The Utility-Aircraft Challenge

[Northstar1989]

This is more of a FUN challenge than one for high-score hunters. The objective is to build an aircraft to fly around Kerbin, and collect biome-science. Distinctions will be awarded for particularly cool/useful types of designs, and should be your goal for this challenge.

The Rules:

Simple. Build a manned plane, blimp, or helicopter (or other weird contraption- but NO ROCKETS, it should be held up by aerodynamic lift or buoyancy...) to fly around Kerbin. The craft should be able to take off and land around Kerbin, and be *primarily* constructed out of one piece (detachable landers/rovers, etc. and drop-tanks are allowable, provided they can be re-attached to the main craft). The emphasis on this challenge is on utility and efficiency, rather than raw speed/performance.

The craft should be designed for extended use- so there should be a way to refuel it. That means either a docking port or a KAS port or something like that somewhere on the vessel. It should be reasonably accessible, although I won't make you demonstrate refueling unless it doesn't look like the refueling port can actually be accessed...

All mods are allowed that use *realistic technology*. I particularly recommend checking out the FAR, Firespitter, and KSP-Interstellar mods for this challenge. Note that no fusion/antimatter reactors or DT-Vista engines may be used from KSP-Interstellar (I don't count those are "realistic"), nor any type of fusion or antimatter engine/reactor from any other mod.

The current list of distinctions will probably be expanded in the future, so check back from time to time if you want to complete this challenge again for new distinctions.

Please post screenshots throughout your flight. Make sure to capture any events that might be deemed significant (such as landing, takeoff, detachment of a cargo, etc.). Overall, the more screenshot coverage the better.

Disctinctions:

Who needs fuel? Build a craft that never requires refueling. NO INFINIGLIDERS OR EXPLOITS. This generally means some sort of electric-propeller design, a KSP-Interstellar thermal turbojet design (nuclear reactor fuel, due to its *extremely* slow consumption rate, won't DQ an entry), or a craft that can create new fuel from the atmosphere (as with a KSP-Interstellar or Karbonite Atmospheric Scoop). No craft with drills or requiring them to be splashed down in the ocean will be counted.

Watch out for the canopy Goose! Build a craft that has some form of ejection-seat or other emergency-escape system. This mainly means detachable cockpits- EVA parachute mods will not be counted. Demonstrate the system in action.

Time to bail out! Build a craft that permits its crew to bail out above 4000 meters, and deploy parachutes within 500 meters of the ground. Kerbal Attachment System (with grabbable radial chutes), and EVA parachute mods work equally well for this. Demonstrate the system in action. *Hint* this will be easier if your plane is at high altitude.

Time to drive! Build a craft with a detachable rover. The rover must be re-attachable to the main craft. KAS winches and cargo bays work particularly well for this, but docking ports can be made to work as well...

Supply Drop-Zone Build a craft that can para-drop cargo to an accuracy of within 2 kilometers of a drop-zone (as marked by a flag or landed craft/base). The cargo does not have to be re-attachable, but must be useful (no single-use empty drop-tanks as "cargo" please...) The craft MUST NOT LAND to drop off its cargo. Flight Manager for Reusable Stages will help IMMENSELY with high-altitude drops, as both the plane and cargo must survive.

Cargo Plane- Develop a PLANE that can carry at least 10 tons of cargo at a time, and safely deploy it either by para-drop or on the ground. Cargo must be capable of landing with only parachutes (no retro-rockets) if air-dropped, and parachutes do not count towards cargo capacity.

Landing Pod- Develop an aircraft capable of detaching a small pod or parasitic aircraft holding at least one Kerbal, which can safely land on its own while the main plane continues in flight. Must be re-attachable after the main plane has landed, or capable of flying back to the main plane while it is in the air and re-docking.

We can take this thing to orbit! Your craft also doubles as a spaceplane.

Atmospheric Specialty- Your aircraft CANNOT fly to orbit on its own, and relies entirely on air-breathing engines or propellers (no RAPIER/SABRE!)

