Better SSTO Spaceplane Challenge (0.23.5+0.24) Fin!

[DaMichel]

@Hodo: No holding off please. I don't think anyone would mind if you participated Today is the deadline for submission. So hurry up.

@Wanderfound: I'll give her another try. Fairness demands as much. Unfortunately i had her already in orbit when you posted the updated i believe. Then i finished the flight later on and after that i saw your update ...

[Wanderfound]

@Wanderfound: I'll give her another try. Fairness demands as much. Unfortunately i had her already in orbit when you posted the updated i believe. Then i finished the flight later on and after that i saw your update ...

I'm choosing to look on the bright side: you just proved that the Migration is good enough to make it to orbit even when it's massively out of tune.

Given the repeated action group weirdnesses and such, it's probably worthwhile checking the tweakables in the hangar before you go. If anything except the rudders are set to influence yaw, something is amiss.

Edited August 31, 2014 by Wanderfound

[shufflermuffler]

Whats the deal with voting?

[Hodo]

Here it is.. a stock FAR craft for this challenge. It is a simple cheap SSTO space plane for science missions.

SP-10

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The instructions are in the description box for the craft. It is a simple plane to fly. Highly suggest flying with SAS on. But I believe it can be flown with it off, never tried.

Mods used.

FAR, Stock, and TAC Fuel Balance. I do suggest some kind of fuel balancing option but it is fine without it.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gkqmh3cqdgme54v/SP-10A.craft?dl=0

Check the action groups should be setup as follows.

ABORT- decouple and toggle sepetrons.

1- Toggle Turbojet

2- Toggle 24-77 rockets

3- Toggle RAM Intakes

8- Toggle ladder

Brakes should only have the rear landing gear on it.

WARNING, LOCK STAGING to prevent accidental crew cockpit ejection.

Have fun testing it out, it is a fun plane for me, and it has a science nose cone for testing things while going around.

I debated long and hard about what craft to post, but I decided the one with the least amount of mods used in it. I didn't want to try and remember which ones had TAC life support or Procedural wings or Procedural tanks on them. So I went with my stock SP-10 test craft that I use for most of my game changing tests. I could have went with a standard RAPIER setup but wanted something old fashioned and so I left it that way. Overall it is not a work horse for me, I realized most of my work horse SSTO space planes are MASSIVE and are very much a work horse, no frills kind of craft.

This almost ended up being my entry, but I wasn't sure how many people had started using the new B9 parts.

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It is modeled after the C-17 Starlifter.

Edited September 2, 2014 by Hodo

[Sirine]

Times up. No more entry.

[Wanderfound]

How much time do we have for final flight testing before the votes are due?

[Sirine]

(From my geo-location).After that, on 31-Aug-2014 the voting process start and you got 7 days to test and vote. (There are no cooling periods of test flight). Test and vote at the same times (7 days). Vote close and top 3 winner announce at 7-Sep-2014

[sumrex]

Man it is tough to pick one. While I like the you get range from the astrocruiser and the the wedgie plane has a Grumman Ironworks plane feel to it. I think I will go with the Alrai. It just speaks to me for some reason.

[Hodo]

Sirine, you forgot to add my craft to the front page. It made it in before the deadline.

[DaMichel]

Next try with the Migration. This time control surfaces were certainly assigned properly and i flew it as intended. All is well as long as you fly in a straight line. It turns well at super sonic speeds, too. But at low speed it side slips a lot and so i still found it hard to fly properly.

The test flight was fun though. And here we are back, that was a close call but we are safe

@Hodo: I have a little problem with your craft file. It demands mk2-2Cockpit, which i don't have and don't know where to get it from. Is this perhaps a customized version from you?

Edited September 1, 2014 by DaMichel

[Wanderfound]

Next try with the Migration. This time control surfaces were certainly assigned properly and i flew it as intended. All is well as long as you fly in a straight line. It turns well at super sonic speeds, too. But at low speed it side slips a lot and so i still found it hard to fly properly.

The test flight was fun though. And here we are back, that was a close call but we are safe

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

That's a fair call; it'd make a lousy dogfighter or aerobatics plane. It was built for the specialised purpose of taking bulk quantities of passengers or cargo to space at extreme speed, and that's what it's good at.

Thanks for giving it another go. Glad you had fun

Edited September 2, 2014 by Wanderfound

[Hodo]

Next try with the Migration. This time control surfaces were certainly assigned properly and i flew it as intended. All is well as long as you fly in a straight line. It turns well at super sonic speeds, too. But at low speed it side slips a lot and so i still found it hard to fly properly.

The test flight was fun though. And here we are back, that was a close call but we are safe

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

@Hodo: I have a little problem with your craft file. It demands mk2-2Cockpit, which i don't have and don't know where to get it from. Is this perhaps a customized version from you?

