WhiteKnuckle Aerospace: Spaceplanes, VTOLs & More! [New ships for 1.05]

WhiteKnuckle · January 25, 2015

Hello fellow pilots, Kerbalnaughts, insane people. I'm proud to introduce the latest Aerospace company, focusing on things with wings, things designed to excite, to thrill, to go places that no Kerbal has gone before and return you safely (ish) home!

A few notes before we go any further:

-All WKA craft are designed to be flown in FAR/NEAR. WKA takes no responsibility for craft flown in soup, water, or terrain. If you like to fly, do yourself a favor and get FAR. Seriously. Special note: This does not apply to all post 1.0 ships. All craft are now designed to fly in stock aero to increase their usability for new players.

-All WKA craft use stock parts unless otherwise noted.

-This is my first time sharing ships I've made. Feedback is encouraged and will help steer future designs. If something doesn't work. please let me know.

Without further adieu, let's get with the sharing:

Hummingbird T1

Type: VTOL Jet airplane.

Use: Training, light aerobatics

Part count: 45

Weight: 7.8 tons

The Hummingbird TI is designed to introduce pilots to the fun of VTOL aircraft and acclimate them with WKA standard flight controls. It features a basic jet engine for vertical lift, a turbojet engine for horizontal flight (both to limit forward airspeed at low altitude and to give it a high cruising speed at higher altitudes. It, like all WKA VTOLs, features LF/O vertical engines that act as braking thrusters to deal with the long spool time of the vertical jet engine.

The Hummingbird is not the most stable airframe out there. It is designed to teach pilots to be smooth and gentle with the controls. It has a large amount of SAS torque, so it will recover from any spins as long as you have sufficient height above terrain. If you do not, it comes equipped with the patented Butt-Saver cockpit ejection system.

Action Groups:

1. Vertical Jet engine.

2. Horizontal Jet engine

9. Vertical braking thrusters.

Abort: Cockpit ejection system (can also use spacebar)

Note Hummingbird T1 has been upgraded to T2 in post #19

T1 craft file removed.

Happy landings!

- - - Updated - - -

HUMMERBird TB1

The HUMMERBird is a lightly modified Hummingbird T1 designed to carry light munitions. It has all the same features as the Hummingbird but with two small bomb racks under the wings.

Type: VTOL Jet Bomber

Use: Training, Bomber Training

Part count: 45

Weight: 7.9 tons

Action Groups:

1. Vertical Jet engine.

2. Horizontal Jet engine

6. Drop Bombs (can also use spacebar)

9. Vertical braking thrusters.

Abort: Cockpit ejection system (can also use spacebar)

Craft file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/i5qlwa8be2bbtsz/HUMMERBird%20TB1.craft?dl=0

Happy blowing stuff up!

- - - Updated - - -

Nomad

A Nomad E1 takes off from the North Pole Biodome on a science mission around Kerbin

The Nomad is the workhorse of the WKA VTOL fleet. It started out as a way for our test pilots to have some fun and drop an occasional fuel tank on the VAB. But it has grown into a fleet of ships that can perform almost any task on or around Kerbin.

To date there are seven different variations.

A1: Aerobatic demonstrator

E1: Explorer science biome-hopper

G1: General purpose light cargo

L1: Long range extended fuel capacity

R1 Racer, low altitude

SX1: Spaceplane, experimental

T1: Transport

T1 delivering scientists to Arakebo Observatory

R1 running flat out over the desert

All Nomad models share some general features. Vertical power is provided by 2 patented WKA Giddy-UP engine clusters, featuring a basic Jet engine and four Rockomax 24-77 engines that serve as vertical braking thrusters.

Most Nomad models also feature a cargo bay aligned with the CoM, and all fuel tanks are aligned with the CoM. What does this mean for you? It means that despite fuel level or cargo load, the Nomad will always be perfectly balanced for vertical or horizontal flight.