This thing works on Duna- Your aircraft is also capable of flying/landing and taking-off on Duna (HINT: if an aircraft can achieve level flight at over 12,000 meters without use of oxygen-breathing engines, it will generally also work on Duna.)

Duna Outpost Support Craft- Your aircraft is capable of moving useful cargo around on Duna (fuel, machinery, etc.) Kerbals are considered useless cargo! A special exemption from the manned-craft rule is allowed for this Distinction, so you may use probe cores instead.

Eve Flier- Your aircraft is also capable of flying/landing and taking-off on Eve (the main challenges of flying on Eve are that the high gravity will exasperate any instabilities you compensate for with reaction wheels, jet engines don't work, and rocket engines get *terrible* ISP at low altitude...)

Eve Reusable Ascender- Build a craft that can fly from the ground to orbit on Eve. Drop-tanks MUST be used with Deadly Re-entry, to prevent players from dropping tanks that would normally burn up on sub-orbital trajectories, and MUST be reusable as normal. I *highly* recommend utilizing KSP-Interstellar Thermal Turbojets and a Microwave Beamed Power infrastructure for this distinction (fusion/antimatter reactors are banned, and fission reactors are too heavy).

Kerbin's Every Nook and Cranny- Build a craft that is capable of landing and taking off on every TRADITIONAL (non-building) biome on Kerbin. This includes water biomes- although the craft may propel itself to land before taking off again. To earn this distinction, you must land and take off from: a standard biome (like Grasslands), one of Kerbin's mountain ranges, the polar ice caps (difficult as they are COMPLETELY flat, and far away from the KSC), and at least one lake, river, or ocean. Craft must be able to return to the KSC intact from all of these biomes (so if your fuel-burning jet/helicopter can only take off from a mountain when almost completely out of fuel, and has no way to create fuel from the atmosphere, no Distinction for you.)

SSTOL/VTOL- Your aircraft is "Super-Short Take-Off and Landing" or "Vertical Take-Off and Landing" capable. SSTOL's must be able to take off within 3 craft-lengths of their starting-point, on level ground, to qualify. VTOL's take off vertically, obviously. Each is a separate distinction- and VTOL replaces SSTOL as the superior distinction. *HINT* mostly only ultralight propeller planes will be able to achieve SSTOL. Otherwise, try and build a VTOL.

Rapid Landing Approach Your craft has the capability to rapidly line up a landing-approach and safely land by EITHER diverting more than 50% of its normal forwards-thrust retrograde for an extended period of time (HINT: Firespitter propellers have the capability to reverse thrust-direction), firing more than 100% of its normal forwards thrust retrograde just before or after landing (i.e. retro-rockets), or deploying "drag chutes" (RealChutes mod helps with this- parachutes won't auto-cut on landing). Retro-rockets and drag chutes must be demonstrated on high-speed landings of over 120 m/s or half maximum cruising velocity at 4000 meters, whichever is lower.

Successful Entries:

Vigelius- Cargo Plane, Atmospheric Specialty

Laie- "We can take this thing to orbit!"

Voculus- VTOL, Landing Pod, "Time to drive!", Atmospheric Specialty

GloriousWater- "Watch out for the canopy Goose!", Atmospheric Specialty

Regards,

Northstar

P.S. Have fun with this challenge! The vehicle should be useful, and not a rocket (as in, a big metal cylinder full of fuel that shoots through the air at high speeds with no wings- whether powered by rocket engines or jets. Rocket-planes are fine), but that doesn't mean there isn't all sorts of room for crazy contraptions. Feel free to innovate and explore!

Edited November 13, 2014 by Northstar1989

[Fleskhjerta14577]

Will give this a go, unfortunately I only play stock so this is going to be interesting. Is mid-air refueling allowed? It seems like a really, really bad idea on stock but is it?

Made a very large aircraft for this challenge and despite it's size it actually flies and is pretty maneuverable.. will post pictures later when I'm landed at the first fuel tank at the North Pole

Oh wait! Isn't the OP supposed to do the challenge to prove it's possible? I mean I know that this is possible but isn't that challenge rules or something?

