SSTO/Spaceplane/Airplane Design Contest II: Akademy Awards

[Teutooni]

DC 1.1 E

After enormous trouble making a plane stable with FAR aero and the "new" .25 stock parts I finally managed to make a fairly reliable light spaceplane.

Mods needed: B9, procedural wings and FAR aerodynamics.

Craft File DC 1.1 E (E for export version)

I could make a version without B9 fairly easy but I like the look of their sabre engines and the functionality of the landing gear, the convenience of airbrakes and RCS, etc.

Categories (FAR Aero):

Best light SSTO

Best passenger transport SSTO

Best looking

Don't think this qualifies for best use of B9 parts.

Flying instructions:

AG1 = toggle engine mode

AG2 = toggle wheel motors/steering

AG3 = toggle airbrakes

AG4 = toggle solar panels

This thing can get up to mach 5.5 with airbreathing engines - climb at around 20 degree to 20km, then at 10 degrees climb to ~30 km. Try to aim for speed of 1700m/s once you reach 30km, adjusting AoA as necessary. Massive L/D ratio should make adjustments fairly easy. Ideally at that ~30km and 1700m/s switch to closed cycle (AG1). Circularizing a 100km orbit should take about 550 m/s delta-v, with 450m/s left for rendezvous and deorbit.

Payload capacity is 4 passengers and one stock cargobay with at least 3 tons of payload. No matter what you put or don't put in the cargobay, the plane should remain stable as the cargobay is located slightly ahead of CoM. Also as fuel is used the plane becomes increasingly stable.

This was designed as part of a fully reusable moon exploration mission - the plane flies crew and science packages to LKO, a dedicated (also reusable) spacecraft lands on the moon and brings back stuff, and the plane then returns them to KSC. As such, it needed to be cheap to operate - a full trip to orbit and back costs only up to 400 kredits!

Album: http://imgur.com/a/QYC74

Edited October 26, 2014 by Teutooni

[cadaverific]

Was planning on adding my contributions to this contest, but the new wing strength in FAR really fudged up every single one of my planes (not that its a bad thing). I'll edit in my planes when i fix the mess in my SPH.

[kcs123]

Disclaimer: Crafts made with procedural wings requires FAR mod. This is due to bug with NEAR+PW mods combo. Because of this aircrafts made with FAR+PW are loaded corrupted in game with NEAR+PW (symethry bug, only half of plane shown in SPH editor). I will try to reproduce same crafts for NEAR users, but I don't know if I will be able to finish them by the end of contest. For people who are willing to test them quick solution is to install FAR, even if you are not use it in personal games.

EDIT: Unfortunately, even with new craft build I can't make it to work PW+NEAR combo. If some kind of patch is going to be released by authors of PW mod, or some other modder, I will try to remake those crafts, but until then you can use them only with FAR.

Same and improved crafts are now in KCS SpacePlanes Craft Repository thread.

FAR - with mods - FAR,B9,Procedural Wings

Space plane MK2 V8 for KSP 0.25 - two versions of the same craft in zip file. Parts count: 97; Cost: 97,821.30

Multipurpose light STTO for passenger transport and all kind of orbital tasks. Easy to fly and control.

Confirmed lifting capability of 30 t of usefull payload. Total craft weight ~90t = 40t Craft + 20t fuel + 30t payload. More info in spoiler section.

V8 variant includes pimped up cargo bay with essential parts for various orbital tasks. You need mods:

- FAR

- B9

- Procedural Wings - you may also want to install NathanKells NEAR dll fix

- Firespitter (only FS3I info and trim adjustment part)

- TAC life support

- Infernal Robotics

V9 need less mods due to striped parts from cargo bay. Essentials mods are:

- FAR

- B9

- Procedural Wings

Category:

Best light cargo spaceplane.

Best passenger transport spaceplane.

Best-looking craft.

Various pictures of Space Plane MK2 V8 collected in galery.

I have made another variant of the same plane, slightly modified for Advanced Jet Engines mod. You will also need new Adjustable landing gear mod.

All craft files are included in one zip file on the link in title. For a fair contest, I didn't replaced original files when I uploaded craft file for the first time. I thought that will be cool to show that plane is possible to use even with AJE mod.

Only minor changes for plane were needed for AJE mod due to different fuel economy, some LFO tanks changes with LF tanks, added sabre engine precooler that also holds additional fuel.

Anyway, to keep long story short, I have made another trip to orbit with 30t payload, even with highly nerfed jet engines. Not compleatly orbit due to my lack of piloting skills, but close enough to show plane capabilities.

Here is galery from my test to orbit wit this one. Later on with more carefull piloting I was able to establish full orbit, didn't uploaded screenshots for those though.

I have also made craft that should be used with real fuel mod. RF mod nerfs fuel volume/mass in a way that you need more tank volume for same required dV. So, I replaced SABRE engines with RAPIERS that use kerosyne instead of liquid hydrogene to have same stored chemical energy in same tank volume. Kerosyne is heavier then same amount of fuel used without RF mod, so plane can't carry 30t payload, but performance are still not disturbed too much. I was ~200 m/s dV short for full orbit, meaning that with 20-24t payload it is still possible. For lightweight space probes it is still good craft for small orbital tasks.

