Flight of the Bat - A Challenge for FAR/NEAR Spaceplane Jockeys

[capi3101]

Greetings, fellow Kerbonauts.

Over the course of the past year I've been learning how to design and fly spaceplanes. Like most spaceplane amateurs, I was very frustrated when I first decided to try to unravel the mysteries of that particular side of KSP, and it wasn't until I first got a hold of DocMoriarty's KSP Space Plane Construction and Operation Guide and the guidleines it contained that I started making spaceplanes that would fly reliably every time. A few things have changes from 0.24.2 when the last version of the guide was released, but the general principles are the same now as they were then.

An idea I've had for a while now is to use a spaceplane to launch a Munar capsule to orbit, and then to use that same plane to haul the capsule back down to KSC. I've tried this a couple of times but there were a few addtional spaceplane "rules" and tools I needed (RCS Build Aid, Intake Build aid and the ability to use radial symmetry in the SPH) before I got a design that finally did the job. So, this past weekend I put together this monstrosity, the Vampire Bat 7, a DocMoriarty-style transporter spaceplane hauling a Geschosskopf Science Bomb Munar lander. This weekend I conducted a successful mission - Mun and back, all parts recovered, 500 science gathered...total mission cost was just √3,500 - the cost of fuel.

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Okay capi, so you've made the world's ugliest spaceplane. So what's your challenge?.

When we hit KSP v1.0, the souposphere stock aerodynamic model - in which this craft is obviously designed to fly - is going to go away, to be replaced with an aerodynamic model more akin to NEAR or FAR. When that occurs, designs like this one should become more problematic (if not impossible) to fly due to the changes in drag. So, my challenge to you is this:

Build a plane that will haul the same capsule design to and from orbit, using either the NEAR or FAR aerodynamic model.

Grab the Capsule Here.

In addition to the requirement of using NEAR or FAR (your choice), the following rules apply:

1) You are not allowed to modify the design of the capsule in any way, shape or form. The capsule is too wide to fit inside a Mk3 Cargo Bay; that's part of the challenge. It weighs over eighteen tonnes fully fueled and can fly from LKO to the Mun, land, take off again and return to LKO. It has been balanced so that its center of mass won't shift as it burns fuel.

2) No vertical launches - the capsule must be brought up to orbit and brought back down via a transport craft that's readily identifiable as a plane.

3) No breakage - the number of parts you have at the start of the mission must equal the number of parts you recover from the mission.

4) The usual crap - no hyperediting, gravity hacking or other cheatsy nonsense.

To enter, you'll need to submit the following set of screenshots:

1) Your craft in the SPH.

2) A screenshot that indicates the number of parts the craft has prior to launch (this can be combined with the first shot if you've got a mod that shows that information, such as KER).

3) Your craft in orbit.

4) The capsule on the Mun. I'll give extra consideration to those who take a screenie with a Kerbal/flag in the shot or using the sci bomb (by which I mean I'll use that stuff to break ties).

5) Your craft safely back on Kerbin.

6) A shot of your craft's recovery with the price of parts recovered visible.

Along with your screenshots, you must also indicate which mods you use - NEAR or FAR, stock parts versus parts mods such as B9 and Firespitter, etc. Categories for entries will be based on specific mod combinations as they come in. Scoring for the challenge will be based solely on mission cost, i.e. your score will be the total overall cost of the craft minus the cost recovered from the craft, which makes the first and last screenshots absolutely crucial.

Best of luck to all entrants.

(If you want to fly the Bat yourself, here are the necessary files):

Vampire Bat Craft File

Large Gear Bay Folder

(You'll need the Large Gear Bay part to fly the Bat; just drop the contents of the Dropbox folder above in a local folder titled "LargeGearBay" inside your KSP>>Gamedata>>Squad>>Parts>>Wheels directory. All it is is a Small Gear Bay re-scaled to twice its normal size. The plane uses these action groups: 1=toggle Turbojets, 2=toggle 24-77s, 3=toggle Intakes, 7=undock the lander (non-functional), 9=toggle lander's solar panels, 0=triggers the sci bomb).

LEADERBOARDS:

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So...okay - next step would be my own entry. Anybody know of any good FAR tutorials?