Edited November 4, 2014 by Fleskhjerta14577

[Vigelius]

Here's one I made earlier!

- Using B9 and FAR

- Circumnavigated Kerbin in 3 hours

- Carrying just over 72T tons of 'payload'

- Enough fuel left over to do the whole thing all over again, and then some

- Dropped its payload with a reasonable degree of accuracy over KSC

Hits a few of the distinctions, but not as many as it could do because it wasn't built with the challenge in mind. I have no desire to sit through three hours of flying straight and level again, but I might do some extra stuff more locally if that would gain credit?

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[Pds314]

Hmm. Considering abusing the SSTOL thing by just having a kilometer-long plane.

Or rather a 20-meter-long plane with a kilometer-long beam of massless parts.

Edited November 5, 2014 by Pds314

[Fleskhjerta14577]

Hmm. Considering abusing the SSTOL thing by just having a kilometer-long plane.

Or rather a 20-meter-long plane with a kilometer-long beam of massless parts.

That would be.. interesting, to say the least..

[Voculus]

I had the urge to make a helicopter that could deposit and retrieve a science rover anywhere on Kerbin, provided it had fuel, so I present this!

Javascript is disabled. View full album

The helicopter uses Davon's Throttle Control to keep both rotors providing equal thrust, and is also well served by Diazo's Vertical Velocity mod, if you want a more hands off approach, during long flights.

Sorry, but no vid of this one. The 64-bit carrot that was being dangled in front of me got yanked, so I have to run in OpenGL in 32-bit mode, which kills my framerate, and makes vid capture unwatchable.

The helicopter weighs 26 tons, and will carry a 3-ton science rover beneath it, with a docking port and quantum struts to keep it from wobbling once attached. The Yari 1000 rotors from the B9 expansion pack are gas hogs, but will carry the ship aloft for up to an hour and fifteen minutes. The rover can be dropped from great heights, thanks to lo-fi's awesome wheels, and can be retrieved as needed. It's a tight fit, but the rover can either use its SAS to muscle it's way into the berth, or the helicopter can simply hover above, and carefully descend to make the connection!

One thing I really wanted to show in a vid, but was unable to, was the mouse-steerable spotlight underneath the nose of the helicopter. Many thanks to Bahamuto for that one!

Edited November 11, 2014 by Voculus

[Laie]

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the Laythe Lab:

As the name suggests, it is a laboratory and full science package, equipped with wings, jets and rockets, destined for Laythe. The gallery (click pic) is my K-Prize submission, and as such mostly concerned with reaching space; however, there's also a few pictures from landing in the wild and doing science. Please notice that it has rover wheels as well as a landing gear, so it can taxi around a bit -- not very well, but it adds some maneuverability. I'd rather drive into the mountains than try to land there, for example. Likewise, it can enter the water, but only very carefully (the Laboratory is quite fragile, after all).

I don't doubt that it could visit all of Kerbins traditional biomes (1); if you swapped out the rocket motors for basic jets, it might be capable of doing a full Kerbin science sweep without refueling. It comes equipped with docking ports, but I never tried to use them on the ground.

(1) the new building-biomes around KSC may be problematic, though.

Edited November 9, 2014 by Laie

[Northstar1989]

(1) the new building-biomes around KSC may be problematic, though.

Indeed, it might. Fixed the distinctions to make it clear I didn't mean any of the new "building biomes". Taking a look at the two existing entries now.

Regards,

Northstar

[Northstar1989]

OK, so... I've had time to review the submissions so far.

First off, that giant of a plane:

Here's one I made earlier!

- Using B9 and FAR

- Circumnavigated Kerbin in 3 hours

- Carrying just over 72T tons of 'payload'

- Enough fuel left over to do the whole thing all over again, and then some

- Dropped its payload with a reasonable degree of accuracy over KSC

Hits a few of the distinctions, but not as many as it could do because it wasn't built with the challenge in mind. I have no desire to sit through three hours of flying straight and level again, but I might do some extra stuff more locally if that would gain credit?

http://imgur.com/a/EEBu9

Congrats! That's a cargo plane if I ever saw one! It definitely earns that distinction, as well as the "Atmospheric Specialty" one. You might also try for the "Time to Bail Out", "Supply Drop-Zone", and "Time to Drive" distinctions- in fact I've had good luck with B9 cargo planes that could perform precisely those functions (crew and cargo para-drops, and the ability to unload a rover when landed) myself- though never anything nearly THAT massive...