This plane have high L/D ratio. Aerodyinamic forces are strong, don't fight with them, use them to your advantage.

Before you take off from runway take a look to FAR graphs. AoA graph will tell you that this craft have best L/D ratio @ 5-10 degrees. At high speed 10 degrees of AoA could be unstable (L/D line starts to split) this is area you should avoid because craft wings could stall at this AoA.

Mach speed graph tells that craft have most L/D in speed that is up to 0.8 mach (highest subsonic stable).

After transition to speeds above 1 mach, lowest most stable speed with highest L/D ratio is 1.4 mach (420 m/s).

Now, put that info pin practical usage, to get craft into orbit in most fuel efficient way.

Before you take off from runway aplly full flaps and raise throttle. You will need full throttle only for heaviest payloads close to 30 t. Don't touch trim to pitch up, just speed up to 130 - 140 m/s, as you gain speed, craft will be starting to raise pitch by itself to optimal AoA 5-6 degree. When you take off lower throttle to keep low speed(140 - 160 m/s), decrease flaps (at this speed you will have higher L/D ratio without flaps) and don't forget to raise landing gear.

Optimal plane pitch should be near 10 degree and with 4-6 of AoA craft will have optimal 5 degree overall pitch degree.

As you gain altitude atmosphere will become more rare, and you will not have enough L/D ratio to keep plane in overall 5 degree pitch angle, so you will need to raise speed to compensate lost L/D.

Tricky part is to find optimal throttle value that will slowly raise speed (remember that as craft spend some fuel it becomes lighter and lighter) just enough to keep optimal climb rate.

Near altitude of 10 km you will no longer have enough L/D at subsonic speed, so you will have to raise your speed up to 1.4 mach. Once the craft is stable again, try to keep that speed as long as possible as you raise altitude. Once you reach point where plane no longer have enough L/D add throttle to slightly accelerate.

If you do it properly, near 30 km craft speed will be near 5.5 mach. Keep in mind that near 5 mach jet engines will start to loose thrust. At this point watch your engine thrust, when becomes to low, switch engines to closed cycle mode. Before switching, lower throttle because jet engine will have low trust at this point and you don't need full throttle power from rocket engine mode - this also saves fuel.

If you have done everything right you will be able to establish stable orbit without much problem.

In this way I was able to lift 30t of payload to stable orbit and have ~150 m/s left for small orbital maneuvers and be able to re-entry to Kerbin.

Re-entry to atmosphere is not much a problem but it requires patience and it is somehow tedious.

Try to lower periphases to ~30 km. Once you enter atmosphere activate spoilers and raise flaps.

Both will have produce some drag to help you slow down craft. Don't go below 20km until you have lowered speed closer to 2 mach or atmosphere forces will rip off the plane apart. After some trials and errors I find out that 30-34 km is good for slowing down from 2000+ m/s to 1700 m/s; 20-30 km is good to slow down from ~1700 m/s downto ~1000 m/s and 20-10 km to slowdown from 1000 m/s to subsonic speeds below 300 m/s. Slowing down further depends how much you have until you can see runway.

Craft don't have any parachutes and RCS are not such powerfull, but you can add those for yourself, more powerfull RCS comes with KW Rocetry mod, but I didn't put dem on craft to keep small mod dependencies.

FAR - with mods: B9, Procedural wings, KW Rocketry,(IR - optional)

Space plane S3 V3 for KSP 0.25 - two versions of the same craft in zip file. Parts count: 150; Cost: 415,412.60

Category:

Best heavy-lift cargo spaceplane.

Made for lifting 2.5m parts in orbit. Successfully tested with 200t of useful payload. Could also be used as passenger craft with total crew capacity of 7 Kerbals.

Tehnical info from SPH editor. More pictures in galery.

FAR - with mods: B9, Procedural wings, KW Rocketry,IR

Space plane HL V3 - craft file for KSP 0.25 Parts count: 214; Cost: 702,770.30

Category:

Best refuelling tanker spaceplane.

Primary purpose is orbital fuel tanker but also have large cargo bay capable to carry landrovers inside. Could also be used for lifting realy heavy cargo at the same time. Maximum takeoff test with total weight is ~1200 t (~225t craft, 400t payload and fuel), but reasnoble payload to orbit is 300-350t, still have to made trip to orbit with this one. Heavy cargo payload test require to turn off destructable buildings. (Didn't know that Jeb have secret stash of karbonite buried below runway when I was designed this plane). More info in spoiler section.

EDIT: This plane still can be usefull with destructable buildings. Install stock bug fixes, release v0.1.5 fixes launch pad and runway explosions when launching large vessels. There is still limit in plane weight. Overall safe craft weight to takeoff is somwhere between 600 - 650t.

You may want to unload some fuel from tanks if you want to use it in career mode.

Tehnical stuff and short story with 1200 t test fligtht are in picture galery. Another galery that shows usage of hidraulic landing gears.

