Quite possibly the best SSTO I've ever made...

[Cupcake...]

CRAFT FILE:

Standard, model R (RCS) and model T (Trainer) versions:

http://goo.gl/bA5MxY

sprite

/spraɪt/

noun

1.

(in folklore) nimble elflike creature, esp one associated with water

2.

a small dainty person

3.

an icon in a computer game which can be manoeuvred around the screen by means of a joystick, etc

Word Origin

C13: from Old French esprit, from Latin spīritus spirit 1

While the Pixie Mk2 did things I never thought were possible with a single engine dropship (Laythe & back) it wasn't... er... How can I put it? Particularly well endowed in the looks department. The handling was also a little quirky and it had a bit of a sting in the tail if you forgot to disable the front intakes during low altitude travel.

It was (and still is) a successful prototype however the Sprite is very much the production version, with all the rough edges smoothed out. Thanks to its drop-tanks the Pixie has a slight edge in terms of range but the Sprite is a much better craft overall, with perfect high speed handling and vastly improved aesthetics. It's very much an SSTO thoroughbred with a pure, uncluttered design.

At its extreme range it can handle return trips to Laythe although the fuel margins are razor tight!

MISSION PROFILES:

Kerbin - Minmus - Kerbin

Difficulty : Easy

Notes: Really? If you're has trouble with this mission it could be time to go back to flight school!

Kerbin - Mun - Kerbin

Difficulty : Easy

Notes: Aim for a 10k orbit above the Munar surface, do a nice gentle de-orbit burn to bring you in at a slight angle, not too steep.

Kerbin - Mun - Minmus - Kerbin

Difficulty : Medium

Notes: As long as you keep your burns nice and efficient you'll make it back with juice to spare. If you're having trouble try doing Minmus first, you'll have less weight to content with once you do your mun landing.

Kerbin - Duna - Duna Orbit

Difficulty : Medium

Notes: Try and bleed off as much speed in the atmosphere as you can, the closer you can get to 400 m/s the better. You don't want to use the engines when the atmosphere will do the job for you. I tried my very best to make it back to Kerbin from Duna but I couldn't quite get there. I think it's possible but you'll certainly be down to the last drops of fuel! On the plus side you'll have plenty of gas left to get you back into orbit and rendezvous with a waiting tanker. I say tanker but the Sprite will only need a few sips of fuel to get you back home again.

Kerbin - Laythe - Kerbin

Difficulty : Scott Manley

Notes: This is one for expert level players only! Your mission will have to be perfectly planned and flawlessly executed. You're also going to have to lose some of the oxidizer in the central tanks and tweak the ascent profile to get yourself out the atmosphere quicker to save on liquid fuel. Don't bother with Jool just aim straight for Laythe and try and find yourself a nice big mountain to land on if you can. While it is possible to do the return burn straight from Laythe a slingshot or two around Tylo will help save on those last drops of fuel.

Kerbin - Duna - Kerbin

Difficulty : Chuck Norris

Notes: Your Kerbal will probably die. Use Mechjeb.

UNTESTED POTENTIAL MISSIONS:

Kerbin - Duna Aerobrake - Ike - Kerbin

Difficulty : Unknown

Kerbin - Eve Aerobrake - Gilly - Kerbin

Difficulty : Unknown

CONTROLS:

0 - Activate Airsync (Important, use on start-up)

1 - Toggle Turbojet

2 - Toggle Rockets

3 - Toggle Nav Lights

5 - Toggle High Altitude Intakes (Reduces Drag On Ascent)

9 - Toggle Ladder

ABORT - Undock/Decouple Top Docking Port

AIR WHAT?

Air Sync works by closing all the intakes before takeoff, the same intakes are also set to toggle along with the jet engine. In short this means jet engine on - intakes open, jet engine off - intakes closed, all without having to lift a finger.

STANDARD MISSION PROFILE:

• Activate SAS, set control to the top docking port (vertical) press 0 to activate airsync, 1 to fire up the engines and 5 to close the high altitude intakes.
  
