Fly this to orbit and back. A pilot challenge

[hebdomad]

We need a test pilot for this new Spaceplane. That's where you come in.

Your mission if you choose to accept it.

Download the spaceplane from the link below.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v8pqtjjytmguryd/Challenge%20Craft%20One.craft

Fly it to orbit (at least 70km Apoapsis/Periapsis) and back to Kerbin.

Post photos and or video of your achievements.

You may alter the staging of this aircraft. But you may not alter the parts. Parts are allow to fall off during flight if it is deemed necessary to achieve the mission.

Good luck...

P.S ... aircraft might have some strange handling qualities, but I'm sure you can figure that out...

Edited July 2, 2014 by hebdomad

[Kadrian]

Please define orbit.

Any kind of scoring system?

Will try this tonight if I find the time. Solid fuel booster could make the plane difficult, but if it manages to punch you the last (or first?) 200 m/s, anything could be possible.

[hebdomad]

As this is a newbie friendly challenge, there is no scoring as such... Just completing the mission is an achievement.

I will add bonus objectives later for those wanting a bit more of a challenge...

[xcorps]

Please define orbit.

QFE. Do you mean an altitude or a speed?

[Kadrian]

QFE. Do you mean an altitude or a speed?

Sitting here and watching the parts file I don't know exactly how this craft will handle. But if (these are estimates) it reaches about 1700 m/s at 30km on the Turbojets before flameout, all you need to do is fire the booster on 10° inclination you will have an apoapsis far beyond the "usual" aesthetically pleasing 100km orbit. Out there you might just use RCS to push the periapsis to > 70km and call it a day.

So I need to know if "stable" is sufficient or if there are points for "nice".

[Kasuha]

This plane is a waste of perfectly good parts but getting it to orbit and back wasn't that hard.

[Superfluous J]

I'm not sure how "Newbie Friendly" this plane is, but I found it fun to work out the puzzle of keeping it balanced.

Javascript is disabled. View full album