You might also try installing Firespitter or KSP-Interstellar, and getting that thing to fly with Electric Propellers or Thermal Turbojets for the "Who Needs Fuel?" distinction- though a hint, you'll probably need to cut down on weight a little if you do (TTJ's don't produce much thrust with nuclear reactors- although they can perform EXTREMELY well with little weight if you use Microwave Beamed Power and keep the reactors on the ground... Electric Propellers just aren't particularly powerful- especially at high altitude.)

The following mods might also be particularly helpful to you with that craft:

Procedural Dynamics (aka "Procedural Wings"- lets you make single-part wings as large as your imagination or the Spaceplane Hanger can hold...)

Firespitter (Propellers work well at low altitude, and are MUCH more fuel efficient than jets- though your flight will also take longer due to lower speeds. Also, FS trim-control.)

KSP-Interstellar (Particularly helpful if you want to fly your plane without jet fuel using Thermal Turbojets- but reactors are heavy compared to FS Electric Propellers...)

Stanford Torus Mod (There's really only one part from this mod you might find useful- the larger static solar panels. Great for Electric Propellers, and like OX-STAT's, massless.)

MechJeb2 (The Kerbal Engineer functionality would be helpful in craft-design, and the Advanced SAS can prove invaluable for acting as an autopilot on long-duration flights.)

Also, have you considered using the Flight Assistance functions in FAR? They are accessible through the Flight Data screen, and make maintaining level flight for long periods of time MUCH easier. You can set Pitch, Yaw, and Roll Stabilization; a specific Angle of Attack range; and even activate "Dynamic Control Authority" to change the responsiveness/deflection of your control surfaces in correspondence with the dynamic pressure so you don't lose control authority at high-altitude or have your control surfaces rip off when attempting to pull out of a dive at low altitude...

Early in my KSP career, I once tried flying a circumnavigation flight manually for a challenge (which banned MechJeb anyways), and it was hell. I would NEVER advise attempting that, and *loathe* the challenge authors who ask players to circumnavigate Kerbin or fly a spaceplane to orbit, and then ban mods like MechJeb2 that would actually remove a lot of the boring grind of constantly correcting your Angle of Attack, and the danger of getting lazy with AoA corrections and losing control as a result... (REAL commercial pilots rely heavily on autopilot for AoA control, for both safety and quality-of-life reasons: why shouldn't you?)

Regards,

Northstar

[Northstar1989]

Next up, the "Laythe Lab"...

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the Laythe Lab:

http://ksp.schnobs.de/k-prize/screenshot23.png

As the name suggests, it is a laboratory and full science package, equipped with wings, jets and rockets, destined for Laythe. The gallery (click pic) is my K-Prize submission, and as such mostly concerned with reaching space; however, there's also a few pictures from landing in the wild and doing science. Please notice that it has rover wheels as well as a landing gear, so it can taxi around a bit -- not very well, but it adds some maneuverability. I'd rather drive into the mountains than try to land there, for example. Likewise, it can enter the water, but only very carefully (the Laboratory is quite fragile, after all).

I don't doubt that it could visit all of Kerbins traditional biomes (1); if you swapped out the rocket motors for basic jets, it might be capable of doing a full Kerbin science sweep without refueling. It comes equipped with docking ports, but I never tried to use them on the ground.

(1) the new building-biomes around KSC may be problematic, though.

I looked over the gallery, and the submission certainly meets the criteria for a utility aircraft (it was designed to actually serve a useful purpose), but it lacks imagination to be honest, and doesn't meet ANY of the Distinction requirements (not even "Atmospheric Specialty", as it DOES have rocket engines...)

EDIT: Correction- it DOES meet the criteria for "We can take this thing to orbit!"

