Skylon Cargo SSTO v2.0 (UPDATED)

[iDan122]

After very long anticipation and hours of testing, I present you:

Skylon

a replica of Reaction Engines Ltd.'s SSTO

What is this? Here is a presentation video:

The Fleet:

I provide you with 4 versions of the Skylon:

1. Empty cargo bay with a docking port for cargo
   
2. Dockable version with an inline docking port
   
3. Crewed version(4 kerbals to LKO)
   
4. Science! version, packed with science equipment
   

I also provide you with a subassembly of Skylon, meaning you can put your desired .craft into the SPH and attach Skylon to it, easy!

Normal version

Releasing a satellite

Dockable version

Crew version

Yes, you put kerbals in the Hitchhiker, get them out and seat them, then you just jettison it right there on the runway

Science version

Action groups

1-Toggle main engines

2-Toggle RAPIER mode

3-Toggle orbital engine

4-Toggle intakes

5-Toggle cargo bay lights

6-Toggle docking port cover(dockable version only)

8-Science all the things!(science version only)

How to fly:

1. Turn on SAS
   
2. Activate engines
   
3. Take off, remember to pitch up very gently so the back doesn't scrape the runway.
   
4. Climb to about 12km and start gaining as much horiz. speed as possible
   
5. At 21km it is advised to switch engine mode manually
   
6. Get as low an apoapsis as you can get
   
7. Circularize with main engines
   
8. Turn off main engines and use orbital engine from now on
   

WARNING! DO NOT PUSH THROTTLE OVER 2/3 THRUST WHEN IN ROCKET MODE

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Downloads

Skylon pack

Regular Skylon

Dockable Skylon

Crewed Skylon

Science Skylon

Skylon subassembly

V 2.0 Features:

Skylon now takes off before end of runway!(special thanks to Mareczex333)

Stability increased.

Crewed version seats are neatly arranged now.

Edited April 30, 2014 by iDan122

[Jeb Cubed]

Yeah the lift ration is always going to be terrible on Skylons, I tried clipping wings on my Skylon attempt. It ended up blowing up because of the clipping. Anyways love it. What is the cargo versions max cargo weight?

[Frank_G]

Thanks for sharing this cool craft. I´ll give it a try tomorrow.

[iDan122]

Pretty much every version can carry cargo, around 5 Tons

In fact, I did clip another wing into the wing, but still even that ins t enough.

The main challenge in this Skylon was managing the fuel pump age system. I also had to place struts carefully so tht the back wouldn't droop too much under weight.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Edited April 28, 2014 by iDan122

[Redrobin]

Looks like a pretty wild ride on the crew variant:P

[CaptainKipard]

I think you should use imgur galleries. No one wants to wait for 9 huge images to load at once.

[iDan122]

I wish I could, but my imgur is at the tip of the limit (225 pics) and to extend it I need to pay, so I use Flickr.

But I can't seem to be able to embed Flickr albums

[Elmetian]

Very nice replicas iDan. It's not often that I download other people's craft

I wish I could, but my imgur is at the tip of the limit (225 pics) and to extend it I need to pay, so I use Flickr.

But I can't seem to be able to embed Flickr albums

Don't worry about the 225 pic limit on imgur. When you go over it it doesn't delete the older images, it just means you can't access them*. However, if you make sure to add all of your images to albums you can always access them, even if you're well over the limit. Check out my imgur page via my sig. I've currently got 1916 images, most of which are in albums and still visible.

*I've also found that if you go to your imgur images page and reorder so that it's ascending by time uploaded, you can still view the first 240 images anyway

[Mareczex333]

Nice

I can help you with take off but I'm busy at this moment. Give me 4-5h ;d

[iDan122]

Nice

I can help you with take off but I'm busy at this moment. Give me 4-5h ;d

Hehe sure mareczex however don't think it's that easy, I alreayd clipped a lot of control surfaces into the thing.