• Head straight up to 15,000m then pitch over to 45` on a 90` heading.
  
• At around 25,000m press 5 to re-open the high altitude intakes.
  
• At 30,000m pitch down towards the horizon, you want your apoapsis to read 40,000m (the orbital info tab from Mechjeb is highly recommended).
  
• Adjust your pitch to hold altitude at 40,000m and keep building up speed.
  
• As you get towards 2300m/s you'll be pitching almost flat towards the horizon. Once you pass orbital velocity (2300m/s) your apoapsis will start rising rapidly. At this point you can set the SAS to point prograde and just concentrate on working the throttle.
  
• Keep the jet going as long as you can by slowly reducing throttle, you'll still generate small amounts of thrust until you're almost out the atmosphere.
  
• If everything's gone to plan you'll have an apoapsis of around 210,000m and a small amount of liquid fuel reserve you can use for landing later on.
  
• Once out the atmosphere press 1 to shutdown the jet and 2 to activate the rocket motors. You can now circularize or in some cases go straight for a munar injection/interplanetary burn.
  
• Using the top docking port will cause the Sprite to behave like a regular rocket. It's essential that you use this orientation for burns with the navball or Mechjeb control. On landing you should use horizontal (VTOL) orientation which you can switch to do by pressing C twice.
  
• On returning to Kerbin aim for a high altitude reentry height (30-40,000m). At this height only small amounts of thrust from the turbo jet will let you make suborbital hops and get you back to the KSC using only tiny amounts of fuel.
  
• On landing use the jet and rocket engines together to help get rid of any throttle lag.
  

Hope you enjoy the craft, and good luck with your missions.

Cupcake...

Edited April 6, 2015 by Cupcake...

[Yukon0009]

The Sprite just reminds me of Star Wars..

Perhaps you could increase the range by clipping in an Ion engine somewhere to increase range? It's possible to do a Ion transfer burn with just batteries to buffer the burn, i tested it.

Edited January 20, 2015 by Yukon0009

[KHTRE]

Looks pretty:D

[Cupcake...]

The Sprite just reminds me of Star Wars..

Perhaps you could increase the range by clipping in an Ion engine somewhere to increase range? It's possible to do a Ion transfer burn with just batteries to buffer the burn, i tested it.

You know I've always fancied myself a sith lord, I mean they always get the best outfits. Anyway, you're quite right about ion engines. It's perfectly possible to build a extreme range version of the Sprite, however I'd be far too lazy to use it! Doing ion burns is worse then watching paint dry!

Looks pretty:D

I think so too!

Cupcake...

[KerBlam]

I want to try this out.. what's the ® designation on the craft file?

[Cupcake...]

I want to try this out.. what's the ® designation on the craft file?

Whoops, sorry I should have mentioned earlier, the R stands for RCS, you'll lose a wee bit of rocket fuel but it makes it easier to dock to things.

Cupcake...

[Majorjim!]

This is amazing Cupcake! You have honed the design to such a point that it achieves perfection!

If someone eles posted this saying it could get to laythe and back I would laugh in their face. As its you, I simply nod my head in shocked agreement.

Great job dude, the video as well was really well made. What recording software do you use? The video was so crisp.

MJ

[Rune]

This is awesome and such, of course (though I'll always love the Tadpole above all others, sorry, and the angle on the Newt's tanks was cooler IMO), but... now that kerbals have jobs and stuff, and levelling them is a thing (the object of most my missions lately, in fact), when are we going to see a cupkake-style three-kerbal lander?

Rune. Also nice that you didn't resort to your usual "densified" fuels to get that awesome range.

[Cupcake...]

This is amazing Cupcake! You have honed the design to such a point that it achieves perfection!

If someone eles posted this saying it could get to laythe and back I would laugh in their face. As its you, I simply nod my head in shocked agreement.

Great job dude, the video as well was really well made. What recording software do you use? The video was so crisp.

MJ

Thanks man! My video setup isn't anything too special, I just use Fraps for capturing and Premier for the rest. I've always found KSP footage a little washed out for my tastes so I tend to give the contrast/saturation a bit of a lift in post.

