Longbow Transport Spaceplane

[Redshift OTF]

New version available in later post(s). This one classed as a prototype now.

This plane uses the Spaceplane + Mod, so it should become stock soon! Until then I'll leave the Mod Craft title in.

The Longbow Transport Spaceplane.

It can carry 60+2 Kerbals into LKO and dock with whatever space station or carrier craft you have up there!

The Kerbals have entered the true stage of space tourism; the ability to send whole packs of Kerbal space tourists into LKO with re-usable craft. The Longbow is powerful and quite manoeuvrable considering it weighs 98.2 tons. It glides very well and can land with no engine power. It has 436 parts although if you find it a bit laggy I would recommend you remove the cabin ladders as they make quite a difference.

Hotkeys:

1) Toggle Turbojets

2) Toggle Rapiers

3) Switch Rapier Engine Mode

8) Toggle Ladders

9) Toggle Docking Port

0) Toggle Lights

Flight plan:

It can take off the runway on half throttle and has a wheel at the back to prevent tail strike. Recommended you fly quickly up to 25-28 km and fly horizontally till you reach orbital speed of 2100 m/s. At this point pitch up to 20 degrees and you should be able to reach an apoapsis of 50-60km on jets alone. There is a bit of yaw wobble when you pass 2180 m/s! Don't worry, it only lasts a couple of seconds and it shouldn't spoil your flight. I'm not sure what that is, maybe the K barrier. Once you've flown above 45km press 3) to switch engine modes and 1) to turn off the Turbojets and you should get into orbit easily.

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Craft file here!

Hopefully you'll like it and any comments are welcome. I may retro fit it with cargo bays and LV-N's if there is a demand.

Edited September 28, 2014 by Redshift OTF

[Redshift OTF]

I decided to make an improved version of this plane and consigned the previous version to prototype status.

Before I had used a quadcoupler to combine 4 hull pieces however this prevented me from using symmetry mode and I had to line everything up by eye. Tiny defects in this construction method were probably causing the unexplained yaw during ascent and decent. This new version looks similar but is a total rebuild from the ground up and it allowed me to use symmetry mode so no more unexpected yawing! It also allowed me to better line up the hulls so there is no overlap, although the plane now has a more fatter look.

The plane is now known as the K-101 to indicate its availability to the space tourism industry. Other improvements include:

a) All jet engines are now Turbo Jets and there are 14 of them to give improved thrust to obtain a higher apoapsis on jets alone.

4 LV-N rocket engines to extend the range of the plane in space. Now you can dock with Mun and Minmus stations and return without fuelling.

c) Slightly more Oxidiser. After an ideal ascent in a 100km orbit you should have around 2400 DeltaV.

d) Overhauled under carriage.

e) Re-vamped fuel lines so every jet and rocket engine can use all the fuel on board without having to perform fuel transfers.

The part count has been upped to 504 parts but a lot of that is struts. Removed the side ladders for the cabins to improve performance but you can add them if you wish.

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Hot Keys

1) Toggle Wing Jets

2) Toggle Tail Jets

3) Toggle LV-N Rocket Engines

8) Toggle Pilots Ladder

9) Toggle Docking Port

0) Toggle Cabin Lights

Flight Manual

You should be able to take of at around 100 m/s. Climb swiftly to obtain altitude. This plane should reach near orbital speeds flying level at 28km. At around 2300 m/s angle up 10-15 degrees and you should be able to get an apoapsis of over 50km on jets alone. When over 45km switch to LV-N's to complete your orbit. Pretty simple.

Craft File Here.

This plane was tested to destruction so if you find any flaws feel free to point them out!

Edited September 28, 2014 by Redshift OTF

[Wjolcz]

I like the desing of the wings and will be stealing that idea if you don't mind ;3 Very nice, commercial-looking craft.

[Redshift OTF]

Thanks! And use what you wish for your own craft. The new wing pieces from SP+ make it a lot easier to make nice looking wings than the old parts although the wings still wobble a bit. I'll probably be working on larger designs so it will be interesting to see how the wings work out for those.

[Redshift OTF]

Another new version is available. The K 102!

This version sacrifices crew capacity for fuel to make it an interplanetary spaceplane. It carries 24+2 Kerbals and has a DeltaV of over 4600 once it is in LKO.

It's a bit longer, (mainly because the crew cabins and fuel tanks have a 3 to 2 length ratio), but I think that makes it look a bit better, it's heavier, weighing in at 122.9 tons and the part count is increased to 599 parts due to more struts I've added to keep it structurally sound and reduce wing wobble but the performance is pretty similar to the K-101. I also raised the tail fins to prevent engine wash from the wing jets. Hot keys and flight profile are the same as the K101. The plane probably has an excess of liquid fuel in it so you can drain some to give you even more DeltaV when you are in orbit.

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Craft File.