Pictures from orbit with delivered payload for MK2 V8, S3 V3 and HL V3 craft.

FAR - with mods: B9, Procedural wings, KW Rocketry

Space Plane S3 IP V3 - craft file for KSP 0.25 Parts count: 266; Cost: 912,808.00

Category:

Best usage of B9 parts

Best interplanetary science explorer spaceplane.

Tehnical info and action groups on picture. S3 V3 and HL V3 are slightly unstable in space because trust is not compleatly aligned with CoM, so you need tu be gentle on engin power to stay on curse. This plane have more aligned engines and more fuel capacity for interplanetary travels. Not designed for heavy weight, although it can deliver 350t of payload in orbit, but it is designed to have a lot cargo space for lot of lightweight equipment.

FAR - stock parts only

Sporty MK1 - craft file for KSP 0.25 Parts count: 31; Cost: 19,193.00

Category:

Best sporty pleasure craft.

Best non-space aeroplane.

Best all stock parts spaceplane.

Tehnical info from SPH hangar. And another two pictures not already linked for this plane is in this galery.

Unlike my other crafts, this one doesn't have popup info window with assigned action groups,so here is list for this one:

AG5 - Lower Flaps

AG6 - Raise Flaps

AG7 - Activate spoilers

AG0 - Toggle engines

Don't be afraid by number of used parts in my larger craft designes, those are mostly additional struts, lights and fuel line connection for automatic CoM distribution. Due to use of procedural wings, only few parts are calculated in flight for lift/drag and will not burn your CPU.

I'm noob to this game and lousy pilot. Because of this I need a plane that is easy to control, have to be cheap as possible to build, have to be simple to build, have to lift a lot of payload as possible to establish orbit and have to be easy adapted for various orbital tasks:

- Deploy / recover space probes

- orbital rescue missions

- passenger transport to space stations and delivery/recover various cargo to and from space stations in one trip

On top of that, have to be most fuel efficient craft, because I'm lousy pilot and need a lot of DeltaV to compensate my mistakes.

I have lot of issues in my airplane designs with take off and landing procedures, so aircraft have to be easy to control when you take off without gear woobling on runway. Also it is not so easy to safely land airplane in KSP. For safe landing I need a plane that is easy to control on low speeds, so I have more time to correct mistakes in runway aproach and for more gentle landing without killing poor Kerbals.

When I'm returning from orbit, I want to left most of unused fuel at space station so, SSTO need to be easy to control glider without help of engine trust.

All above plane share the same idea, only difference is size and type of payload. S3 was designed with larger volume payload for space station assembly, HL for refueling/light rover transport needs and S3 IP for longer journeys.

Impossible to achieve ? Well, download craft and check for yourself. More info why such unusuall design coming soon in section below.

1.) First, I have created main plane hull with cargo space for payload and fuel tanks with possible engine mounts. To be usable in space, plane need tu have alligned engine trust with CoM. I wanted to have some extra space for fuel, to have some aditional dV when I reach orbit for various tasks, so that extra fuel also adds some extra weight.

2.) Next I have created main wing shape that provide a lot L/D ratio without adding too much on craft weight. After that comes position of control surfaces on wings and tail. But, before fine tuning control surfaces, I have positioned landing gears.

3.) To have more stable craft on taking off and landing I have positioned landing gears to have negative AoA on ruway. In that way all main wing surface area is used like spoiler on cars to provide some downforce and help with bouncing unstability when plane still doesn't have enough speed for safe take off.

Problem with that aproach is that extra downforce along with heavy payload could be too much for wheels. To solve this, I have used flaps.

Flaps itself doesn't produce much more lift, but they produce drag in widest wing area on rear and in that way overall lifting center is shifted more to front.

You can see that well on picture below. By doing this, I have produced positive lift even when plane have negative pitch.

4.) I'm using control surfaces on tail to produce some small downforce. That small downforce along with well placed rear landing gear makes leverage and fulcrum. So only light push on tail is needed to pitch nose up. In flight there is no landing gear that could be used as fulcrum, but if you remove control surfaces on tail, you will see that lift from main wing is almost on the same spot as rear landing gears. So, lift from main wing could be considered as fulcrum when the plane is in air. When plane pitch up too much main wing will going to stall and provide less lift and weight placed in front will push nose down again. If it's pitch down too much, downforce on tail will couse nose to pitch up again.

5.) Cm on FAR graph is not CoM. Cm is summ of all lifting and downforces from both, wings and craft weight. On graph, if it is above X axis it will make a plane to pitch up, if it is below it will couse a nose to pitch down. This depends on overall plane AoA and degree where yelow line cross X axis is naturaly stable AoA pitching moment. Unlike other people advices, by placing control surfaces on tail I have shifted that neutral pitching moment in area where aircraft have a lot L/D ratio. It is usualy somwhere between 4 and 10 AoA degree, depends of main wing shape, overall plane weight and probably lot of other factors.

With that aproach, you will need less input from pilot to maintain optimal AoA while you are chasing altitude and speed needed to reach orbit.