This is awesome and such, of course (though I'll always love the Tadpole above all others, sorry, and the angle on the Newt's tanks was cooler IMO), but... now that kerbals have jobs and stuff, and levelling them is a thing (the object of most my missions lately, in fact), when are we going to see a cupkake-style three-kerbal lander?

Rune. Also nice that you didn't resort to your usual "densified" fuels to get that awesome range.

The Tadpole will never die! Also, only three? Why not four?

I should thank you really! With the fothcoming Gecko Lander the Newt was set to made redundant however I think there's real potential to adapt it into a mini transport. I was thinking of calling it the toad, just well... Because.

As for the densified fuels there's just no call for them anymore, not since Squad were nice enough to give us oxidizer with our space plane tanks.

Cupcake...

Edited January 20, 2015 by Cupcake...

[Majorjim!]

Thanks man! My video setup isn't anything too special, I just use Fraps for capturing and Premier for the rest. I've always found KSP footage a little washed out for my tastes so I tend to give the contrast/saturation a bit of a lift in post.

Ok, thanks. Whats the native resolution of your monitor?

[Cupcake...]

Ok, thanks. Whats the native resolution of your monitor?

1920x1080.

Cupcake...

[Cupcake...]

Heh all,

A new trainer version of the Sprite has just rolled off the assembly line.

It trades in the turbo jet for a standard jet engine and adds an extra reaction wheel for improved low level handling.

This new reaction wheel can be disabled in order to help train you up for less responsive craft.

Grab your copy today by visiting the OP. Enjoy!

Cupcake...

[CitizenAerospace]

I'm having way too much fun with the trainer version.... your crafts are amazing!

[Cupcake...]

I'm having way too much fun with the trainer version.... your crafts are amazing!

Thanks man! Glad you're enjoying it. Let me know how you get on with the SSTO version too.

Cupcake...

Edited March 8, 2015 by Cupcake...

[Cupcake...]

I've tried (and failed) at this mission a few times now. This time however I finally managed to pull it off, hope you enjoy it!

Cupcake...

[Zucal]

Amazing ships and videos! +rep! Also, I have two small techniques you might like for mostly aesthetic purposes. Intakes + toroidal tanks:

[Cupcake...]

Amazing ships and videos! +rep! Also, I have two small techniques you might like for mostly aesthetic purposes. Intakes + toroidal tanks:

http://i.imgur.com/MIwPnU4.png

http://i.imgur.com/XKWy6s9.png

http://i.imgur.com/4o54TIo.png

I like that, it's quite pretty. Cheers for the rep BTW.

Cupcake...

[Rune]

I've tried (and failed) at this mission a few times now. This time however I finally managed to pull it off, hope you enjoy it!

Cupcake...

Wow, quite the trip! I enjoyed especially the surface "Science!" What was the dV bill in the end? I have my guesses, but you are one efficient pilot, so I will trust you got pretty accurate numbers for a low bound.

Rune. Also, long time no rep

[Cupcake...]

Wow, quite the trip! I enjoyed especially the surface "Science!" What was the dV bill in the end? I have my guesses, but you are one efficient pilot, so I will trust you got pretty accurate numbers for a low bound.

Rune. Also, long time no rep

Thanks man! I was pretty reliant on Mechjeb for the main burns (especially the Porkchop thing). I don't think I could have been efficient enough on my own. Anyway, here are the numbers:

Starting DV from stable Kerbin orbit for 48-7s Engines - 3388 m/s

Kerbin Orbit (70,000m x 214,000m) - Duna = 982 m/s

Duna Landing = 285 m/s

Duna Takeoff/Circularizing = 1299 m/s

Duna Orbit - Kerbin = 680 m/s

Course Corrections (Approx 20 m/s)

Total Delta V - 3286 m/s

Numbers and I aren't the best of friends but I think this should be about right.

Cupcake...

Edited April 6, 2015 by Cupcake...

[Majorjim!]

