Spaceplane powered mun landing

[Olufemi]

Hi all, I've been reading and playing ksp for about a a year but this is my first actual post.

I finally was able to land a rocket launched spaceplane on the mun using one atomic engine and two LT45s.

Definitely not a job for mechjeb as it's very tricky but one of the most satisfying KSP experiences I've had since my Jeb first stepped foot on the Mun about 10 months ago.

Just wondering who else out there lands their spaceplanes on the mun and what kinds of design do you have?

My spaceplane (my first stable creation) has one atomic engine, two main engine LT45s vectored for launch (I can also use them at half power in space if needed) and two jet engines for powered landings in atmospheres. It takes off from the mun by using landing struts to point the nose upward then powering the LT45s at about 1/3 power, all other orbital maneuvers are done by the atomic engine.

Anyway, just curious what other designs are out there.

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere

Cheers

[Linear]

Never really use Spaceplanes outside of atmospheres, but hey i'm a freak for efficiency. They're super fun.

For Laythe etc, i use a small little plane with a double-jet and anything with decent lift and a CoM infront of the CoL xD

[timsfitz]

I use small single Rapier jets for Laythe and small duel ion space planes for Duna. I did take a VTOL to the Mun a while ago, but that was before the Science update.

Ion planes are really quite fun for Duna. You can land and reach orbit multiple times without refueling, though it does take awhile to slow down from orbital speeds.

[CalculusWarrior]

I remember I tried landing a spaceplane on the Mun once...horizontally. It turns out the lack of atmosphere is quite significant!

[Alshain]

I landed an SSTO on Minmus the other day. I thought I needed the Flats to do it but ended up setting it down just like any lander with the only exception being I had to quickly bring the nose down to have the gear below me. I probably could have done it on the Mun. This is the plane I landed but I didn't upload the screenshots and I'm not at the computer at the moment. Maybe later today.

Edited June 25, 2014 by Alshain

[Olufemi]

Alshain - Yes that's the technique I had to use as well. Brought the horizontal speed down to about 30-50 and bled off the vertical speed about 50m above the surface then let gravity do the rest while I bring the nose down.

Worked a lot better than I expected (took 4-5 quick saves to perfect it)

Thanks for the ion tip timsfitz! I haven't experimented much with ion propulsion so it would probably be a great addition.

[Rocket Farmer]

I play totally stock so no fancy parts or mechjeb for me.

For my spaceplanes on airless bodies (SSTMun, SSTMinmas, SSTGilly, & SSTIke and back) I land them tail first and then flop over to land on the gear. I can now fairly easily land within 200m of my Laythe Flats base (most common destination after quick shots to my space stations around kerbal and the mum).

For takeoffs I put 2 reaction nozzles near the front and when I take off I use them to get the nose up a bit as I gain speed.

My SSTDuna however is still a work in progress (resd mothballed) as I have never managed to land it. I can get down under 2,000m and make it back to kerbal but that's the best I have managed. The world is a little hilly for landing and there isn't much lift or drag making it quite different to fly in.

[Dkmdlb]

Spaceplanes on Minmus are fun. Taxi to the end of one of the flats, then turn around and floor it. Watch in amazement as the ground drops out from under the wheels, seemingly on its own accord, the plane having achieved orbital velocity during the takeoff roll.

[Thomas988]

In KSP's current state I only build and fly spaceplanes for fun. I've never used them in a serious scenario nor have I ever taken one higher than LKO. However, with 0.24 approaching quickly I have been building and testing new designs so that when we start having budgets I won't have to use up too much money.

[Scarecrow88]

I only bothered once to make an SSTO spaceplane capable of operating to Mun or Minmus, and for that I designed a VTOL craft that used a 909 rocket engine for take off and landing and the usual arrangement for horizontal flight.

[Madrias]

I've made VTOL-based SSTO's on the Mun a few times. Most of my designs are ugly looking, though.

[Hodo]

I have landed a few SSTO space planes on the Mun, Min, and Ike.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

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This is the secret to landing on atmosphereless worlds with a Spaceplane.

[MiniMatt]

Had some success with a tipper landing - ie. land vertically with offset landing legs which tip the plane onto it's gear wheels on contact. Takeoff is then achieved horizontally.

Album below might illustrate better - though the "wings" in this example were aesthetic and designed to be blown off as part of the second stage:

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[mrmcp1]

My plane was not an SSTO but I used to use this plane for all of my Mun cargo runs.

It lands horizontally so it can deploy cargo. There was only one slight design flaw: that was it could not land back on Kerbin as it have a vertical speed of 30m/s, but it had a escape system.

This is the only picture I could find with good lighting.

[Alshain]

Alshain - Yes that's the technique I had to use as well. Brought the horizontal speed down to about 30-50 and bled off the vertical speed about 50m above the surface then let gravity do the rest while I bring the nose down.

Worked a lot better than I expected (took 4-5 quick saves to perfect it)

Thanks for the ion tip timsfitz! I haven't experimented much with ion propulsion so it would probably be a great addition.

My biggest problem was getting it back. I had to send a tanker out to refuel it 3 times to get back the Kerbin station where I needed it. Mostly because I had trouble getting back into equatorial orbit on the return and those rapiers with that little fuel really don't do that job.