Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Kanil]

This is very weird but pretty entertaining. I started doing loops and each one was 20m higher and 10m/s faster than the previous one.

It was awesome.

[alway]

Well, How much control did you have after they stopped lifting? 9500 meters is not insignificant I would think. If you could then regain control and jettison them that might work as a way to get into space using much less fuel.

The problem with that would be the weight; you're still left with perfect control over the craft (you do have over 100 control surfaces after all). I doubt it would work for the amount of weight it would require to even get up into a low to medium orbit. Though, as always, more testing is advised.

Look at Peewee's screenshot for around the level of wings it takes to get into such a state.

[Mormota]

So uuh... I went here and downloaded the free Windows demo. The first time, the download failed midway through, but the second time it was all fine. WinRar is giving a corrupted archive error though. Any ideas?

[Rose]

Yeah, the server is pretty wonky. I couldn't get a working download till I used a download manager. Firefox tends to decide midway that its done.

[Rose]

Also on modded (I think) parts, I got to 12000m

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

T+1:08:00: Have been on autopilot for the past 20 minutes without touching the controls. I've been going in a straight line. I went from 6000m and 50m/s to 160m/s, 13000m altitude. Reaching the dark side seems distinctly possible.

[Fishbreath]

With more experiments come more discoveries!
I was playing with small craft consisting of 1 or 2 SRBs with a large number of wings (controllable sort). Turns out you can fly perpetually with them. I flew at an altitude of 12 meters above the sea for 11 unpowered minutes at a speed of 40 to 50 m/s, with the ability to continue indefinitely. When speed gets low, pull up, then go back down, and you will gain a few m/s in speed. The 11 minute craft was relatively slow and had 4 rear wings and 6 front wings mounted on a srb attached to the bottom of the crew capsule. I also created a faster craft which had about 70 or so wings mounted on 2 srbs directly under the crew module (no stage separation). This craft traveled at close to 90 m/s, also showing no signs of stopping.

My theory as to the source of this perpetual motion is the motion of the wings themselves as they move. My guess would be that force in some complex interaction with the physics systems involved imparts some of itself on the forward velocity of the craft.

Spoiler: The 11 Minute craft (click to show/hide)

You've just made an ornithopter is all.

[Rose]

YES

HELL YES

HELL

FUCKING

YES!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The SS Turbine has reached 15000m, people.

[Aqizzar]

Kindly explain what exactly is happening there.  Is it just spinner superfast somehow?  I want to try this, please detail your setup.

[Rose]

My setup is a bunch of wings, a solid booster, and an ASAS.

Once I flew around manually for a bit, I just pointed the nose a bit upwards, and turned on the ASAS, and let it sit. It just climbed steadily till it reached air that's too thin to provide lift. It's still gaining altitude, but it's real slow now. 15058 at the time of this post.

I am using a modded pack, which would effect the final reachable altitude, but not the overall mechanics.

[Aqizzar]

I've tried doing stuff like that, all it seems to do is make my "rocket" slowly nose over toward ground, and any attempt to alter its course it just pendulums around its original trajectory.  Maybe I'm doing something wrong, since I was trying it with RCS too.

[Rose]

The ASAS is needed if you want autopilot, since it flaps the wings.

[userpay]

Can't seem to manage what you guys are doing (my autopilot stabilizes quickly and stops flapping) but my current version has my craft descending very slowly towards the ocean... I think it might even go slow enough to land safely which is good considering I forgot a parachute. Gonna see if I can take back off with what little fuel I've got left once it finally lands.

[Rose]

You gotta get the angle right for the autopilot.

For me, it wasn't even going up and down. It just ended up going in a straght line, at a gentle slope upwards, gaining speed, till I reached about 15000.

[sneakey pete]

My latest crazy invention

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It can get 6 engines and 2 and a half full fuel tanks each of the second stage (outer ring is fed in as fuel) into a 150km orbit. From there it could probably land on the moon of a mars like distance planet quite easily.

The second stage can get the entire top stage almost to the surface of the mun, and it should be able to land with those 12 strap on fuel tanks almost full aswell. I believe the engine can handle slowing down the weight if you give it enough of a head start. (which i didn't on my recent test run. whoops)

[Roboboy33]

3. Press M.