Laythe Expeditionary Base - (flying, floating, VTOL ship with flight deck)

[1greywind]

Description

Laythe Expeditionary Base is flying and floating ship with flight deck, that can be used for Kerbin or Laythe (and may be Eve) exploration. Base has 4 docking ports on flight deck, that can be used to transfer fuel to crafts, landed on flight deck directly or by using included refueling drones.

There are two download files: one with 3 craft files - one for base itself, another with base + 2 VTOL + 2 refuleing drones kit and third with base+VTOL+drone kit prepared with Laythe launch (with 2 stage launch vehicle and nuclear transfer stage); another download is save file with 3 bases deplyed - 2 on Kerbin (one base is near KSC, another in east hemisphire) and 1 on Laythe (with 2 VTOLs and 2 refuleing drones on board).

If you'll choose to launch base to Laythe using "Floating base launch.craft" use following ascent profile: fly stright up until 10.000 m, then begin slow gravity turn until ~30.000 (it is important to get at least 400 m/s of vertical speed). Use transfer stage engines along with second stage to reach apoapsis ~100 km, then use transfer stage to reach orbit. Jool transfer burn is ~1950 m/s of dV, duration is ~8 minutes (initial transfer stage TWR is ~0.3). It is not recommended to use physics wrap more than x2 during burn.

Tech info

Parts count: 321 (but ~40 are physicsless)

Flight deck size: 7x7 large plate platforms separated by flight control tower

Crew: 6 kerbals

Fuel capacity: 1 medium Kerbodyne tank

Engines: 12 jet engines (TWR: 1.45-1.52)

Speed in flight mode: ~200 m/s at ~40° pitch

Max splash down vertical speed: 5-6 m/s

Flight deck can withstand: 15-ton VTOL craft landed at 4-5 m/s vertical speed

Action groups

1 - toggle jet engines

2 - toggle exterior lights

3 - toggle lights for flight deck near control tower

4 - toggle lights for fight deck

5 - toggle antenas on control tower mast

Images

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DOWNLOAD Craft files

DOWNLOAD Save file with 3 bases deployed on Laythe and Kerbin

Feel free to ask any questions. Thank you.

[xoknight]

Amazing... just bravo

[1greywind]

@xoknight: Thank you! Btw - now I wonder, is it practically possible to make floating airstrip large enough to horizontally land space plane.

[Sanguine]

Bravo, good sir. This looks like an excellent craft to enhance my Duna base. Or even just as a reference to build a better Mun base.

[LvL]

Holy moly! rep for you, good sir!