6.) How to have more green over the red numbers on FAR graph. I have cured rolling unstability by placing CoL above CoM. There is several ways to do that.

One is to make main wings slightly angled, so the tip of wing is raised compared to wing root. Another aproach is to place small vertical wingtips surfaces on tip of main wings, or you can place some raised surfaces on tail.

Sideslip problem can be solved with more vertical surfaces, more effective on tail then on hull center, but wingtips could also help with that.

Pitching problem could be solved with both, larger horisontal surfaces on tail or near front, but with different AoA.

Because of shifted neutral Cm in optimal AoA area, SAS will not going to couse your plane to wooble so much, but if still does smaller control differences helps with that.

Picture with sumed up described design info.

I'm not saying that this is best aproach with plane design, but this is how I was able to figure out. I'm rather using lifting forces to help reaching orbit, rather then using brute engine thrust forces.

Those planes will not going to fullfill everyones expectations. Designed to be efficient and stable but for that reason they were not higly maneuverable. For that reason a lot of people that expect fighter plane performance will be disapointed.

But if you consider them more like a heavy truck then a sports car, you will like them more.

As I build those and test them I also learn more and finding out design flaws and what I could possibly improve.

Mk2 V8 is more optimized then other planes because I spend more time building it then other crafts, also my first SSTO for 0.25 KSP.

After Mk2 V8, I was wondering will the same aproach work for bigger SSTO, for heavier payload. So, I build other crafts based on the same concept. Found this thread by accident when I was looking for something else, so I was deceided to entry with my planes, so more people could notice this, rather then in some craft exchange thread. I was rushed a bit to publish my heavier design without proper test in space and when I was reached orbit wit them I found out that engine thrust is not properly aligned with CoM.

S3 V3 and HL V3 suffers that effect. Not a big deal, both are designed to deliver something heavy in orbit, release payload and return back to surface. Problem is that RCS on them is not powerfull enough to rotate and correct plane direction. You also may want to reduce thrust on engines to be have more control on plane when you are in orbit.

I learned from my mistakes and I corrected issues by using more vernor engines instead of RCS. I have updated original zip files to include improved version of the same crafts, but I have left original craft files for the fair play of contest.

Besides this contest, I wanted to use this post to promote some of my favorite mods, like FAR, B9, KW Rocketry, IR parts, Procedural wings and some that I found recently like Adjustable landing gears and Advanced Jet Engines.

When I need to ask someone about something in other threads it is easier to pinpoint them to this post, so they can see pictures and even download a craft file to see what I talking about.

The last plane in post is made just to show that I can make a plane only with stock parts, but who will want to stay only on stock parts when you can have more interesting parts from various moders ?

Not visible on picture, but have to be said - I was deleted HX parts from B9 mod and all parts from Firespitter mod except utility parts(FS3info, Trim adjustmend and custom launch position (water,KSP runway,Old runway)).

You may see MechJeb windows on my screenshoots, but those are not required for my planes, because I also use MJ embeded that include MJ with each command pod. MJ is essential part for noob of game to catch up quickly and I use it mostly for maneuver node creation.

It is screenshot from install folder with visible version number for each mod. I think that all of them are latest available builds at the day of making this screenshot and craft above. Screenshot taken on 07. november 2014.

You can found my crafts review from other contestants in this post.

Edited January 29, 2015 by kcs123

[silks]

Klutterfly

For when you are low on science but glowing with skill.

Best low-tech spaceplane(Stock Aero)

Craft download: http://sil.herobo.com/misc/Klutterfly.zip

Part count: 52

Science needed: 200

Launch cost: 35429

Pros:

low science requirement for an SSTO with payload

can safely land on water

has enough delta-V to collect science from the kerbin system

Cons:

is a challenge to fly into orbit

flies like a rock when without payload

doesn't look quite plane-y

[Jimbimbibble]

INTRO: The C-47 Globemaster IV is a sleek heavy cargo SSTO designed with style in mind.

FAR/NEAR

Categories: Best heavy-lift cargo spaceplane, best use of B9 parts, best-looking craft

Mods: FAR, B9

Craft File: dropbox

Technical Specs

Max Rated Payload Capacity: 75T

Dry Weight: 71T

Max Takeoff Weight: 223T

Part Count: 68+14 cargo struts

More Pictures: http://imgur.com/a/KGA4U

Action Groups

I've had a bug where symmetry is deleted from action groups. Check groups before flight the first time you load it and any time you change a part bound to an action group.

1: Toggle Engine Mode

2: Spoilers

3: Cargo Bay Doors

5: Cockpit Lights

9: Trim Down

10: Trim Up

How to Load Cargo Properly

The cargo bay can accommodate two orange tanks (or equivalent). Drop your cargo onto the docking port, then save the craft and reload it. This will cause the struts to automatically attach to your cargo. You can remove any struts that were unnecessary, but DO NOT save the craft after removing struts. If you do, then they won't be there to auto-attach the next time you use the craft. After you detach the payload, the strut end points will automatically delete from your payload the next time it gets loaded. For heavy payloads, you will have to convert the tail section from structural to LFO and remove some fuel to balance the CoM correctly.