Btw, It would be awesome if you made a vid

I'm asking too much, btw your videos are awesome, keep it up!(subbed btw)

Don't worry about the 225 pic limit on imgur. When you go over it it doesn't delete the older images, it just means you can't access them*. However, if you make sure to add all of your images to albums you can always access them, even if you're well over the limit. Check out my imgur page via my sig. I've currently got 1916 images, most of which are in albums and still visible.

*I've also found that if you go to your imgur images page and reorder so that it's ascending by time uploaded, you can still view the first 240 images anyway

Hmm, I didn't know that, thanks! I didn't really like flickr anyway...

[kiwi1960]

I gotta say, I loved the video.... it reminds me of....

Thunderbirds (the old puppet series) with the X5 taking off...

And then.... the passenger rocket in 2001, a space odyssey...

Simply brilliant.... I'll give them a go tomorrow, I'll make the buggers fly....

[iDan122]

Thanks for the feedback! If mareczex manages to make the thing take off before dropping like a brick, he will get a 'master aeronautics engineer' medal.

[Mareczex333]

ok, I'm home. I'm launching ksp, so be ready ;d

[Mareczex333]

Fixed

Now I'm working how to make it less part use (now it's 8 parts more)

[Mareczex333]

Update:

Skylon fix: + 4 parts (Regular Skylon)

LINK

It take offs at 90-95m/s. You need to gently pitch up ;d

Edited April 29, 2014 by Mareczex333

[iDan122]

Update:

Skylon fix: + 4 parts (Regular Skylon)

LINK

It take offs at 90-95m/s. You need to gently pitch up ;d

I just tested it and I gotta say, it really does work!

Awesome job, I'll update all the versions tomorrow. I see what you did there, you pretty much put flaps on both ends which basically 'scoop' the thing into the air

Clever, although I doubt it'll work in FAR, but very few use that anyway. I'll make sure to give you credit.

[Mareczex333]

You don't have to ;d My work isn't worth for that (I added just 4 parts).

Like you said, it won't work with FAR. I don't quite understand how real skylon fly (I mean take off with so small lift and speed + big mass) so I don't know how to fix it

[iDan122]

Hmm, I think if we look closely, the Skylon's engine nozzles are pointed a little down at the ground. Perhaps that is the case? Aside for thrust slightly pointing away from the ground there is nothing else i can think of...

[ILikeRockets]

*gasps*

This is awesome!

Makes me want to learn to create and actually fly SSTO's!

[iDan122]

New version released! See patch notes, and thanks again to Mareczex333 for making this thing actually fly properly.

[iDan122]

Funny how there is always "that troll" that just puts a 1 star rating to every thread

[Rune]

You don't have to ;d My work isn't worth for that (I added just 4 parts).

Like you said, it won't work with FAR. I don't quite understand how real skylon fly (I mean take off with so small lift and speed + big mass) so I don't know how to fix it

RL Skylon lifts off at close to twice the speed of your usual airliner (~300km/h), so that's how. Won't work in KSP's aerodynamic model, but in FAR you would probably get enough lift to take off if you go fast enough (which FAR makes it possible by not making the atmosphere an incompressible sticky gel). So yeah, Skylon gets by by screaming down the runway, proving that as long as you can get rotation, and keep accelerating, and have a long and smooth enough runway, you can take off.

On landing, of course, the whole thing is empty and it's like landing a paper plane, very low wing loading. And you get lift fromthe fuselage, another thing KSP's standard aerodynamic model also doesn't give you.

Rune. I'm going to have to try FAR one of these days.

[Giggleplex777]

Funny how there is always "that troll" that just puts a 1 star rating to every thread

Pico space program and Odysseus STS is at 4 stars now. :/

I'm rating any thread that has 1 star with 5 stars.

[iDan122]

Pico space program and Odysseus STS is at 4 stars now. :/

I'm rating any thread that has 1 star with 5 stars.

I agree, the voting mechanism should be re-done, or at least ratings should be public(aka you know who put how many stars)

[Bigred2989]

Where do you put the sub assembly files in KSP?