Kerbodyne D7 Heavy X5: a heavy lift SSTO spaceplane

[Wanderfound]

Presenting the Kerbodyne D7 Heavy X5, updated for post-nerf FAR. Capable of lifting a fully loaded Rockomax 64 into orbit, or whatever other payload you see fit.

As a matter of pure lift, it can probably handle better than 70 ton. However, the landing gear struggles at that weight; warranty void if payload exceeds 40 ton.

Make sure to check the action groups; it isn't designed to use staging. Keep the Vernor thrusters turned off until it's time to lift the nose for the final burn at 30,000m/Mach 4. The abort system works fine in flight, but raise the nose before ejecting if something goes wrong during takeoff unless you feel like having 100 ton of spaceplane run you over. The degree of deflection on the forward flaps can be adjusted in flight by right-clicking. The forward-facing Sepratrons (triggered by action group 0) are for emergency braking assistance on short runways.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o0mgvh9jws...avy%20X5.craft

Edited July 31, 2014 by Wanderfound
Updated image link

[Mister Spock]

Hey Wanderfound, I downloaded this .craft, but KSP won't load any spaceplanes when I have this .craft in my planes subfolder. Does it require FAR or some other mod?

[Wanderfound]

Hey Wanderfound, I downloaded this .craft, but KSP won't load any spaceplanes when I have this .craft in my planes subfolder. Does it require FAR or some other mod?

It was designed with FAR in operation, but it shouldn't require it. Do you get any sort of error message when you try to access it?

The tweakables on all of the control surfaces have been tuned (i.e. airelons set to affect pitch and roll but not yaw, rudders set for yaw but not pitch/roll, forward control surfaces set as maxed-out flaps, etc); it's possible that I adjusted something that FAR allows you to alter but stock doesn't (I never fly with stock aero; can't stand it, personally. If you're getting into spaceplanes, FAR or NEAR is highly recommended).

If you want, I'll post a version with all of the tweakables reset to default values.

[Wanderfound]

Okay: see https://www.dropbox.com/s/o1wgb215gq8ti80/Kerbodyne%20D7%20Heavy%20X5%20Untweaked.craft for a version with all the control surfaces reset to default. Let me know if this works.

No guarantees as to the aerodynamic properties, though; all flight testing was done with FAR, so it may require some tuning for stock aero.

[Mister Spock]

That fixed it! At least, I was able to load the aircraft in my SPH, and I swapped stuff in and out of the cargo bay. I haven't tried to fly it yet, but I hope to have time to try it tonight. I'm still using stock aero, but I do intend to install FAR when I start my new career game, which will feature a number of other mods as well.

[Wanderfound]

Handle with care.

It's a big beastie of a thing, and without the FAR engine nerf it's gonna have even more power.

[Mister Spock]

Well, I took it out for a spin, and I had fun with it. Plenty of power, yep! But then I got greedy and added some goodies to the orange tank you already had strapped in the cargo hold. With the heavier payload, I ran out of fuel before achieving orbit. Then again, my piloting is certainly not all it could be.

I also spent some time pulling and tugging on various bits and pieces of your design, just to learn what you did where. Very instructive! Thanks for uploading it.

[Wanderfound]

Did you see my quickie spaceplane piloting guide?

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/89643-SSTO-question?p=1334110#post1334110