Takeoff Procedure

For light-medium payloads, just throttle up and go, but be careful not to strike the tail. For heavy payloads, you may want to hold the brakes until the engines spin up to reduce takeoff roll. Climb as fast as you want until you hit 10km, then start leveling out. It takes a while to pick up enough speed to fly in the upper atmosphere. If you suddenly don't have enough pitch authority to maintain level flight, you probably ascended too fast. Switch over to rockets at an altitude of 25-30km and a speed of 1700-1800m/s. Approximate time from launch to engine cutoff is 8-12min.

Using the Trim

Because SAS is stupid and really likes to overshoot and cause wobble, I added trim to the elevator to compensate. The way I did it is I set up the big stabilators as "flaps" with negative deflection. You can adjust the magnitude of the trim in the SPH using flap/spoiler deflection (more negative is more trim). Use action groups 9 and 10 to adjust the trim in flight whenever the plane starts to wobble a lot. Also try toggling SAS. Generally, you need more trim at higher altitudes and you want it at 0 when on final approach for landing.

Descent/Landing

Before you enter the atmosphere you WILL have to transfer fuel around to balance the CoM correctly unless you ran it dry. A good rule of thumb is to put a little more than half the fuel in the front LFO tank and the rest in the rear LFO tank (not the tail). Typically, you should place your PE at KSC 10km below the surface. Activate the spoilers all the way down and only disable them on final approach if your speed is < 120m/s. Ideal touchdown speed is about 100m/s. This plane likes to come in hot, so don't skip too high or you will overshoot. Lastly, for DRE users, the B9 air brakes (spoilers) don't have an active heat shield and tend to burn off sometimes. I modded mine so they don't burn off because they really shouldn't be doing that if they were set up correctly.

Edited November 1, 2014 by Jimbimbibble

[Roflcopterkklol]

White lightning mk2

Description: Part count -699 (100% stock)

This SSTO carries up to 5000 lf/ox into a 200km+ orbit and is completely reusable once depleted, it can also serve the purpose of a rescue vessel, transport ship (I do not like your chances of getting it to dock with something though) or even a single stage to mun and return vehicle.

Quite easy to fly and fairly stable in the atmosphere, SAS only required if you are lazy.

Not tested on FAR or NEAR

Flight instructions:

After take off pitch up to 25 degrees, turn SAS on and enjoy the scenery, at around 35,000m you will need to switch rapiers to closed cycle and turn the nuclear engines on, at around 38,000m you will need to shut down the turbo jets, continue from here until orbit.

You can orbit this much more efficiently if you know how to fly an air hogger, it will do 2000m/s+ in the atmosphere.

Action groups:

1 Toggle turbo jets

2 Toggle rapiers

3 Toggle rapier engine mode

4 Toggle nuclear engines

Resources:

Download link:

http://www./download/i3joocrfij76s5q/White+Lightning+mk2.craft

Some pictures because why not?

Download link:

http://www./download/i3joocrfij76s5q/White+Lightning+mk2.craft

Take off

10km

15km

21km

25km

30km

34km

40km

100km orbit

Map view of 100km orbit

Accelerating to a more distant position

2000km orbit seems nice, with a lot of fuel left over too.

Map view of 2000km orbit... a lot of fuel left in the reserve tanks.... this journey is not over!

To the Mun!

Hi mun!

This was a pretty scenic picture imo

in 140-150km orbit

in 110-15km orbit

Close fly bye

That was quick, bye mun!

Back to kerbin we go

in 4600km orbit - 500km orbit

Back at kerbin in a snug 500km orbit!

Map view, Lets land this bad boy

Going down (apo aps is at 5km)

easy does it on the way down, not quite so heavy anymore, dont want to stall it

this big missing section is where i totally did not stall it on the way down and have a few very tense moments that did not end until 5000 meters, not at all.

Touch down! with over 2k LF and nearly 3k OX after going to a circle 2000km orbit then into munar orbit followed by low pass followed by a return to 500km orbit before de orbit and landing, what a mouth full.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Roflcopterkklol

[Wanderfound]

Thanks for the entry, Roflcopterkklol.

I've put you down as an entrant in the tanker category; let me know if you want to enter that ship for any of the other categories as well. Any chance I could get you to put the extra images behind a spoiler tag, as outlined in the OP?

[Roflcopterkklol]

I really hope you do not mind but i have a few more entries.

Titan Hunter mk5 SSTO

Description:

Part count-335 Cost-228,789.

This cargo hauler was designed to reliably lift up to 15 tons into a 100km orbit and return to kerbin, Easy to fly at any altitude and with air hogging in mind it is very easy to get into orbit.

