Six Six Science - Space & Aeronautics Agency Archive [craftfile updated 2016-04-25]

[Frank_G]

I have just finished the prototype of my spaceplane for my Grand Tour to Jool. It is by far the best small SSTO spaceplane i have built so far. Fast, stable, efficient.

It made it to 150 km Kerbin orbit, using only half its fuel. More "revealing" pictures will follow, when i release the craft file soon. Just some minor modifications now.

Launch weight: 4.697 kg

Delta V: 2.507 m/s

TWR on Kerbin: 1.96

TWR on Laythe: 2.45

Part count: 54

Crew: 1

Probe core: no

Take off speed: 50 m/s

Size: 6.5 m x 2.9 m x 2.2 m (fits inside Mk. 3 cargo bay)

[Frank_G]

The Arrowhead X3-DS Explorer Nano SSTO is now available.

[Frank_G]

Survey & Science Aircraft Albatros I has been added.

[Frank_G]

The Dolphin MK. I Jetboat has just been added.

Please feel free to comment and provide feedback here in the thread whenever you like.

[Majorjim!]

The dolphin and the two SSTOs are three craft I wish I had made. Perfect design. I tried making a little boat before. It looked like a child's drawing of yours..

Keep it up man, I look forward to seeing what else you come up with.

MJ

[Frank_G]

Thank you, Sir

I recently took a little break playing KSP and wandered over to roam space in Elite: Dangerous, because i felt a little burned out, concerning good ideas about what to build next and how.

But i will get back to KSP as soon as 1.0 is released. I am really looking forward to add some nice functions to my existing craft using the new fairings and other parts.

There are already some nice ideas forming up... Sometimes a little break is all you need.

In the meantime i keep an eye on the forums from time to time (still every day, to be honest... this game is simply awesome). Can´t really wait for 1.0 now...

[Frank_G]

Ok, time to get my creations working with 1.0.2...

Its really not that easy to get such small craft into orbit. You not only need to use different design approaches, also the ascend profile is completely different. Its like playing a new game... But i am getting there.

[SHiftER2O]

I really like the way you do your craft showcase is there a possibility you can offer a service for picture-taking and editing with your style and my crafts? I could trade you with offering you sketch fab renders for your crafts

[Frank_G]

Thank you!

You can send me some of your screens and i can arrange them for you, if you like.

Taking the pictures would require flying missions. That time i do not have.

[SHiftER2O]

Thank you!

You can send me some of your screens and i can arrange them for you, if you like.

Taking the pictures would require flying missions. That time i do not have.

Quite excellent! As of now I am not in my computer, but if if ever, I'll PM you the pictures

Once I'm back on the desk, I'll immediately start rendering some crafts, although I do see that some of them aren't 1.0, so should I exclude those?

[Frank_G]

I have started recreating some of the craft for 1.0.3. so you may wait until the new ones are uploaded in a month or two. But anyway, i am working as a senior graphic artist since 1988, concentrating on 3D product- and game-design for the last 15 years... so only do stuff you like... i would create such things for my page myself if i see need, if you dont mind. Please dont feel offended .

[edit] Just saw your creations in the SSTO thread. Very nice designs!

Edited June 4, 2015 by Frank_G

[SHiftER2O]

I have started recreating some of the craft for 1.0.3. so you may wait until the new ones are uploaded in a month or two. But anyway, i am working as a senior graphic artist since 1988, concentrating on 3D product- and game-design for the last 15 years... so only do stuff you like... i would create such things for my page myself if i see need, if you dont mind. Please dont feel offended .

[edit] Just saw your creations in the SSTO thread. Very nice designs!

Quite impressive of you But it wouldn't hurt to help you out, no? Applause to you sir

Oh, and maybe in the future, we could have a partnership? Well, here's my company if you ever are curious

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you as well, sir for the time and compliments

[YourEverydayWaffle]

Anybody else getting this vibe?

http://www.amerang.co.uk/image/cache/data/Moebius/MMK960-500x500.jpg

Yep. That's exactly what I thought of when I first saw it.

[Frank_G]

I hope i can recreate that vibe in 1.0.2... The conditions to get into orbit have changed so massively that i really need to start all over – currently searching for a breakthrough. But i am making progress. On the other hand some things will definitely not work, as most of the external mounted equipment would burn off during re-entry. Lots of things to think about... KSP really knows how to keep you close to the flag.

Edited June 4, 2015 by Frank_G

[Frank_G]

Stable 80km orbit achieved – with a cough in the tank left to de-orbit... So, it can be done and there is room for optimization.

The Swordfish Mk. Ic... now its time for tweaking and adding some purpose to it. Too bad, i cant get it to fit inside a Mk. III cargo bay anymore, like ye goode ole Arrowhead SSTO... But this is not the end of the line.

[Frank_G]

It nearly fits... We are talking about 2 or 3 inches here... and i dont want to clip...

BUT...

the new iteration performs like an elevator... 113 km stable circular orbit with fuel to spare...

It has space for 60 units of liquid fuel left in the wings and i think i can get rid of 2 air-intakes below the wings for even less drag.

26 Parts have been used so far, the launch weight is 7.7 tons. Size is 7.0m long, 3.4m wide and 2.3m high.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Frank_G

[Frank_G]

I took a day off today, because of this god damn heat wave here in germany. And now i sit in my air conditioned apartment with an ice cold drink and doing some relaxing stuff in KSP... far better than work. I really needed a break from miniaturized spaceplanes, to not get stuck and to think a few things over for the final version, so just for fun i threw together a modular rover for base operations. It features a configurable cargo hold, a shielded docking port, antenna and solar array, lights and... rabbit ears... ok, i added them just to streamline the blocky end of the crew cabin. But enough talk, here it is: The AT-Rabbit.