Thanks man! I was pretty reliant on Mechjeb for the main burns (especially the Porkchop thing). I don't think I could have been efficient enough on my own. Anyway, here are the numbers:

Starting DV from stable Kerbin orbit for 48-7s Engines - 3388 m/s

Kerbin Orbit (70,000m x 214,000m) - Duna = 982 m/s

Duna Landing = 285 m/s

Duna Takeoff/Circularizing = 1299 m/s

Duna Orbit - Kerbin = 680 m/s

Course Corrections (Approx 20 m/s)

Total Delta V - 3286 m/s

Numbers and I aren't the best of friends but I think this should be about right.

Cupcake...

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what happens when you focus one one craft type. You become a master of it and the envy of all men's eyes.

Dude, you rock. I am, as always, staggered. And yes I LOL'd at the surface activity!! GJ!

MJ

[Cupcake...]

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what happens when you focus one one craft type. You become a master of it and the envy of all men's eyes.

Dude, you rock. I am, as always, staggered. And yes I LOL'd at the surface activity!! GJ!

MJ

Cheers mate! Tell me now, when are we going to see some more VTOLs from you sir? I'm still in love with your flying bedstead replica.

Cupcake...

[Majorjim!]

Cheers mate! Tell me now, when are we going to see some more VTOLs from you sir? I'm still in love with your flying bedstead replica.

Cupcake...

Hmm, nice thought. I still regularly fly my Thrust measuring rig. After that and the logical step of making the Short brothers SC-1 I haven't thought about VTOLs much. And I'm now tearing my hair out with my constellation rebuild..

After that is complete though I will make a few small craft. Replicas maybe or some fantasy VTOLs too. I just hope Squad doesn't nerf the mini mainsail too much.

[Rune]

Thanks man! I was pretty reliant on Mechjeb for the main burns (especially the Porkchop thing). I don't think I could have been efficient enough on my own. Anyway, here are the numbers:

Starting DV from stable Kerbin orbit for 48-7s Engines - 3388 m/s

Kerbin Orbit (70,000m x 214,000m) - Duna = 982 m/s

Duna Landing = 285 m/s

Duna Takeoff/Circularizing = 1299 m/s

Duna Orbit - Kerbin = 680 m/s

Course Corrections (Approx 20 m/s)

Total Delta V - 3286 m/s

Numbers and I aren't the best of friends but I think this should be about right.

Cupcake...

That tells me I am still overbuilding my Duna-class SSTOs, and that the Spatha can (in theory) make the trip. Still, good to have some margin, isn't it?

Rune. I'll stop making >5km/s SSTOs now, and focus on landing systems. ^^'

[Cupcake...]

Hmm, nice thought. I still regularly fly my Thrust measuring rig. After that and the logical step of making the Short brothers SC-1 I haven't thought about VTOLs much. And I'm now tearing my hair out with my constellation rebuild..

After that is complete though I will make a few small craft. Replicas maybe or some fantasy VTOLs too. I just hope Squad doesn't nerf the mini mainsail too much.

Yeah, I'm a bit worried too. I love that little 48-7s engine and the fact that it's going to be neutered makes me sad.

That tells me I am still overbuilding my Duna-class SSTOs, and that the Spatha can (in theory) make the trip. Still, good to have some margin, isn't it?

Rune. I'll stop making >5km/s SSTOs now, and focus on landing systems. ^^'

I was definetely pushing my luck doing that mission with 3500m/s! I think 4k is perhaps a more sensible figure that'll give you a decent safety margin. If you can get your Delta V up to 6/7k you can throw in a trip to Ike as well.

Cupcake...

Edited April 7, 2015 by Cupcake...

[Makaris]

Hey, I'm a total scrub with VTOLs and single stage stuff, but I followed the flight path laid out in the OP and only made it to about 1700m/s before my jet engine died on me. Repeated a few times. Could I need to throttle down and go slower?

Also, is the initial assent supposed to be super slow? I mean no criticism cause this things are totally amazing and I really wanna mess with them! Just wondering if their is anythin