Action groups:

1. Toggle turbo jets

2. Toggle Rapiers

3. Toggle Rapier engine mode

4. Toggle bay doors

Flight instructions:

On take off pitch up from take off, depending how big your load is it should lift before the end of the run way (At 60t+ it will need to reach the end)

Pitch up to 40 degrees and climb to an altitude of 18,000m, at 18km start to level out and gain speed until around 22,000m and 1400m/s, at this speed pitch up to 35 degree and climb, at around 28,000m start throttling back to 50%, once you reach .30 air intake switch the rapiers to closed cycle mode and continue climbing, at around 32,000m you will need to shut down the turbo jets, from here on out you should be sweet for figuring out your orbit.

Download link:

http://www./download/od...mk5+SSTO.craft

Utilities/resources:

Resources

Cargo bays

Example payload into 100km orbit and return.

Download link:

http://www./download/od...mk5+SSTO.craft

Forum location

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/97882-15-ton-payload-SSTO-Titan-hunter-mk5

Edited October 28, 2014 by Roflcopterkklol

[Wanderfound]

I have no idea how to do that lol i have been wondering for a long time how to do spoiler images

Just put spoiler in square brackets at the start of the bit you want to hide (followed by =Whateveryouwantthespoilertosay if desired), and /spoiler in square brackets at the end. Like this:

[NOPARSE]

There is no spoon

[/NOPARSE]

...which gives a result like this:

There is no spoon

Edited October 28, 2014 by Wanderfound

[Roflcopterkklol]

B-2 Spirit bomber mk2

Description: Not made with FAR or NEAR.

After the first b-2 i made soulreaver gave some helpful pointers on how i could get the plane to look more authentic and then i decided to improve on the originals performace because why not? and i am 5 times happier than i was originally with the results.

It comes equipped with drop bombs in the bomb bay and is capable of 2100+m/s in the upper atmosphere.

Very stable and easy to take off/land, SAS is never required (unless doing some crazy things in the upper atmosphere)

I may have gone a tad over board you can nearly orbit it.... feel free to remove the clipped internals to decrease the performance.

Action groups:

1 toggle engines

2 toggle bay doors

Space bay releases 2 "bombs" at a time.

Download link: part count 373

http://www./download/50...mber+mk2.craft

Forum location

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/98131-B-2-Spirit-bomber-replica-UPDATE

Edited October 28, 2014 by Roflcopterkklol

[Roflcopterkklol]

SR-71 white bird

Description: Not made with FAR or NEAR.

I have decided to start building replica planes and where better to start than the SR-71?

This replica is capable of 25km flight like the original at over 3500km/h, it is stable at any fuel level and quite maneuverable for what it is (I did my best on the flying capabilities)

Download link:

http://www./download/kzxsdkb3tkasa16/Sr-71+white+bird.craft

[Roflcopterkklol]

SR-72 white bird

Rear view

Top view

Video because videos are fun.

Description: Not made with FAR or NEAR.

After finishing the SR71 and B-2 Spirit bomber i set my eyes on the experimental SR-72 and i am very happy with the results of my labour, capable of over 8600kmh at 35km in the atmosphere this plane is a true high altitude sub orbital flyer, but do not be fooled by its high altitude speed, at low altitudes this plane is very maneuverable and completely stable with SAS never being required (unless you are lazy)

As an added bonus feel free to deplete the fuel and never have to worry about the centre of mass moving to a place that will cause instability in the plane.

Have fun and enjoy this craft.

I do not believe i need to leave any form of flight instructions for this plane.

Download link:

SR-72 White bird, Part count 254.

http://www./download/krai8x2hcbmfwbr/SR-72+White+bird.craft

Forum location

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/98308-SR-72-White-Bird-replica-capable-of-over-8600km-h

Sorry about spamming 5 craft in a row, hope you like them though

[Wanderfound]

Roflcopterkklol: they're nifty ships, but are they entrants for the contest? If so, in which categories? One ship per category per entrant, remember.

[Roflcopterkklol]

Roflcopterkklol: they're nifty ships, but are they entrants for the contest? If so, in which categories? One ship per category per entrant, remember.

Oh whoops forgot to mention.

Titan Hunter is a light cargo space plane,

the B-2 spirit bomber is for the best plane

and the SR-71 and SR72 are kind of a pair for the best sporty pleasure craft (Being replicas of the new and old plane)

but if i had to pick one ill go with the SR-72 there.

[Wanderfound]

Encouraging news for all spaceplane fans: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/98056-Upcoming-Mk3-parts-should-be-large-enough-to-accommodate-2-5m-parts-in-the-cargo-bay/page2?p=1505903#post1505903

[kcs123]

I have updated my entry post with two more craft files. I'm still working on screenshoots and descriptions, but crafts are ready to download.

Each craft have info popup about used action groups and essential info inside craft file.(Description in editor or direct lunching from runway)

[Wanderfound]

Only two weeks to go; time to get working on those designs.

Remember that any category with less than three entrants is void. So, enter as many categories as you can, and get out there and start encouraging your forum friends to have a go as well. The more the merrier.

We could particularly use some more FAR designs.

[Alshain]

Ok, I guess I'll enter, but just one I think. This one has become my favorite.

Orbiter 107 - Vireo

Stock Parts with NEAR

After complaints of charring by passengers of previous Aquila Enterprises models, the Vireo was designed with cargo space so that luggage could go inside the plane. The Vireo should win in it's category because it is a sleek good looking design that flies well and reaches as far as 300km orbit with a good pilot.

