|
As a tip, if anyone else is suffering from their crafts veering immediately to the left/right and it isn't obviously caused by the center of gravity being off center, try adding a JATO first stage with SRBs. I've found it works quite well, and you can put the normal engines in after the first 50m/s or so.
|
| # ? May 19, 2012 21:58 |
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2013 05:35 |
|
|
YEAH 212 m/s! Try using the ASAS. They've gotten better. Edit: 216 m/s over land. One tank of fuel. I guess I can go faster... Edit 2: 222 m/s! Goddamn this is great.  Jeb would be proud  Edit 3: 231 m/s- replaced the front with that dinky little nose cone. Made a huge difference somehow. BombermanX fucked around with this message at May 19, 2012 around 22:41 |
| # ? May 19, 2012 22:03 |
|
|
Srebrenica Surprise posted:(someone suggested a shadow casting simulation on the GPU to make drag actually work properly in a reasonable computational framework) God-dammit, they stole my idea!
|
| # ? May 19, 2012 22:51 |
|
|
Got rid of the nose cone. I can't go any faster than 233 m/s. If anyone else can get a faster speed, feel free. Here's the .craft file.
|
| # ? May 19, 2012 22:57 |
|
|
Also, don't forget you can copy craft files between the different hangars without issue, if you want to build rocket/plane hybrids.
|
| # ? May 19, 2012 23:09 |
|
|
ramjets are a waste of weight for their marginally effective power at an altitude that you don't really linger in when trying to get into orbit. it's easier just to shoot through that band in a steep climb with the chemical rocket you're about to use in orbit anyway. I got a spaceplane in orbit around minmus. it takes off from the runway with 3 jet engines slung under the belly and a RATO system of two SRBs. at about 6,000m it pitches up to 85 degrees, ditches the jet engines and fires the chemical rockets to get into orbit. I had plenty of fuel to use in my hamfisted burns to get to minmus, and there's still enough to deorbit into a free-return trajectory. too bad I ditched the landing gear in the atmosphere stage... it's also helpful to note that mechjeb is still useful on runway takeoffs, and I skip ASAS entirely because of it. I use the smart rear end SURF autopilot to do a heading hold at 90 and pitch hold at ~30, then fire the engines. If whatever voodoo numbers add up for lift & thrust to make it fly, this will get it in the air. once you're over the drink, punch in a pitch hold between 30-45 and it'll fly itself like an airbus.
|
| # ? May 19, 2012 23:22 |
|
|
Decided to fly to the volcano base. I had to glide in for the whole descent, even with drop tanks on takeoff.  Hmm... it appears the runway has been removed.  Runway be damned: I have no fuel.  I guess I better walk over and ask if they can give me a lift back. 
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 00:06 |
|
|
where is that on the map? I had no clue they added another launch center.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 00:07 |
|
|
So I just installed mechjeb and whoah... it's insanely awesome.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 00:20 |
|
|
Interesting, theres a headlight toggle in the config file, does that do anything yet?
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 00:30 |
|
|
Does anyone have a ship built that uses the MechJeb sphere? I'm having trouble believing the makes of MecJeb have built one with it, it's so goddamn fiddly.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 01:12 |
|
|
withak posted:I think basically spaceplanes are there for the handful of people who know exactly how the oversimplified airplane physics model works. Anyone approaching it from a point of having played with flight sims before is going to find themselves probably unable to get off the ground. I play DCS: A-10 for fun and have no trouble getting off the ground. I think a number of complaints come from the perspective of people who finally got the rocketry in KSP down pat, to where they can land on the moon intact 9 times out of 10 and orbit the sun and all that. Now there's a new challenge in the form of planes that don't behave intuitively, and it's all confusing and frustrating again. Of course, the rockets don't behave intuitively either, but do work consistently so with a lot of trial and error you can do just about anything you please. I don't mean to imply that every complaint about planes is wrong or uninformed or whatever, mind, just that I think the complaints will settle down a bit as people figure out how to do crazy things with spaceplanes and start having fun again. That's a design issue. Move your rearmost landing gear forwards, remember that things rotate on their center of mass, including planes, if the wheels are too far behind that then it's just pressing down on the rear wheels instead of rotating. VVVVVVVVVVVVVV Makrond fucked around with this message at May 20, 2012 around 01:25 |
| # ? May 20, 2012 01:17 |
|
|
/\/\/\/\/\/\ When I pull in the gear, I rotate at probably 20 odd degrees / second, and quite easily pull up. If it was just a design issue I'd assume I'd just plop onto the runway, or more or less continue in the same direction, not suddenly blast upwards. Makrond posted:I play DCS: A-10 for fun and have no trouble getting off the ground. I think a number of complaints come from the perspective of people who finally got the rocketry in KSP down pat, to where they can land on the moon intact 9 times out of 10 and orbit the sun and all that. Now there's a new challenge in the form of planes that don't behave intuitively, and it's all confusing and frustrating again. Of course, the rockets don't behave intuitively either, but do work consistently so with a lot of trial and error you can do just about anything you please. I have to retract the landing gear before I can actually pitch up for takeoff. Just saying. Volmarias fucked around with this message at May 20, 2012 around 01:38 |
