World's Ugliest SSTO

[Geschosskopf]

Here at Geschosskopf's Sand & Gravel, we build our spacecraft like we build our dumptrucks: tough, functional, and easy to operate and maintain. If you want good looks, that will probably break off at the 1st rough landing, try the shop down the road. If you want something that will get the job done, will provide years of service, and don't care what it looks like, then you've come to the right place.

Geschosskopf's Sand & Gravel, Rocketdynamix Division, is proud to introduce its latest creation, the BUS-CF (Butt-Ugly Spaceplane - Crew Ferry)

Featuring the latest in hypersonic biplane technology, the BUS-CF can lift 9 Kerbals to LKO, and with a refueling stop it can easily reach Mun, Minmus, and a bit beyond. Operation is as simple as can be. Careful attention to detail means that the CoM does not move at all during operation, meaning the plane flies the same landing as it did taking off. By limiting each control surface to acting only on 1 axis, stability and ease of maneuverability are assured. Further, the rudders are in our trademark location on the center wing so do not induce roll when used. Also, the twin RAPIER engines can be left in automatic mode during ascent and will switch over to closed cycle mode at the same time. The RCS is perfectly balanced for easy docking. And finally, the wide-track landing gear provide rock-solid, fully steerable ground maneuvering and forgiving landing characteristics.

Download from Dropbox

Quick-start Guide:

Action Group: #2 toggles the ladders up and down.

Ascent:

• Full throttle all the way, SAS on, engines in automatic switching.
  
• Rotate at 80m/s into 20^ climb.
  
• At 100m/s, pull up into 30^ climb.
  
• At 100m/s again, pull up into 40^ climb and hold.
  
• At 20,000m, switch to Orbit mode and put prograde marker on the horizon. Limit climb to about halfway between the 10 and 100 marks.
  
• Engine switch happens automatically and symmetrically at about 30,000m and 1800m/s. This will be about 11 minutes into the flight.
  
• Pull up to 45^ climb until you have the desired Ap. Do not exceed 150km unless you're really good at rendezvous straight from the ground.
  
• NOTE: Will need refueling to go anywhere else but can land with what's left in the tanks after takeoff.
  

[u[Descent:

• Retroburn to come down somewhere in vicinity of KSC.
  
• Point nose prograde, roll right-side up, and just head on down.
  
• Manually switch both engines to air-breathing mode prior to using them.
  
• Glide down to runway using engines as necessary. Good glide speeds range from 80-150m/s.
  
• Chop throttle while still some distance from runway and float in the rest of the way. Speed over threshold ~50m/s, touchdown at 30m/s.
  

Demonstration Flight:

Jeb, Bill, Bob, and 6 friends (Tanner, Milemong, Milsey, Kurt, Bartrigh, , and Neilman) went out for a full-function test.

Rendezvous with test fuel tank at 100km. MET is over 2 hours due to missing rendezvous straight from ground and having to chase target around Kerbin for several orbits.

After refueling, went to Mun with a free-return trajectory just to test fuel mileage. In actual service, the BUS-CF has plenty of fuel to rendezvous with a Mun station. It could also land and return from Minmus.

Waving at Mun as they go by.

Aerobraking into a circular orbit to wait for KSC to get into daylight. Note 4x physical warp during the aerobraking pass. No problems there.

Slightly overshot on the deorbit burn.

But no problem. The BUS-CF slows down quickly at low altitude and is fully, although not crisply, maneuverable as an airplane. Note slow approach speed.

Coming over the threshold gliding at 50m/s. The BUS-CF touched down at 30m/s on the solid marks and the brakes had it stopped by the last set of dashed marks.

After taxiing back to the SPH, the crew declared the BUS-CF ready for production and posed for a group photo. Kerbals can easily reach anywhere on the upper surfaces of the vehicle in case customers wish to mount equipment there. All crew compartments are accessible from the ladders beside the cockpit.

[Pondafarr]

That thar is shur won ugleeeeee SSTO...but I like it!

[Galaxyman20]

Geschosskopf... What a funny name

Anyways, this may be ugly but at least you can get it into space, while my SSTO's should be renamed SSTD (Single Stage To Doom)

[Geschosskopf]

Anyways, this may be ugly but at least you can get it into space, while my SSTO's should be renamed SSTD (Single Stage To Doom)

Hehehe, most of my Kerbals come back from leave with SSTDs. Oh wait...

Anyway, if you go stock, there's not a lot of beauty to be had. You're pretty much required to make a biplane. And if you adhere to my absolutely unalterable dictum that the CoM must be unalterable. That IMHO is what kills most people. But taking control of CoM movement pretty much forces you to make something that looks more like a conventional airplane instead of a sleek Concorde-looking thing. So most of my (mostly stock) SSTOs tend to have a strong family resemblance. For instance:

An SSTO seaplane that worked on both Kerbin and Laythe, with full Science!-gathering stuff. Looks familiar, don't it?

[Galaxyman20]

Hehehe, most of my Kerbals come back from leave with SSTDs. Oh wait...

Anyway, if you go stock, there's not a lot of beauty to be had. You're pretty much required to make a biplane. And if you adhere to my absolutely unalterable dictum that the CoM must be unalterable. That IMHO is what kills most people. But taking control of CoM movement pretty much forces you to make something that looks more like a conventional airplane instead of a sleek Concorde-looking thing. So most of my (mostly stock) SSTOs tend to have a strong family resemblance. For instance:

An SSTO seaplane that worked on both Kerbin and Laythe, with full Science!-gathering stuff. Looks familiar, don't it?

Could you land on the Oceans of Eve with that?

[Geschosskopf]

Could you land on the Oceans of Eve with that?

Sure. The pontoons work in any liquid. You'd probably have to use their tweak to up their buoyancy, however, due to the higher gravity.

But of course, LANDING on Eve is easy. It's getting off again that's the problem . This plane doesn't have a chance there. In fact, according to how things work right now, NO spaceplane has a chance. You need a mountain of boosters arranged in a zillion stages to finally get 1 Kerbal in a lawn chair back up to orbit.

[Galaxyman20]

You need a mountain of boosters arranged in a zillion stages to finally get 1 Kerbal in a lawn chair back up to orbit.

Yea, I know what you mean... Bob, Dudmon and Gerbree Kerman didn't make it... They went out of Fuel with an apoapsis of 63 km

Edited July 27, 2014 by Galaxyman20

[AlexanderTeaH]

That's ....ing .... compared to the .... I built to transport tanks to Laythe. It was so ugly I never used it again. I wish I still had the .craft file to show a picture of it.

[Laie]

Hehehe, most of my Kerbals come back from leave with SSTDs. Oh wait...

Anyway, if you go stock, there's not a lot of beauty to be had. [...] something that looks more like a conventional airplane instead of a sleek Concorde-looking thing. So most of my (mostly stock) SSTOs tend to have a strong family resemblance.

I haven't seen your contraptions before and doubt you've seen mine, but tell me about family resemblance (click for more pictures):

That's my K-Prize entry, the Laythe Lab. Does it look like a hypersonic spaceplane to you?

[Gravaar]

Mine is uglier and more useless

7 Jet engines 12 Ram intakes 2 Aerospikes 2 Nukes

Set throttle to max. Set at 45 degrees. When jets starve out shut down the 6 on the wings and kick in the Aerospikes

Use the nukes or not. When above 36000 meters start to burn for orbit, use Aerospikes if needed to obtain orbit at 70000

Can land and return from Mun without refuel

But it CAN fly

Edited July 30, 2014 by Gravaar