Categories:

Best Passenger Transport Spaceplane

Best Light Cargo Spaceplane

Flight Instruction: Raise all flaps and take off at ~120m/s. Ascend at ~20 degrees to 23km. Bring the nose down to 5 degrees and hold until speed reaches at least 1250m/s. Pitch up and wait for the engines to switch. Done correctly this should be about 30km with a 36km Apoapsis. Pitch to 10 degrees, cut to 1/2 power. Continue to desired Apoapsis and circularize. Jettison the station tug cargo prior to docking to avoid using it's RCS. Docking is performed in reverse (Dream Chaser style). Land at ~70 m/s using flaps for stability.

Price: 73,004 (with demo cargo)

Part Count: 97

Action Groups

1: Toggle Intakes

2: Toggle Engine Mode

3: Increase Flap Deflection

4: Decrease Flap Deflection

5: Activate Spoilers

8: Toggle Ladder

0: Toggle Cargo Bay

Edited November 14, 2014 by Alshain

[Alshain]

Ok, I lied. I'm going to try and fill out some of your underpopulated categories and help them make it into the judging. Though I may regret it when flight testing rolls around and I have to go through all of them

Orbiter 106 - Shrike

Stock with FAR/NEAR

A small sporty crew transport. The shrike is simply fun to fly.

Categories:

Best sporty pleasure craft.

Flight Instruction: Take off at ~120m/s. Ascend at ~20 degrees to 23km. Bring the nose down to 5 degrees and hold until speed reaches at least 1250m/s. Pitch up and wait for the engines to switch. Done correctly this should be about 30km with a 36km Apoapsis. Pitch to 10 degrees, cut to 1/2 power. Continue to desired Apoapsis and circularize. Docking is performed in reverse (Dream Chaser style).

Price: 77,150

Part Count: 72

Action Groups

1: Toggle Intakes

2: Toggle Engine Mode

3: Increase Flap Deflection

4: Decrease Flap Deflection

5: Activate Spoilers

8: Toggle Ladders

9: Toggle Cabin Lights

0: Toggle Cargo Bay

Orbiter 210 - Eagle

B9 with FAR/NEAR

The Eagle is a large long distance crew transport beautifully crafted with a high wing profile and under-wing engine design.

Categories:

Best Use of B9 Parts

Flight Instruction: Flight Instruction: Raise all flaps and take off at ~120m/s. Ascend at ~20 degrees to 20km. Bring the nose down to 5 degrees and hold until speed reaches at least 1250m/s and pitch up. Switch engines as you begin to lose power. Pitch to 10 degrees, cut to 1/2 power. Continue to desired Apoapsis and circularize.

Price: 114,051

Part Count: 116

Action Groups

1: Toggle Jets/Intakes

2: Toggle Rockets

3: Increase Flap Deflection

4: Decrease Flap Deflection

5: Activate Air Brakes

7: Toggle Solar Panels

8: Toggle Ladders

9: Toggle Cabin Lights

Atmospheric 312 - Blue Jay

B9 and KAX with FAR/NEAR

Setting speed records for prop planes, this bird almost hits mach 1. This leisure craft is a fun way to get around Kerbin.

Categories:

Best Use of KAX Parts

Flight Instruction: Just have fun! (Don't forget to raise the flaps from default position)

Price: 64,165

Part Count: 63

Action Groups

3: Increase Flap Deflection

4: Decrease Flap Deflection

5: Activate Spoilers

8: Toggle Ladders

Atmospheric 313 - Wren

KAX with FAR/NEAR

The Wren is a stunt plane configuration. Even with FAR it can turn amazingly fast. The plane is very well balanced, it wants to be in the air.

Categories:

Best non-space aeroplane

Flight Instruction: You need instruction? This thing flies itself! Just be cautious on the landing and land slowly with flaps. It's easy to kill the prop and it doesn't brake quickly with 1 wheel.

Price: 10,425

Part Count: 17

Action Groups

3: Increase Flap Deflection

4: Decrease Flap Deflection

Edited November 15, 2014 by Alshain

[nli2work]

I thought I had more time. looks like I'll have to rush a little. would videos be acceptable in addition to screencaps?

[kcs123]

Another craft in my entry post Space Plane S3 IP V3 - craft file for KSP 0.25

Category:

Best usage of B9 parts

Best interplanetary science explorer spaceplane.

And I have reserved place for another plane that will fill the gap for small sporty plane category.

[Alshain]

Another craft in my entry post Space Plane S3 IP V3 - craft file for KSP 0.25

Category:

Best usage of B9 parts

Best interplanetary science explorer spaceplane.

And I have reserved place for another plane that will fill the gap for small sporty plane category.

Woot, B9 category guaranteed. I look forward to flying it!

[Wanderfound]

I thought I had more time. looks like I'll have to rush a little. would videos be acceptable in addition to screencaps?

Sure, so long as they don't auto-play.