| # ? May 20, 2012 01:23 |
|
|
Makrond posted:I play DCS: A-10 for fun and have no trouble getting off the ground. I think a number of complaints come from the perspective of people who finally got the rocketry in KSP down pat, to where they can land on the moon intact 9 times out of 10 and orbit the sun and all that. Now there's a new challenge in the form of planes that don't behave intuitively, and it's all confusing and frustrating again. Of course, the rockets don't behave intuitively either, but do work consistently so with a lot of trial and error you can do just about anything you please. I play flight sims for fun and the space plane physics in KSP are just broken, especially the controls. I've had better luck with VTOL craft than actual planes just because at least then I have some semblance of control.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 01:31 |
|
|
Okan170 posted:Interesting, theres a headlight toggle in the config file, does that do anything yet? I'm not sure about stock parts, but I downloaded the rover in the OP and it has floodlights in it as well as some on the cuttlefish parts for carrying your rover. It's fun to light up your rockets and play Munbase
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 01:48 |
|
|
The deep space ship I made earlier has become my defacto heavy lifter - for the purposes of lifting a surveying rover to Minmus, I replaced the nose section with a Cuttlefish pod. Even though this added another 50 tons to a total 350-ton launch vehicle (this may seem small but keep in mind Kerbin is 1/10 the size of Earth and with 1/4th the escape velocity!) it was still able to make it. I drove at about 100mph to the edge of a frozen lake where the surrounding terrain was relatively flat and marked the coordinates. For what? An ice drill.  No microorganisms will hide from Jebediah Kerman. edit: solar escape trajectories are weird 
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 02:30 |
|
|
Srebrenica Surprise posted:The deep space ship I made earlier has become my defacto heavy lifter - for the purposes of lifting a surveying rover to Minmus, I replaced the nose section with a Cuttlefish pod. Even though this added another 50 tons to a total 350-ton launch vehicle (this may seem small but keep in mind Kerbin is 1/10 the size of Earth and with 1/4th the escape velocity!) it was still able to make it. I expect to strap rockets to the holes drilled in the ice and then try to smash the Minmus into the Mun.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 03:12 |
|
|
I finally managed to get a plane into the air, by basically copying the B-57 Canberra. I'm not happy with the flight physics, but I can't deny it was satisfying to see that thing lift off like a proper plane. Using tailfins helps a lot, apparently. I noticed a weird thing though - I was having issues getting single-engined planes off the ground because as soon as they built up a bit of speed, they'd roll and strike a wingtip on the runway. Not sure what the issue there was, but it doesn't seem to happen with twin-engined planes.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 03:21 |
|
|
BombermanX posted:I expect If the panets were actual physics objects I would make it my #1 goal to deorbit one of the moons.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 03:29 |
|
|
Rocket cars are fun.  
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 03:51 |
|
|
In typical Jeb fashion I keep having to compensate for lift with additional fuel and engines. I have 8 engines on a dual delta frame. Godspeed.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 03:58 |
|
|
hailthefish posted:Rocket cars are fun. How fast can you go? I can't go faster than 233 m/s on stock parts. 262 m/s! If I can at least get to 300 m/s, it would be worth it. BombermanX fucked around with this message at May 20, 2012 around 04:26 |
| # ? May 20, 2012 04:12 |
|
|
BombermanX posted:How fast can you go? I can't go faster than 233 m/s on stock parts. I was at 240ish for a split second between the top picture and the bottom picture.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 04:23 |
|
|
hailthefish posted:I was at 240ish for a split second between the top picture and the bottom picture.  This got me to 262 m/s. Hopefully I can trim its weight a bit more. Edit: The most I could get out of it was 265m/s. If I want to go faster, I will probably need another tank or more motors. 0-265m/s in just under 15 seconds. Goddamn. BombermanX fucked around with this message at May 20, 2012 around 04:38 |
| # ? May 20, 2012 04:27 |
|
|
I used my munar lander rocket for a pass around the ice moon. It's so rocky and irregular that I didn't want to try to land on it with a conventional lander so I just orbited for a while before heading home. Thanks to misfiring one of my circularization burns I managed to screw up my orbital inclination and was orbiting at a good 60 degree angle to the ecliptic, whoops. Correcting that barely left me with enough gas to transfer back to Kerbin. I ended up in a 40x350km orbit for a few hours aerobraking in the pea soup atmosphere not sure if I would make it to a safe landing site but made it safely home 3 weeks after departure. 