The Nomad has a very wide performance envelope, ranging from sea level at zero airspeed, to over 20km and 1,000m/s. As such it has very responsive control surfaces and SAS. While being a very easy aircraft to fly, it is also easy to put into a spin. Thankfully all Nomad models come with an overpowered RCS system. If you find yourself going in a direction other than the one you planned on, just key on RCS and you should be able to pull out of any adverse flight profiles. RCS is also useful although not 100% necessary for transitioning between horizontal and vertical flight, and for vertical touchdown.

I'll be profiling most of the more unique Nomad models in the days to come, but to start off I'm releasing the A1, partially because it's the easiest to fly, partially because it's the most insane.

Nomad A1

Nomad A1 in a flat spin, totally recoverable.

The A1 was born when a member of the KSN Green Angels asked WKA to build a flight demonstrator for airshows. Happy to oblige, our engineers quickly stripped all the Vernor thrusters and struts off a Condor SSTO supertanker (on a sad note, they forgot to remove that craft from flight duty, RIP Kenny Kerman, you will be missed) and bolted them onto a Nomad G1 frame, along with reinforced wings and a light fuel load the A1 is capable of sicking maneuvers, turning most test pilots pink with nausea.

We wouldn't go so far as to say the A1 is un-crashable, far from it, in fact the Green Angels flight team is no longer allowed to practice at KSC due to the number of A1's raining from the sky. But that is due to the fact that the A1 is so maneuverable and stable that it invites insane displays of piloting bravado. It can be put into any flight orientation and will happily sit there. Yaw 180* turns at speed? Sure thing. Back-flips? Easy. Go nuts, it'll let you get away with almost anything.

Type: VTOL Jet aircraft.

Use: Aerobatics, flight demos

Part count: 130

Weight: 18.5 tons

Action Groups:

1. Vertical jet engines

2. Horizontal jet engines

3. Vertical engine bay doors

9. Vertical braking thrusters

Abort: Parachutes (can also use spacebar)

Flight notes, recomend keeping RCS/SAS and both vertical and horizontal engines engaged when doing aerobatics.

Craft file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/li6j4vkz8kzn4a7/Nomad%20A1.craft?dl=0

Happy flying!

Edited February 10, 2016 by WhiteKnuckle
1.05 update

ZodiaK · January 25, 2015

the nomad is b-e-a-utiful!

WhiteKnuckle · January 25, 2015

the nomad is b-e-a-utiful!

Why thank you sir! I've built a lot of aircraft in KSP, but the Nomad is the only one I've ever been so pleased with that I wanted to share it with the community.

WhiteKnuckle · January 25, 2015

Ok last craft of the day.

Longbow X1 VDS

The longbow is something I designed in .25 and recently resurected. It is not polished enough for general release at the moment so I will not be posting a craft file yet. But I wanted to give people an insight into the insanity happening at the WKA skunkworks. And it will be getting an update and full release in the near future.

The Longbow is a Vehicle Delivery System. What does that mean? It means it's an SSTO that tows other spaceplanes to orbit. The reason to do this is simple, engines and wings that are designed to get you from KSC to LKO are heavy! And carting them around the solar system does terrible things to your fuel economy. But as fans of SSTO's we here at WKA hate just ditching booster stages into the ocean. So a two-part ship gives you the interplanetary range usually associated with conventional rockets, but allows you to bring your lifter stage back home in one piece.

Longbow towing a spaceplane destined for Duna to orbit.

Ships separating in LKO

Longbow coming back to land at KSC

Happy Towing!

Volcanix · January 25, 2015

Woah hey, these are some nice crafts! :wink:

Gave me some inspiration to start my own thread for my planes I use in my spaceplane-only career save, I think I'll do that once I find a good name...

I finally got to test out my Joystick today and KSP just is soo much fun with it, I can highly recommend it to you if you don't use one yet..

By the way, I've been wondering, doesn't this belong into Rocket Builders because it's a company? I'm not sure however.

Arugela · January 26, 2015

I was going to split one of my planes up like that but I didn't see how the connection was strong enough after initial separations for using it again to get into an atmosphere and back up. They need a recoupling ability that is as strong as the initial one.