[CocoDaPuf]

Hey everyone! So I shared one of my crafts with the world for the first time over on /r/kerbalspaceprogram recently, and everyone seemed to like it. But then I found this contest thread and figured, "hey, why not". Rather than posting the same old craft I did last time, I decided to make a newer, shinier, more vertical takeoff-ier version of my Space Goose for this contest!

The Space Goose VTOL

* Stock 0.25 parts, designed for stock aero

* VTOL capabilities

* crew capacity: 6 + drone control option

* Standard mk2 Cargo bay, can lift 6.5t to LKO

* Docking port for refueling

* Nuclear rockets for long range travel

* Full science suite x2 (with action groups!)

* Can push it's apoapsis to over 200km before it leaves atmo

* She's a pretty bird!

Since this is totally a jack-of-all-trades type craft, I figure I'll just enter it in a bunch of categories:

(Stock Aero)

Best light cargo spaceplane

Best VTOL spaceplane

Best all stock parts spaceplane

Best passenger transport spaceplane

Best interplanetary science explorer spaceplane

Best-looking craft (cause at least I think she's pretty)

Here's the craft file

More nitty gritty stats:

Price: 183,030 kerboleans

Takeoff weight: 31.67t

Parts: 176

I'd have more stats if I used FAR... but I'm not using it for this campaign.

On to the cool stuff!

Check it out, The VTOL engines are hidden in a bottom facing cargo bay, along with most of the science modules. The best part of this is that as soon as the bay doors close, all drag from the items inside is actually ignored:

Ok, how do you fly this thing?

Let me start by saying this, it's a VTOL, you have to balance your payload. The VTOL engines sit exactly on the CoM...

In the image below, you're looking at the underside of the craft. The red outline on the left is the cargo bay (which is not on the CoM), the blue outlines on the right are mostly empty fuel tanks, use these as ballasts. After you load whatever cargo you want into the cargo bay, use the fuel tanks to balance the craft so the CoM sits right on the center VTOL jet again.

With your Goose properly balanced, it's time to fly.

Action Groups: (You'll find these in the craft description as well)

1. Toggle VTOL Jets

2. Toggle Main Turbojets

3. Toggle Center Turbojet

4. Toggle LV-N Rockets and Intakes

8. Toggle Cargo Bay

9. Science suite 1

0. Science suite 2

Instructions:

I recommend starting with SAS on. If you don't have much experience with VTOL planes (like me) you may also want RCS on. Also, when you're actually performing a vertical takeoff or landing, I recommend clicking "control from here" on the docking port up behind the crew cabin, this will make controlling the plane just like controlling a lander.

Hit "1" to turn on the VTOL jets. When you have some altitude, hit "2" to turn on the main turbojets. When you have some forward airspeed, hit "1" again to switch off the VTOL jets and close the VTOL hatch.

Climb to about 20km, then slow your climb and gain some speed (you're looking for about 1600mps by the time you hit 24km altitude). Somewhere between 25km and 30km your engines are going to start to give out. The first time they give you trouble, just let some throttle out, when they cut out the second time, hit "3" to turn off one engine and put the throttle back to max.

You want to get to 35km altitude and cruise here on 2 engines until your apoapsis pops up to space. Don't let the plane go over 38km until your apoapsis reaches at least 85k.(Usually it's smooth sailing from here, but this VTOL version of the Space Goose gives me some weird issues with the turbojets running unevenly. So if the plane starts pulling to the right a bunch, just manually set the thrust limitter on the leftmost jet to 85%).

As you go over 38km altitude the two jets start to cut out, reduce the throttle as you need to. Hitting the "2" button at this point will switch the outer engines off and the center engine back on (which is really pretty neat). Run on one engine till you can't any more. Finally, hit "3" to switch the last engine off and "4" to turn the LV-N engines on. Drift to your AP and circularize :-)

Lifting ability:

I was able to get 6.5t and a full crew to LKO (though admittedly, it wasn't easy). Here's what 6.5t looks like in a standard cargo bay, it's basically as much as I could cram in there:

I got that payload up, but to do it I had to keep the VTOL jets active all the way up to 10km altitude, then it was a battle with the upper atmosphere. Still, I got it.

If you're going to be lifting any more than that, you're gonna have to pull out the crew module and put in some extra fuel. Also, if you want to make it any farther than Minmus, you're definitely going to have to replace the entire cargo bay with a fuel tank. But that should be easy enough.

Anyway, try it out, have fun. Someday maybe I'll finish the tanker version on the space goose, I'll post it when I do.

Edited November 8, 2014 by CocoDaPuf

[Rakaydos]

Thinking about entering my design... one of my first cargo spaceplanes, it has both a balanced cargo bay AND a balanced clampotron. I'm still working out the most fuel efficent way to orbit, but I've got more than an FL800's worth of "reserve" counterbalance fuel and oxidiser, enough room on the cargo bay for another FL800, and concealed Monoprop tanks that are easy to access by a clip through the cargo bay.

Mods are FAR and Stock Rebalance Project 1.3 (only part that matters is the reaction wheel nerf and RCS buff)