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 04:57 |
|
|
I really don't understand how spaceplanes work. Is there a handy explanation for what all the parts are for? I keep looking at canards and thinking about ducks.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 05:13 |
|
|
Here's my spaceplane. It's SSTO and kicks rear end. I wish that there was a dual adapter like the one in the Novapunch pack in stock form, as this thing is almost stock asides from that and the mechjeb. I was going to use the tricoupler thing but for some reason I couldn't build onto it.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 07:27 |
|
|
The pictures people were posting a page or two ago with the VTOL spaceplanes got me to thinking, wasn't there a robotics plugin with rotators... Here's the results: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA9GHokoYCk
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 07:38 |
|
|
Makrond posted:I even managed to land it on the side of a mountain after falling a few hundred kilometers short of the northern ice cap.   I managed to overshoot the north pole at mach 1.5 with this fuel-efficient design. Then I realized I forgot to calibrate the decoupling process for the drop-tanks as they collided with the engines. Falken posted:Here's my spaceplane. It's SSTO and kicks rear end. I wish that there was a dual adapter like the one in the Novapunch pack in stock form, as this thing is almost stock asides from that and the mechjeb. I was going to use the tricoupler thing but for some reason I couldn't build onto it. Ok, how did you manage to get out of the atmosphere? I tried starting on the runway with normal jet engines, switching to ramjets at high altitude, then aerospike at no-atmosphere, but each switch nearly sends my ship out of control and, if I manage to maintain control, the remaining fuel is drained in a manner of seconds. You mean the thing I'm using in my picture? It's a dual-fuel tank from one of C7's old packs that I decided to use, and works like a charm with the stock spaceplane parts! EDIT: nuvan posted:The pictures people were posting a page or two ago with the VTOL spaceplanes got me to thinking, wasn't there a robotics plugin with rotators... That's actually really cool. I'm assuming he's using the rotary part and not the actual swivel part that makes you THINK it's for VTOL but isn't actually. Many a potential spaceplane of mien has failed because those drat swivels would only turn down. 
TOAST7312 fucked around with this message at May 20, 2012 around 08:33 |
| # ? May 20, 2012 08:13 |
|
|
Finally got a spaceplane into a stable (if not circular) orbit. It's not quite SSTO but is essentially a space plane attached to a heavy cargo aircraft.  All engines are used for takeoff with the center ramjet disabled shortly after until separation.  Radial SRBs assist in separation and the ramjets carry the craft to ~18km when the liquid rocket engines take over from there  The .craft file is available if anyone else cares to try to wrestle it into orbit. Requires Mechjeb and radial boosters but is otherwise stock.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 09:07 |
|
|
TOAST7312 posted:Ok, how did you manage to get out of the atmosphere? I tried starting on the runway with normal jet engines, switching to ramjets at high altitude, then aerospike at no-atmosphere, but each switch nearly sends my ship out of control and, if I manage to maintain control, the remaining fuel is drained in a manner of seconds. I fire up the LFEs on the runway to get enough speed up, then disable them by disabling the fuel tanks when airborne. Pitch straight up and then reactivate at around 13000 to 15000. Still had 2 full tanks and 2 half tanks for the LFEs and a good amount of fuel for the atmospheric.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 09:32 |
|
|
TOAST7312 posted:
Nice. One day I will get something akin to my Polar Explorer from the last thread to the north pole, though, fuel efficiency be damned. e: Volmarias posted:/\/\/\/\/\/\ The issue is that the plane is trying to rotate, but the landing gear are preventing it. Once again, things tend to rotate on their center of mass, if you put things on the ground behind the center of mass, the plane is incapable of rotating. Move the rearmost landing gear forwards and the problem should be fixed. Here, to demonstrate my point a little, notice that on these planes the rear landing gear are in line with the wings (the wings are also close to the center of mass)    e2: The reason the plane needs to rotate instead of just sort of gradually rising off the runway like you would expect is that it cannot get enough speed at sea level for a 0° angle of attack to produce takeoff lift. This is (related to) an actual problem with the aerodynamics model, but I suspect it's not the point you're trying to get at. If it is, I apologise. Makrond fucked around with this message at May 20, 2012 around 10:22 |