Edited January 26, 2015 by Arugela

WhiteKnuckle · January 26, 2015

I finally got to test out my Joystick today and KSP just is soo much fun with it, I can highly recommend it to you if you don't use one yet..

How hard was it to set up the joystick and get it working with KSP? I heard it was a pain in the butt, that's what has been keeping me from getting one.

By the way, I've been wondering, doesn't this belong into Rocket Builders because it's a company? I'm not sure however.

Non-serious answer: Here at WKA we don't do rockets, so no we're not Rocket Builders.

Serious answer: I'm pretty sure the Rocket Builder forum is for collaborations and people who take requests to build ships. WKA is not a real company (even in the KSP sense) it is just a way to have a little fun with my write-ups about the ships I'm making.

I was going to split one of my planes up like that but I didn't see how the connection was strong enough after initial separations for using it again to get into an atmosphere and back up. They need a recoupling ability that is as strong as the initial one.

KAS gives you re-attachable struts, probably your best bet.

Volcanix · January 26, 2015

How hard was it to set up the joystick and get it working with KSP? I heard it was a pain in the butt, that's what has been keeping me from getting one.
Non-serious answer: Here at WKA we don't do rockets, so no we're not Rocket Builders.
Serious answer: I'm pretty sure the Rocket Builder forum is for collaborations and people who take requests to build ships. WKA is not a real company (even in the KSP sense) it is just a way to have a little fun with my write-ups about the ships I'm making.

Setting up the Joystick was really easy. It took me about 3 minutes to get everything assigned and then another 10 minutes to get used to it a bit while flying. I only bought it because some other KSP players said it is good, here is a link, if you're interested, I can highly recommend it:

http://www.amazon.de/Logitech-Extreme-Pro-Joystick-Packaging/dp/B002BYONB0

(I just hope it's not the german page for you, if not, just google "Logitech Extreme 3D Pro" and you will find it.

Yeah, that Rocket Building thing now actually makes sense. I think I'm going to start my own thread about my planes, but still thinking about whether I should use FAR or not, especially with the 'aerodynamic update' coming soon.

Keep it up!

eddiew · January 26, 2015

Wow, the Longbow's an interesting take on things. Does it handle things like station components, or is the extra thrust from the 'cargo' required to get to LKO?

WhiteKnuckle · January 26, 2015

Wow, the Longbow's an interesting take on things. Does it handle things like station components, or is the extra thrust from the 'cargo' required to get to LKO?

It would depend a lot on what you're bringing up. The craft in the pictures is really pushing the limit of what it can carry so the little extra push from the nuke helps. But if you wanted to bring up small station components, say 10-15 tons each, it wouldn't need any extra thrust.

The problem is the parts would need to aerodynamically stable, so probably for station parts a Mk3 cargo bay would be a much better lifter. The only benefit to the Longbow is you can put wide winged aircraft behind it that wouldn't fit in a cargo bay.

WhiteKnuckle · January 27, 2015

Nomad SX1

The SX1 is the black-sheep of the Nomad family. Partially because it is very, very ugly. But mostly due to the fact that it simply isn't all that good at it's job compared to the rest of the Nomad fleet.

The SX was thrown together one day when Jeb's rocket blew up on the pad and the boys at the VAB couldn't get him another one. So he stormed over the the SPH and demanded they give him something that could get him to orbit. The WKA boffins shrugged, bolted a pair of RAPIERs onto a wrecked... er... used L1, gave it to Jeb and told him "Good luck!"

To the boffin's kredit, the SX1 will make a 100x100km orbit, de-orbit and land either horizontally or vertically. But it's a bit fiddly on the way up, and you'll be on fumes when you land. So for that reason the ship still carries the Experimental X designation.

Use at your own risk.

Type: VTOL Jet/Rocket hybrid Spaceplane

Use: Jaunts to LKO, killing test pilots.

