremonial Go.

[Xeldrak]

I'm somehow amazed by the sheer number of entries - I had expected it to be a rather small BSC because Spaceplanes are more complicated than landers or rovers.....

(And I hadn't produced a single working spaceplane before this competition)