I can put you on the successful submissions list as just a one-distinction entry, but have you considered re-designing a version of the craft a little for the challenge?

I would suggest attempting *at least* one of the more ambitious goals, whether building a plane than can fly on Duna (certainly not THAT plane- it would simply fall out of the sky with such high wing-loading in the wispy atmosphere of Duna), or a helicopter or VTOL-plane. Or perhaps, you'd rather try building a cargo-plane and aiming for a supply drop of cargo? The options are many, and the choices yours.

A couple of pointers for planes that operate on other planets, since you already seem interested in those:

If you DO attempt to fly around on Duna, you would probably find the Procedural Dynamics (HUGE, single-part wings become a possibility) and the Firespitter (contains electric propellers) mods helpful- and you would also be able to easily cross-submit your craft in the "Flying Duna" challenge.

OTOH, if you want to fly around on Eve, I would STRONGLY recommend downloading KPS-Interstellar and the NearFuture Solar mods, and building a small Thermal Turbojet (using KSP-Interstellar) or Electric Propeller (with Firespitter) drone that can fly around there using beamed-power from orbital solar-power satellites (using NearFuture solar blankets on the satellites). Fuel is *EXTREMELY* expensive to ship on interplanetary missions just for surface-side exploration, and solar panels on drone wings (for Electric Propellers) do NOT work well on Eve due to the thick atmosphere that blocks much of the sunlight from reaching the surface... (plus, you don't need particularly large wings one Eve due to the thick atmosphere- so there isn't a lot of wing area to place static solar panels on...)

On a practical note, Hybrid Turbojets also work very nicely for Eve spaceplanes, as they allow you to climb out of the thick parts of Eve's atmosphere w/o expending fuel... (and then pass fuel through them once the TTJ's run out of intake atmosphere)

Regards,

Northstar

Edited November 11, 2014 by Northstar1989

[Laie]

I looked over the gallery, and the submission certainly meets the criteria for a utility aircraft (it was designed to actually serve a useful purpose), but it lacks imagination to be honest,

Pray tell, what would be imaginative?

That vessel was designed (very specifically) to recover maximum science from Laythe as part of a Jool-5 mission. Weight was a consideration, part count even more so -- in the end I determined that integrating a lab would be better than bringing several science packages.

(The vessel that ultimately went to Laythe looked a little different and failed at it's task because I didn't realise that merely going for a swim wouldn't suffice: you have to be at some distance from the shore, or the water has to be deep enough or something. Anyways, I didn't try hard enough.).

I can put you on the successful submissions list as just a no-distinctions entry, but have you considered re-designing a version of the craft a little for the challenge? At the very least, you could strip off the rocket engines, and show that the thing is still capable of operating (by buzzing around the KSC a little, and landing on a nearby field rather than the runway) without them, for the "Atmospheric Specialty" distinction...

I guess that will have to make do for now. Sooner or later, I'll go on a round-trip on Kerbin and map all anomalies; this might provide me with the opportunity to literally visit every nook and cranny, though in some cases this will be done through taxiing. But depending on mood, I may not make a gallery of it.

[Wanderfound]

I've got a few things that can do most of this as-is (see the last few entries in the Kerbodyne thread, and pictured below), but I'll see if I can whip up something bespoke for an entry.

[Voculus]

I've updated my post on the first page, and am going to make a quick vid, although uploading it to Youtube is never quick.

Wanderfound, damn! I love what you did with those VTOL engines!

[Northstar1989]

I've updated my post on the first page, and am going to make a quick vid, although uploading it to Youtube is never quick.

I look forward to the video!

Wanderfound, damn! I love what you did with those VTOL engines!

Those don't look like specialized (rotating) VTOL engines- they appear to be stock Tubojets that he merely attached in a pointing-down position. Which, while less efficient than rotating engines (such as from B9 Aerospace or using Infernal Robotics to rotate other engines) does look darn cool.

Regards,

Northstar

[Northstar1989]

Pray tell, what would be imaginative?