Testing different configurations in the field - here a science module and a mining rig.

Testing cargo loading.

It already works very nice. I will release the craftfile this weekend, together with a handful of useful modules.

I think, i need a C.L.A.W. module and maybe a small launcher for a science return pod or so... At the moment an ore tank, a mining rig and a science pod are already finished

Here the original version i based it on - back in .23 days. It was less stable but those track like arranged wheels might make it into the current design.

But, time for another cool drink now...

Edited July 2, 2015 by Frank_G

[Frank_G]

Ok, there was no reason to not release it today, all modules work as intended, the rover itself performs flawless... here you are: AT-Rabbit Mk. I craftfiles have been added. 5 different modules included. For all who wonder, why the wheels are still in straight line... while performing awesome on Kerbin, low gravity worlds are really a pain, when not all wheels are on the ground. I hope you like it anyway.

Edited July 2, 2015 by Frank_G

[Frank_G]

The Arrowhead X4B Nano SSTO spaceplane has just been added.

[Frank_G]

Ok, in this thread i promised to deliver a micronized Tylo-Lander, so here is the prototype: the Crater-Flea Mk. II. It already meets all the requirements on paper, but the landing stage has yet to be tested in the field. It packs a massive 6.1 km/s of delta V and has loads of spare OOOmph during both descent and ascent.

The Mk. I iteration was carrying one X200-32 tank on top, but that meant to jettison it on touchdown and probably waste a lot of precious fuel, that could assist in the ascent phase. Also the Mk.I needed engines at the side, which had an ugly impact on the transport profile... The Mk. II now easily fits inside a Mk. III cargo bay and can keep all the fuel, until fully spent. On depletion, the side-tanks can be jettisoned without leaving any traces back on the lander.

The original concept was done for the Jool-5 mission. After returning from Tylo, the separated ascent stage can be used as a lander for missions to Bop, Pol and Val, as it packs enough delta V to get down and back up from those moons at ease.

With a bit of luck, the lander will be released this weekend, but i make this dependent on how it performs during the test-landing.

Here are a few shots of the lander cans it evolved from, during the last few months:

Edited July 9, 2015 by Frank_G

[Rune]

First off, that Tylo lander is gorgeous. Know that I am stealing some design elements at some point. I think I already repped you for it, didn't I? Anyhow, the second thing. That Mk3 storable SSTO. I took your idea (I had already built one, but never liked it), and dialled it to eleven, aesthetics wise. I was pretty inspired this morning:

Edit: Yup, juice to spare once I added three more intakes around the RAPIER (those side intakes are puny!). Even with docking systems and stuff! Might want to give the tank combo a try. The only tricks I added on top was to sink the BigS strakes more by giving them 5º offset so their leading edge is straighter, the front control surface is disabled and there is another behind (otherwise control would be inverted), and most of the control work is done with the four flaps on the back, two for pitch and two for yaw. No other wing surfaces other than the wingtip "tailplanes". It might be a tad light on liquid fuel, so drain oxi or climb steep as a bat out of hell. Oh, and the cockpit is inclined 5º downwards to make it look meaner, which has the incidental effect of making it lift off under automatic pilot if you lock it in prograde, and go into a nice climb without any control input. Nice trick, you can control pitch without touching the keyboard!

Rune. I think it'll fly.. It does!

Edited July 10, 2015 by Rune

[Frank_G]

Thanks Rune, youre welcome. Take whatever you like.

Your SSTO looks very nice, especially the highly arched wings. Back in .90 one of those two tanks you used, held enough fuel to carry a 4 kerbal cabin into LKO on a single R.A.P.I.E.R.... I am still trying to reproduce something similar in 1.0.4, but with no luck so far, so i really hope to see your craft do it! Godspeed

[edit] you were too fast... Does it "only" fly or reach orbit?

[Rune]

Thanks Rune, youre welcome. Take whatever you like.

Your SSTO looks very nice, especially the highly arched wings. Back in .90 one of those two tanks you used, held enough fuel to carry a 4 kerbal cabin into LKO on a single R.A.P.I.E.R.... I am still trying to reproduce something similar in 1.0.4, but with no luck so far, so i really hope to see your craft do it! Godspeed

[edit] you were too fast... Does it "only" fly or reach orbit?

Yup, orbit, I got into a 90km apo with 750m/s in the tanks before reverting to add more equipment because, obviously, it can lift more. The trick is to climb fast enough to not waste fuel! So, I wanted to tweak out the CoM/CoL in order to get the "autoclimb" feature to go a bit steeper, plus put a probe core for in-space maneuvering (otherwise I would have to remember the cockpit offset, and let's face it, I wouldn't).

Rune. That autoclimb feature was a very incidental discovery, BTW.

[Frank_G]

Congratulations! I love efficient designs ... That autoclimb feature is also very nice!

Fast ascent is indeed a key requirement for the efficient launch of small spaceplanes. Especially since 1.0.4., as those R.A.P.I.E.Rs and Turbo Jets are quite thirsty now. But on the other hand it makes the ascent path quite obvious and easy to handle.

[Rune]

Congratulations! I love efficient designs ... That autoclimb feature is also very nice!

Fast ascent is indeed a key requirement for the efficient launch of small spaceplanes. Especially since 1.0.4., as those R.A.P.I.E.Rs and Turbo Jets are quite thirsty now. But on the other hand it makes the ascent path quite obvious and easy to handle.

You know? Pics or it didn't happen, so...

And also, in case you want to look under the hood, because I realize my explanations are confusing at best:

http://www./download/cbbaqn9pwlmzk39/Mk3+Storable+SSTO.craft

Rune. The power of gizmos is astounding, I'm not even using Ed Tools surface attachment feature anymore.