Ever have a build just... get away from you?

[James_Eh]

So I've been fiddling with largish space planes, and over the last couple of evenings have decided that minimalism is maybe not my schtick and so I just started throwing parts on that seemed to help. Center of mass was way too far backwards once fuel levels were low? No prob, I made the capsule heavier. Trouble with initial lift? No prob, added front wings. Need more power for the orbital injection? Kept sticking on engines. And so on.

I recall this problem when I started building rockets way back also. Of course I am far better with them now. But planes, now, they seem to scream for extra bits.

Here is my submission of shame for this syndrome. Am I alone? Or have others tried to do something relatively simple and created monsters?

Front view: Note the teeny engine on the cone used for braking once grounded. Also the extra fuel tank stuck atop the orange tank, 'cause I was hurting for nose weight once fuel was depleted (ie upon re-entry).

Back view: Yah this is unattractive. I wish at least that I had gotten all of those damn fool air intakes to line up properly.

But it flew! It flew! Made orbit and re-entered, missed the KSP by 1/4 of the planet, and I flew to it for a landing. (On the flat bit beside the KSC. I was scared of the runway.)

[r4pt0r]

nice work man. i can never get larger spaceplanes off the runway.

[James_Eh]

Thanks... This one "lifted off" by virtue of the fact that there is a wee slope off the end of the runway - I couldn't pitch up more than about 1 degree or I would scrape off the nukes, so I had to wait until I was over ocean, uncomfortably low, and THEN pitch up. Since this submission I have added an extra fuel can to each of the nukes. The original hope was that this would be a SSTL. Now I am hoping for an orbit of Mun if I'm lucky.

Is there a spot to post "Worst SSTO's ever"?

[FleshJeb]

Hehe, that is SO ugly. I love it! I think I've deleted all my truly awful planes, otherwise I'd share. :-)

[Cirocco]

This one "lifted off" by virtue of the fact that there is a wee slope off the end of the runway

Dude ALL my heavy duty spaceplanes take off this way unless I strap SRB's under the wings for a boosted take-off

The original hope was that this would be a SSTL. Now I am hoping for an orbit of Mun if I'm lucky.

Don't sweat it dude, SSTL's are horribly difficult if you don't stop for a refuel in orbit, especially if you don't want to use excessive part clipping. I've been working on single-stage-to-as-far-as-I-can-get planes as well. Haven't got one past Minmus yet (at least not without assurance that I can get back). Best I got so far is getting to LKO with between 700 and 1000 oxidizer + accompanying fuel. Problem is that the dry mass of SSTO's is so high that interplanetary travel wastes sooooooo much fuel on hauling all that dead weight around.

[Boris_T_Roach]

Looks perfectly sane and normal to me

Boris

[dryer_lint]

I have this exact same problem.

"Ok, this one will be my simplest rocket yet!"

Five minutes later, rocket has 10 stages with dozens of boosters

[softweir]

... snip ...

Ooooh, dat's UGLY!

But... Now try it with FAR...

[Epthelyn]

I end up doing this whenever I create a plane or rocket designed either to be massive for the sake of being so or big enough to do something useful. Rockets aren't so bad because it's almost just a case of inching towards 4.5km/s dV whilst maintaining a decent TWR, but with spaceplanes, particularly any built to reach orbit (SSTO or not) there's more to consider. More engines will get you there faster, but make the craft heavier and usually mess with the carefully aligned CoM and CoL, adding more control surfaces and wings for lift and control makes it easier to get higher and be more maneuverable but that also messes with the balance of the craft unless you're really careful. For me the result is usually alternating between those two stages until I get something that can 'fly' even if can't actually take off from the runway without 'jumping' off the end (or without 4 LV-909s providing upwards thrust to keep the damn thing in the air, as with one of my more recent creations).

Maybe I should stop doing that; I can get a small jet into orbit as an SSTO and return to KSC fairly easily (I have a plane or two parked outside the SPH that have made the trip 6 times with the use of a ground refuelling station), but I've never managed to get anything more than 1.25m-based planes into orbit.

[Moar Boosters]

If you want to build nice looking larger spaceplanes, the best thing to do is make a shell of wing parts, and then use a lot of part-clipping to hide all the ugliness inside.

When you're building big planes you'll almost always have to add a bunch of random wings in places that don't look good to get the balance right. Wings will clip through pretty much anything so you don't need to use the cheat menu, but make sure you strut them so they don't flop around inside the plane and break stuff.

All of these planes have stacks of wings hidden inside the fuel tanks, which balance the center of lift/mass.

[LethalDose]

I have this exact same problem.

"Ok, this one will be my simplest rocket yet!"

Five minutes later, rocket has 10 stages with dozens of boosters

This only happens to me every time I start the game.

Except it's more like a half hour instead of 5 mins.

[Red Iron Crown]

What is the 48-7S on the very tip of the nose for? Course corrections?

[Pecan]

From the OP: "Front view: Note the teeny engine on the cone used for braking once grounded."

[Red Iron Crown]

Oops, clearly I was just looking at the pretty pictures.

[KvickFlygarn87]

So... Uh... inb4whackjob?

Seriously though, I had that with a Duna mission (my first ). It crashed and burned (both literally and figuratively)

[SofusRud]

Don't sweat it dude, SSTL's are horribly difficult if you don't stop for a refuel in orbit, especially if you don't want to use excessive part clipping. I've been working on single-stage-to-as-far-as-I-can-get planes as well. Haven't got one past Minmus yet (at least not without assurance that I can get back). Best I got so far is getting to LKO with between 700 and 1000 oxidizer + accompanying fuel. Problem is that the dry mass of SSTO's is so high that interplanetary travel wastes sooooooo much fuel on hauling all that dead weight around.

I too struggle with SSTL spaceplanes, however, the new ARM parts make it a cinch if you go the VAB route:

[James_Eh]

Thanks a lot Moar B... I ask for pictures of shame and you post those massive things of beauty. I have to ask about #3 in particular - how in the world did it not hit the little obstacles of doom at the sides of the end of the runway? Or did it lift off vertically?

[Eric S]

My first mothership-style mission originally started as an unmanned probe where I wanted to drop a probe on every moon of Jul in a single mission. Before too long, it had turned into a 300+ ton (in orbit, not on the launch pad) ship composed of four pieces docked in orbit, with eight probes, two landers, hydroponics bays, a rotating exercise ring, and room for 20 kerbals, though I only sent 8. Not the first time or the last time I got carried away, but the most memorable.

[sumrex]

I shoot for good aesthetics when it comes to planes, but if experience is any teacher the ugliest girls have a knack for being the best dancers. A no compromise approach usually makes for the most practical vehicles.