A cargo plane? A VTOL plane? A helicopter? Something capable of flying without fuel in the extreme environments of Duna/Laythe? All I see there is a giant (and not particularly graceful) behemoth of a plane, mostly made to fly through spamming the stock wing parts (you DO realize Procedural Dynamics would have allowed you to replace each wing with a single large part- although it's now designed mainly to only work with FAR/NEAR considering how horrible are stock aerodynamics...)

Watch some of the other entries here- I'm sure you'll get some inspiration.

EDIT: I have to correct myself though. You DID actually get the "We can Take This Thing to Orbit!" distinction before. So, it would be a one-distinction entry, really.

Regards,

Northstar

P.S. Also, you do realize you could have just left the Mobile Lab in orbit, and sent down just a much smaller plane to the surface- using a dedicated lander to ferry the science back to orbit? It would have been much more fuel-efficient, and would have allowed for a MUCH smaller plane overall. The part-count savings from the smaller wings would have dwarfed the extra parts from redundant science packages. OR, you could have sent down the Mobile Lab on a lander, but left it stationary and had the plane fly to IT when needed... (and dock using KAS pipes/winches)

Edited November 11, 2014 by Northstar1989

[Northstar1989]

I had the urge to make a helicopter that could deposit and retrieve a science rover anywhere on Kerbin, provided it had fuel, so I present this!

http://imgur.com/a/obw28#0

The helicopter uses Davon's Throttle Control to keep both rotors providing equal thrust, and is also well served by Diazo's Vertical Velocity mod, if you want a more hands off approach, during long flights.

Sorry, but no vid of this one. The 64-bit carrot that was being dangled in front of me got yanked, so I have to run in OpenGL in 32-bit mode, which kills my framerate, and makes vid capture unwatchable.

The helicopter weighs 26 tons, and will carry a 3-ton science rover beneath it, with a docking port and quantum struts to keep it from wobbling once attached. The Yari 1000 rotors from the B9 expansion pack are gas hogs, but will carry the ship aloft for up to an hour and fifteen minutes. The rover can be dropped from great heights, thanks to lo-fi's awesome wheels, and can be retrieved as needed. It's a tight fit, but the rover can either use its SAS to muscle it's way into the berth, or the helicopter can simply hover above, and carefully descend to make the connection!

One thing I really wanted to show in a vid, but was unable to, was the mouse-steerable spotlight underneath the nose of the helicopter. Many thanks to Bahamuto for that one!

That's PRETTY DARN COOL.

One question though- what do you mean the "rover can be dropped from great heights"? Are you actually saying that the thing could survive impacting the ground at several dozen m/s after being air-dropped w/o parachutes?

Anyways, you've got the "Atmospheric Specialty", the "Time to Drive", "VTOL", and the "Landing Pod" distinctions. Add some parachutes to the rover, or use an alternative payload, and it should be easy enough to also get the "Supply Drop-Zone" distinction.

Regards,

Northstar

[Voculus]

Great heights, as in over 100 meters! I don't know if that's due to the nature of the mod wheels, or something to do with it being another ship not under my control. Generally, I try to keep it more sane, since it can still bounce and land on its roof. I really wish I could show it off in a vid, but it just wasn't meant to be. I'm going to try and enter another ship before the weekend, though. The B9 expansion pack has some killer Gladius VTOL engines I want to showcase.

[Northstar1989]

Great heights, as in over 100 meters! I don't know if that's due to the nature of the mod wheels, or something to do with it being another ship not under my control. Generally, I try to keep it more sane, since it can still bounce and land on its roof.

Wow- I bet the Kerbals don't exactly getting knocked around the inside though. I imagine it would be a bit like a "Tower of Terror" drop, except without the huge suspension to stop you from blacking out at the bottom...

I really wish I could show it off in a vid, but it just wasn't meant to be. I'm going to try and enter another ship before the weekend, though. The B9 expansion pack has some killer Gladius VTOL engines I want to showcase.

I manage to record video, and I'm using a weak, slightly old Lenovo laptop with a graphics card that doesn't play nicely with OpenGL mode, in x32. The secret here is probably doing more with less- what recording software are you using (I recommend OBS). What resolution are you attempting to record in? (I typically go between 240 and 480p) I could try to give you some pointers on OBS setting to use if that would be helpful...

