The Utility-Aircraft Challenge

[Northstar1989]

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:

Those are pretty cool videos. And to steal GloriousWater's phrase, it certainly beats what I can accomplish with my old coal-fired computer!

Regards,

Northstar

[Northstar1989]

This challenge needs some love... any new takers?

If not, I might try and submit another entry of my own soon, just to liven this thread up a bit...

Regards,

Northstar

[Himynameisjake]

I'm basically working on this concept with a 3 deep Mk3 cargo bay and 10 tons of cargo. yikes.

[WhiteKnuckle]

I'll start by entering my entry for the biome-hopper challenge:

In my continued quest to find something my Nomad VTOL can't do, I decided to take it on a tour of all the land Biomes on Kerbin:

Craft Name: Nomad E2

Stock / Non-Stock Entry: FAR, stock parts

Celestial Body: Kerbin

Number of Biomes: 8

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Craft file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ieb9l69js4p64oa/Nomad%20E2.craft?dl=0

When I get home tonight I'll slap a docking port on it and do a water landing (I've done it before I just didn't do it for the biome-hopper challenge since I didn't have an extra set of science experiments)

Then it should be good for:

-Atmospheric specialty (has LF-O thrusters but can fly/land without them)

-Nook & Cranny

-VTOL

-Watch out for the canopy goose (has chutes on the cockpit, cockpit doesn't detatch but works in case of atomspheric breakup, will save the crew no matter how much or little of the plane is left, but is not an emergency landing system... ie the rest of the aircraft will go splat)

I'll probably also do another entry with my heavy cargo VTOL, just need to design a payload that will max the number of distinctions I can do in a single run.

Edited February 17, 2015 by WhiteKnuckle

[WhiteKnuckle]

Added a Jr. docking port to the tail of my VTOL and did a water landing to prove it works.

[Captain Vlad]

There's an achievement for carrying a rover and deploying it...would that apply to a vehicle that IS a rover, that just flies by itself?

[Northstar1989]

There's an achievement for carrying a rover and deploying it...would that apply to a vehicle that IS a rover, that just flies by itself?

I don't see how that's possible, considering the rules clearly state the vessel needs to be kept up with aerodynamic lift or buoyancy...

- - - Updated - - -

I'll start by entering my entry for the biome-hopper challenge:Then it should be good for:

-Atmospheric specialty (has LF-O thrusters but can fly/land without them)

-Nook & Cranny

-VTOL

-Watch out for the canopy goose (has chutes on the cockpit, cockpit doesn't detatch but works in case of atomspheric breakup, will save the crew no matter how much or little of the plane is left, but is not an emergency landing system... ie the rest of the aircraft will go splat)

That's a VERY cool aircraft, but sorry, it doesn't qualify for "Watch Out For the Canopy Goose!" unless the cockpit (or better yet, an External Command Seat the Kerbal has been riding in the whole time) EJECTS from the aircraft. Didn't you get the reference to the ejection-seat fiasco in TopGun?

The "Atmospheric Specialty" distinction was meant to be reserved for aircraft that have no onboard rockets whatseoever (obviously meaning you need to choose between this a vying for the spaceplane-distinction). May I suggest removing the rockets if your plane doesn't need them to fly?

You also need to complete "Every Nook & Cranny" with a SINGLE design- meaning if you have to retrofit the aircraft for a water-landing it doesn't count. May I suggest trying to build a VTOL (or helicopter) that can safely land on both land AND water?

Regards,

Northstar

Edited February 18, 2015 by Northstar1989

[Captain Vlad]

I don't see how that's possible, considering the rules clearly state the vessel needs to be kept up with aerodynamic lift or buoyancy...

Well, she's got wings, and I assure you she flies. Completed a seismic survey mission with her last night, but didn't take any good screenshots of her at higher altitudes. I'd obviously have to retrofit a docking port onto her to qualify, but that'd really just be a matter of switching cockpits and putting a nosecone/Jr. port on the front, which I was considering doing anyway.

Note: Obviously this isn't an entry post, just illustrating that I do in fact have a winged rover.

Edited February 18, 2015 by Captain Vlad
Clarified something.

[WhiteKnuckle]

That's a VERY cool aircraft, but sorry, it doesn't qualify for "Watch Out For the Canopy Goose!" unless the cockpit (or better yet, an External Command Seat the Kerbal has been riding in the whole time) EJECTS from the aircraft. Didn't you get the reference to the ejection-seat fiasco in TopGun?

Oh I got the reference, but unfortunatly there's no Mk2 stack decoupler so the only way to get the cockpit away from the rest of the plane is crashing it into a mountain.

The "Atmospheric Specialty" distinction was meant to be reserved for aircraft that have no onboard rockets whatseoever (obviously meaning you need to choose between this a vying for the spaceplane-distinction). May I suggest removing the rockets if your plane doesn't need them to fly?

That I can do, do vernors count?

You also need to complete "Every Nook & Cranny" with a SINGLE design- meaning if you have to retrofit the aircraft for a water-landing it doesn't count. May I suggest trying to build a VTOL (or helicopter) that can safely land on both land AND water?

Regards,

Northstar

I didn't change anything for the water landing, I added the rear docking port so that it met the refueling ability, nothing more. The only reason I didn't do a water landing in the biome hopper challenge is because I could only fit 8 goo canisters onboard, and there are a total of 9 biomes on Kerbin, so I cut the easiest one (water)

I'll post a retrofit with an ejectable Mk1 cockpit and no LF/O engines tonight.

[Northstar1989]

Oh I got the reference, but unfortunatly there's no Mk2 stack decoupler so the only way to get the cockpit away from the rest of the plane is crashing it into a mountain.

The Mk1 cockpit is lighter and has a smaller cross-sectional area (important for drag in FAR) anyways, so I don't see why you wouldn't use it for a low-altitude plane.

If you want to attach two stack-mounted intakes to the front using a Mk2 bicoupler (like I often do for my spaceplanes, as it means the nose of the plane becomes intake area- ideally/theoretically a spaceplane wants as much of its drag to be intake-drag as possible, as this will lead to the highest cruising-altitude under jet power...), or want two pilots for some reason, then just mount TWO Mk1 cockpits side-by-side, and give them both decouplers for this challenge...

That I can do, do vernors count?

Yes. No vernors or internal-propellant RCS, as both can be used outside the atmosphere and are inefficient inside it (although using B9 Aerospace' compressed-air RCS is acceptable...)

I didn't change anything for the water landing, I added the rear docking port so that it met the refueling ability, nothing more. The only reason I didn't do a water landing in the biome hopper challenge is because I could only fit 8 goo canisters onboard, and there are a total of 9 biomes on Kerbin, so I cut the easiest one (water)

I see. You know you don't have to use a docking-port for the refueling criteria, right? A radial KAS winch port (the female end- which accepts winch connections) is the smallest/lightest/least draggy way to enable you to refuel your aircraft... Just make sure it's possible for Kerbals to access the port from the ground- so place it on the underside or provide a ladder to reach it... (or demonstrate a rover with a deployable ladder that can reach it)

I'll post a retrofit with an ejectable Mk1 cockpit and no LF/O engines tonight.

Awesome! I look forward to your entry!

Regards,

Northstar