| # ? May 20, 2012 09:57 |
|
|
So Say We All It's a barely flyable mess of an aircraft, you can't pitch up until you run off the end of the runway and may the Gods have mercy on your soul if you pitch up more than 20 degrees.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 14:22 |
|
|
Jumping on the landspeed record bandwagon. Here's my design. 293 as it leaves the end of the runway (I forgot to turn it around before launching) and it was still accelerating.  Broke the 300 barrier. Actual max thus far is 328 but the screencap delayed and it blew up...  EDIT: so long as we're abusing linear RCS, the race to 10k can be done in under 18 seconds now.  If too much rcs activity didn't crash my graphics it would be the only fuel I'd ever use anymore. SlimPickens fucked around with this message at May 20, 2012 around 16:55 |
| # ? May 20, 2012 14:41 |
|
|
Finally got my first lander on the Mun! I was trying for a fair bit yesterday, and found that on early attempts I could easily get my first stage (less the boosters) out to the Munar capture point with a bit of fuel left, where all of my later attempts with essentially the same rocket, I didn't even have enough energy to transfer to Mun orbit, having to rely on my descent engine stage to boost the rest of the way. The only thing I changed was ordering of tanks on an upper stage, so it shouldn't be a weight thing. It is just a case that small differences in efficiency of your initial ascent give you huge differences in the amount in delta-v once you get to orbit?
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 15:32 |
|
|
SlimPickens posted:Jumping on the landspeed record bandwagon. Here's my design. I don't have enough fingers to catch screenshots in process but this Kerbal-strapped-to-RCS-rocket gets to 428 by the end of the runway before rocketing out 10km into the ocean. I've started treating it like a Kerbal long jump feathering the RCS after takeoff to see how far I can get before running out of fuel.  I have half a dozen RCS pointing downwards on top of the fueltanks and nacelles. They stabilize the whole thing when testing on grass. Also, makes it go faster somehow. e. Managed 468 on grass before hitting a bump and rocketing upward. Who needs wings? zedprime fucked around with this message at May 20, 2012 around 16:19 |
| # ? May 20, 2012 16:15 |
|
|
I Greyhound posted:Finally got my first lander on the Mun! Pretty much. Getting into space is the hard part, once in space you need miniscule amounts of fuel to get around. A small efficiency change wont change much in space, in lower atmosphere it will add up quickly enough.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 16:16 |
|
|
Falken posted:I fire up the LFEs on the runway to get enough speed up, then disable them by disabling the fuel tanks when airborne. Pitch straight up and then reactivate at around 13000 to 15000. Still had 2 full tanks and 2 half tanks for the LFEs and a good amount of fuel for the atmospheric. Oh, I can usually get enough speed using ramjets on the runway. I've yet to find a basic use for regular atmospheric engines unless I'm either using lots of them, or using them on a small craft. I might as well make one using Linear RCS, if that's the case. It's more fuel efficient.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 17:38 |
|
|
zedprime posted:I guess I haven't played enough with cheat parts in the past but the linear RCS on a rocket sled is the most hilarious thing ever.  Goddamn Now I need to beat something twice as fast as my fastest. And survive!CHALLENGE ACCEPTED Also, solar eclipse today  Edit 1: Welp, this is from just 1 RCS tank and 39 thrusters. It seems I'm on the right track. Also, brake is your friend. 
BombermanX fucked around with this message at May 20, 2012 around 18:12 |
| # ? May 20, 2012 17:55 |
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2013 05:35 |
|
|
Why should my launch pad be on the ground? Why don't I launch my launchpad into space, and take off from a few kilometers up? Also, I love the story of the Chinese rocket chair http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wan_Hu I wanted to do a third layer of platform, but I was hitting the launch tower. I also couldn't put the rocket engines below the platforms, they would just clip through at the halfway point, so I had to put them on the ends.     Actual launch at about 20 kilometers.  Glad I got the original crew for this.
|
| # ? May 20, 2012 19:01 |
|