Regards,

Northstar

[Voculus]

Well, since you asked... I'm running triple monitors powered by two GTX 780s, with a resolution of 5760 x 1080. Under DX, I could use Fraps to record anything I liked. For some reason, OpenGL with KSP kicks those two gfx cards right in the daddy bags. I may try and just go single screen for the sake of a vid. I'll try and get one posted in the coming days.

[Wanderfound]

Those don't looek like specialized (rotating) VTOL engines- they appear to be stock Tubojets that he merely attached in a pointing-down position. Which, while less efficient than rotating engines (such as from B9 Aerospace or using Infernal Robotics to rotate other engines) does look darn cool.

Basic jets, actually, stashed in a bomb bay. 100% stock parts.

If you look at the Kerbodyne thread, you'll find examples of similar builds from small (single jet) to the big four-jet (plus one turbojet, two RAPIERs and two Aerospikes; slow it ain't) one shown upthread. And they'll all easily cruise to orbit and more, so I'm not too bothered about efficiency.

Edited November 12, 2014 by Wanderfound

[Voculus]

Northstar, I did find a vid from .24, when I was living the 64-bit dream. This one is just a fuel hauler, which could carry something like 20 tons of LFO and MonoProp for up to 25 minutes. I want to recreate something like this again, only I'd like it to air drop a science lab, or something like that. I'll have to see what I come up with.

Short vid:

Slightly longer vid:

[GloriousWater]

Did this challenge last night, but didn't find time to upload the pictures until now.

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No prizes for guessing what my tired self left out....

[Vigelius]

Congrats! That's a cargo plane if I ever saw one! It definitely earns that distinction, as well as the "Atmospheric Specialty" one. You might also try for the "Time to Bail Out", "Supply Drop-Zone", and "Time to Drive" distinctions- in fact I've had good luck with B9 cargo planes that could perform precisely those functions (crew and cargo para-drops, and the ability to unload a rover when landed) myself- though never anything nearly THAT massive...

You might also try installing Firespitter or KSP-Interstellar, and getting that thing to fly with Electric Propellers or Thermal Turbojets for the "Who Needs Fuel?" distinction- though a hint, you'll probably need to cut down on weight a little if you do (TTJ's don't produce much thrust with nuclear reactors- although they can perform EXTREMELY well with little weight if you use Microwave Beamed Power and keep the reactors on the ground... Electric Propellers just aren't particularly powerful- especially at high altitude.)

The following mods might also be particularly helpful to you with that craft:

Procedural Dynamics (aka "Procedural Wings"- lets you make single-part wings as large as your imagination or the Spaceplane Hanger can hold...)

Firespitter (Propellers work well at low altitude, and are MUCH more fuel efficient than jets- though your flight will also take longer due to lower speeds. Also, FS trim-control.)

KSP-Interstellar (Particularly helpful if you want to fly your plane without jet fuel using Thermal Turbojets- but reactors are heavy compared to FS Electric Propellers...)

Stanford Torus Mod (There's really only one part from this mod you might find useful- the larger static solar panels. Great for Electric Propellers, and like OX-STAT's, massless.)

MechJeb2 (The Kerbal Engineer functionality would be helpful in craft-design, and the Advanced SAS can prove invaluable for acting as an autopilot on long-duration flights.)

Also, have you considered using the Flight Assistance functions in FAR? They are accessible through the Flight Data screen, and make maintaining level flight for long periods of time MUCH easier. You can set Pitch, Yaw, and Roll Stabilization; a specific Angle of Attack range; and even activate "Dynamic Control Authority" to change the responsiveness/deflection of your control surfaces in correspondence with the dynamic pressure so you don't lose control authority at high-altitude or have your control surfaces rip off when attempting to pull out of a dive at low altitude...