Part count: 99

Weight: 27.3 tons

Action groups:

1. Vertical jet engines

2. RAPIERs

3. Vertical engine bay doors

4. Horizontal jet engine

5. Switch Rapier mode, toggle intakes

8. Ladders

9. Vertical braking thrusters

Abort: Parachutes (can also use spacebar)

Flight notes: Can take off horizontally or vertically. Shut off vertical engines and close bay doors once going over 175m/s. Climb to 20km, level off and build speed to 1km/s. Recommend turning on RCS at this time. Shut off rear jet engine and start slow climb, until going 1.3-1.4km/s at roughly 27km. Switch mode on RAPIERS when one starts to loose power. Pull up and climb till out of atmosphere.

Craft file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/r1l0k44teyw682i/Nomad%20SX1.craft?dl=0

Happy Orbiting!

WhiteKnuckle · January 28, 2015

A preview of things to come...

*evil laughter*

KandoKris · January 28, 2015

Nice Flying there whiteknuckle also very impressive VTOL, Looking forward to watching your company flourish - Keep the cool craft coming

WhiteKnuckle · January 28, 2015

Keep the cool craft coming

Will do sir, will do.

And since I got a question about it, all the nice launch locations you see in my pictures are courtisy of the Kerbin-side mod by AlphaAsh found here:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/82785-0-90-Kerbin-Side-v0-41-Go-For-Multi-Launch!

I cannot recommend it enough, if you love flying then having a bunch of cool places to fly to is great.

WhiteKnuckle · January 30, 2015

Carrack HLV1

The Carrack Heavy Lift VTOL is brand new and ready to go to work. Featuring a massive Mk3 cargo bay, 4 WKA Giddy-UP engine clusters, and more Vernors than you can shake a stick at!

In pure VTOL mode, she'll lift about 15 tons, but if you're willing to use the braking thrusters to get off the ground you can use her as a STOL with a full Orange tank in her belly!

Like all WKA VTOL's, the Carrack is balanced around the cargo bay and fuel tanks (she has a locked front tank half full of fuel that is used as ballast, but you can unlock it to serve as an emergency reserve to make a horizontal landing) And features an overpowered RCS system to maintain control at low airspeed or during insane maneuvering.

The model I'm giving out even has a little rover in the cargo bay so the crew can take a spin once they've gotten to their destination!

Type: VTOL Cargo airplane

Use: Lifting big things, dropping them on the VAB

Part count: 205 (231 with rover)

Weight: 46.9 tons (48.4 with rover)

Action groups:

1. Vertical Jet engines

2. Horizontal Jet engines

3. Horizontal Turbojet engines

4. Vertical engine bay doors

5. Cargo bay doors

7. Drop rover and deploy parachutes)

8. Deploy ladders

9. Vertical braking thrusters

Rover notes: Drop only when in a hover or on the ground! If you want to drop the rover when traveling horizontally you will need to take the chutes off the action group. Drop the rover, switch to it, then deploy it's chutes. Failure to follow these instructions will result in rover slamming into the back of the cargo bay at high speeds.

Craft file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yuu71ijjg4m6lwu/Carrack%20HLV1%20%2B%20Rover.craft?dl=0

Craft file without rover: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6o213gf2lf7zolo/Carrack%20HLV1.craft?dl=0

Happy Hauling!

WhiteKnuckle · February 3, 2015

WKA is proud to give you the three most utilitarian Nomad models:

Nomad G1

The G1 was the first Nomad model, designed to carry light cargo or munitions in it's CoM-balanced cargo bay. The craft file I'm giving out has a small science probe that can be dropped from a hover or low forward airspeeds (<150m/s)

Type: VTOL Light Cargo airplane

Use: Lifting things, dropping them

Part count: 100 (90 without probe)

Weight: 18.5 tons (18.1 without probe)

Action groups:

1. Vertical Jet engines

2. Horizontal Jet engines

3. Vertical engine bay doors

4. Cargo bay door

5. Drop cargo, deploy cargo chute (can also use spacebar)

8. Ladders

9. Vertical braking thrusters

Abort: Deploy chutes (can also use spacebar)

Craft file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4g07s9iey276ksw/Nomad%20G1%20With%20science%20probe.craft?dl=0

Nomad L1

The L1 trades it's cargo bay for a Mk2 jet fuel tank, and it's basic jet engines for turbojets. This gives it a massive 1,320 units of liquid fuel and an extra 80 in emergency reserve. The L1 can easily circumnavigate Kerbin at an altitude of 20km.