Oh... I think that is the version with the MJ module in it... I didn't think of that. I will fix it.

EDIT- fixed it, redownload the craft from the original post link. I forgot that I have two sets of stock cockpits, ones with MJ and ones without.

Edited September 2, 2014 by Hodo

[Sirine]

@Hodo Don't worries, you're in.

[Xeldrak]

Now thats an interesting solution to the "too many participants for the forum poll function". I never even considered it.

[Hodo]

@ Sirine,

Thanks.

And how does the voting work, are we to vote for one per thread? Or one total?

Edited September 2, 2014 by Hodo

[Sirine]

@Xeldrak Well, I'm not sure if moderator will allow me to do so. I just post and hope they don't delete it. However, no harm to try.

@Hodo 1 vote per participant (1 total). Choose your favorite space-plane, give a word or two about your selection (optional).

[Hodo]

I voted for the Kerbadine Migration, after all of the craft that I tested, I think 4 or 5 total, it was a very good craft the best in my opinion. It was honestly close between that and the Laythe Wing. Which was another outstanding craft.

[Wanderfound]

I voted for the Kerbadine Migration, after all of the craft that I tested, I think 4 or 5 total, it was a very good craft the best in my opinion.

Aww, shucks. Thanks, Hodo.

[Voculus]

I admit I'm a mod snob, and dislike most all-stock craft, bot O-Doc did such a fine job with Robin 1.0, I want to throw my lot in with his ship, and commend his workmanship! Well done, sir!

[O-Doc]

I admit I'm a mod snob, and dislike most all-stock craft, bot O-Doc did such a fine job with Robin 1.0, I want to throw my lot in with his ship, and commend his workmanship! Well done, sir!

Thanks alot, much appreciated. I'm tempted to vote for your Beak of Darkness but, I need more time to look though everyone's effort. There's some mod installing to do.

EDIT: OK guys, I've looked through the list and I'll include SP+, B9 and FAR as my mods to install for judging. Sorry if your craft require more mods. My machine only has 4GB RAM so mods with parts are a problem for me but, I will make an install with these three mods for this occasion.

Edited September 2, 2014 by O-Doc

[Voculus]

I don't think mine will work with the new B9 pack, in any case. There's always next time!

[British_Rover]

Thanks for test flying my craft. Was out for a few days but will try to fly as many as I can before the voting time is up.

I still have trouble landing that thing though so kudos for you guys for landing it with ease.

My plan with it was to get a vehicle that could either single stage to most celestial bodies or single stage after a refueling and by the numbers it can. The problem is in order to get that kind efficiency you need to make a flying gas tank with minimal engines. This means the burn times are enormous. I just finished a 30 minute burn to Moho for example. Yeah it is cool but not practical really.

Better to have more thrust and to be able to complete the burn in only one or two orbits.

[Wanderfound]

Last minute reviews: Hodo's SP-10.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/86202-Better-SSTO-Spaceplane-Challenge-%280-23-5-0-24%29-Polling-Started%21%281st-Part%29?p=1387320&viewfull=1#post1387320

Fairly neat aesthetics for a stock parts plane. I'm never gonna like those 1950's cockpits, though.

The gear setup makes tailstrike a definite risk.

Fortunately, the airframe geometry makes pitching up on takeoff unnecessary. Launches easily.

Climbs easy.

Plenty of speed, although not a specialist drag racer.

The lightweight single-turbo design allows for safe air breathing operation at extreme altitudes.

It does get a little squirrely at these altitudes, though. A touch of yaw instability and requires RCS or constant control inputs to maintain pitch.

Casually able to reach orbital speeds with plenty of fuel remaining.

Tolerates a warm reentry.

Abort system functions well, although I’d be inclined to include parachute deployment in the backspace action group. There isn’t always time to run through the staging when things go wrong at low altitude.

Capable of vigorous aerobatics.

Although everything has its limits.

I’m actually pleasantly surprised by this plane. I should have known better, seeing as it’s one of Hodo’s, but I’d lost track of whose plane was which by the time it came to testing it and the stock-parts nature didn’t lead me to expect much.

A fine little craft, capable of both recreational use and some light work duties. As with O-Doc’s Robin, the lack of serious cargo capacity or extended range is an impediment to winning out against more practically focused craft. But it’s a good demonstration of what can be achieved with relatively low-tech stock parts, and it’s definitely in the running for my vote. Worth the test flight.

[shufflermuffler]

Anyone got any reviews for my craft (PIP MK1)?

[Wanderfound]

Anyone got any reviews for my craft (PIP MK1)?

That one's gonna have to rely on the stock aero flyers, I'm afraid. It's a nifty looking thing, but I don't think it will work in FAR.

BTW: Scarecrow88. I tried to take SSTO One for a spin, but it froze up my SPH when I tried to load it. I suspect that there's something up with your craft file.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Wanderfound