Early in my KSP career, I once tried flying a circumnavigation flight manually for a challenge (which banned MechJeb anyways), and it was hell. I would NEVER advise attempting that, and *loathe* the challenge authors who ask players to circumnavigate Kerbin or fly a spaceplane to orbit, and then ban mods like MechJeb2 that would actually remove a lot of the boring grind of constantly correcting your Angle of Attack, and the danger of getting lazy with AoA corrections and losing control as a result... (REAL commercial pilots rely heavily on autopilot for AoA control, for both safety and quality-of-life reasons: why shouldn't you?)

Regards,

Northstar

I've played a bit with Procedural Wings in the past - I found it was really good for the actual wings, but control surfaces and wing-mounted structures had symmetry issues which just annoyed me too much. That was a couple of versions ago though.

I might have a play with more efficient engine parts at some point, although I suspect the increased endurance would come at the cost of a lot of my payload! And let's face it, I can already fly all day without stopping! Electric might be fun for a smaller plane though.

I've barely ever played without MJ and FAR ever since v0.22, KSP just doesn't seem right without them any more! I've always found their aeroplane autopilot controls a bit dubious to say the least, but perhaps I'm just feeding in the wrong instructions?

Totally agree about MJ snobbery but hey, we do the challenges we enjoy, because we enjoy doing them!

So I've had a bit more fun with this beastie.

First off, I have a nemesis. Namely in-flight docking, which I have fought and been defeated by before. Now I have fought and been defeated by it again:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

At least that proves I can fly another plane into my beast and it will be thoroughly unconcerned!

In other news, I've made an attempt to pick up more achievements:

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I'm a big TTNeverunload user, which works great when the skydiver is in the air but seems to cut out the moment he touches the ground and causes the plane to vanish. Fortunately I have a quicksave to hand; this will just have to serve as a proof of capability. I suspect you may have guessed what is coming next...

[Northstar1989]

Did this challenge last night, but didn't find time to upload the pictures until now.

http://imgur.com/a/OkjSb

No prizes for guessing what my tired self left out....

OK, so that's... "Watch out for the canopy Goose!" and "Atmospheric Specialty"

Anything else I'm missing? I'm really tired today for some reason...

Regards,

Northstar

[Northstar1989]

I've played a bit with Procedural Wings in the past - I found it was really good for the actual wings, but control surfaces and wing-mounted structures had symmetry issues which just annoyed me too much. That was a couple of versions ago though.

I might have a play with more efficient engine parts at some point, although I suspect the increased endurance would come at the cost of a lot of my payload! And let's face it, I can already fly all day without stopping! Electric might be fun for a smaller plane though.

I've barely ever played without MJ and FAR ever since v0.22, KSP just doesn't seem right without them any more! I've always found their aeroplane autopilot controls a bit dubious to say the least, but perhaps I'm just feeding in the wrong instructions?

Totally agree about MJ snobbery but hey, we do the challenges we enjoy, because we enjoy doing them!

So I've had a bit more fun with this beastie.

First off, I have a nemesis. Namely in-flight docking, which I have fought and been defeated by before. Now I have fought and been defeated by it again:

http://imgur.com/a/Bb3WH

At least that proves I can fly another plane into my beast and it will be thoroughly unconcerned!

In other news, I've made an attempt to pick up more achievements:

http://imgur.com/a/vY0L7

I'm a big TTNeverunload user, which works great when the skydiver is in the air but seems to cut out the moment he touches the ground and causes the plane to vanish. Fortunately I have a quicksave to hand; this will just have to serve as a proof of capability. I suspect you may have guessed what is coming next...

And I guess you were going for "Time to bail out!"?

Unfortunately, your plane can't disappear for that distinction though (obviously, that wouldn't be useful for actual operations around Kerbin- say to para-drop Kerbals to hook up a surface base: something I've actually used para-crop planes for before...) So you need to try different mods, or drop the Kerbal while gliding low+slow, and only deploy the parachute really close to the ground (or have the plane circle around while the Kerbal falls within loading-distance...)

Did you try using Flight Manager for Reusable Stages to get around your plane disappearing? It's an excellent system when dropping cargo- and my guess is that it work with dropping Kerbals as well...

Regards,

Northstar

Edited November 13, 2014 by Northstar1989