Type: VTOL Long distance airplane

Use: Going places far, far away

Part count: 94

Weight: 21.8

Action groups:

1. Vertical Jet engines

2. Horizontal Turbojet engines

3. Vertical engine bay doors

8. Ladders

9. Vertical braking thrusters

Abort: Deploy chutes (can also use spacebar)

Craft file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fb2j16dimk1a5p6/Nomad%20L1.craft?dl=0

Nomad T1

The T1 trades it's cargo bay for two Mk2 Crew Cabins, giving it the ability to carry 8 passengers and 2 crew. Perfect for taking scientists to far flung parts of the world or just going on a family holiday.

Type: VTOL Transport airplane

Use: Taking people places, leaving them there

Part count: 97

Weight: 22.9 tons

Action groups:

1. Vertical Jet engines

2. Horizontal Turbojet engines

3. Vertical engine bay doors

8. Ladders

9. Vertical braking thrusters

Abort: Deploy chutes (can also use spacebar)

Craft file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/q015bbpz75dmpb4/Nomad%20T1.craft?dl=0

Happy going places and doing things!

Hero of Time AND Space · February 3, 2015

These crafts are amazing! I, personally, have never made a VTOL craft before and I was thinking about learning by your crafts here. So thanks!

WhiteKnuckle · February 3, 2015

These crafts are amazing! I, personally, have never made a VTOL craft before and I was thinking about learning by your crafts here. So thanks!

Cool. I'd recommend you start with the Hummingbird or Nomad G1, the A1 is easier than both of them to fly, but you can develop some bad habits because you can do crazy things in it that you just can't get away with in anything "normal".

I'm also thinking of making a VTOL construction and piloting tutorial to help out people who have never built one before, so watch this space.

WhiteKnuckle · February 6, 2015

So after a little comparison testing with another aerospace company found the Hummingbird T1 to be a little lacking in the control department, a mild redesign was ordered by the WKA bigwigs. Introducing the...

Hummingbird T2

The T2 features less! Less parts, less weight, and most importantly, less wing.

Old WKA promotional material described the T1 as having "not the most stable airframe out there"

That may have been a bit of an understatement.

Due to the T1's large rear biased wings, violent maneuvers that put the aircraft flat into the airstream would cause disproportionate amounts of drag at the rear of the aircraft, causing well... crashes. The T2 cuts the amount of rear wing surface almost in half, making aerobatic maneuvers far less deadly.

Aside from that, everything good from the T1 has been salvaged. It still features a CoM balanced fuel tank, vertical braking thrusters, and an ejector seat for when things go pear shaped.

Type: VTOL Jet airplane.

Use: Training, light aerobatics

Part count: 34

Weight: 7.4 tons

Action Groups:

1. Vertical Jet engine.

2. Horizontal Jet engine

9. Vertical braking thrusters.

Abort: Cockpit ejection system (can also use spacebar)

Craft file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zqi9tfsznldkkb4/Hummingbird%20T2.craft?dl=0

Happy flying!

Volcanix · February 6, 2015

Nice crafts! Looking forward to see more. *throws rep*

"You must spread some reputation before giving it to WhiteKnuckle again."

damn it.

WhiteKnuckle · February 6, 2015

Nice crafts! Looking forward to see more. *throws rep*
"You must spread some reputation before giving it to WhiteKnuckle again."
damn it.

Thanks dude. My stuff is constantly evolving, so stay tuned and I'll try to keep the cool stuff coming.

WhiteKnuckle · February 7, 2015

Sorry for the slightly crappy video quality, about the best my computer can handle at the moment. But it gives you an idea of what the Nomad A1 can do.

:cool:

WhiteKnuckle · February 8, 2015

WhiteKnuckle Aerospace: Spaceplanes, VTOLs & More! [New ships for 1.05]

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