KerbalX

<– A TREMENDOUS thanks to Lambda_Theta whose KerbalX page can be found HERE. I can’t even believe someone would go to the trouble of making art inspired by something I made!

Description

I wanted to update one of my very oldest uploads with the 5 or so years of practice and experience I’ve gained in the game since then. I also fell in love with Juggernoob’s ES-97 Swift spaceplane and was building a variant of it to be a carrier aircraft.
Pretty soon I fell down a rabbit-hole, and here’s where we ended up. This is not the most efficient spaceplane you will ever fly, but it was an absolute blast to build, and turned out to be a real looker when complete.

Details

• Type: SPH
• Class: spaceplane
• Part Count: 286
• Pure Stock
• KSP: 1.12.1

Requires one custom flag shown here —->

Right click, and save this image as Black Flag.png in
Kerbal Space Program -> Gamedata -> Squad -> Flags
This is how I made the air intakes black.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Be sure ALL seats are occupied, or you may be launching an empty shuttle to orbit.

Flight Instructions

Manufacturer recommends taking off from the Desert airfield, ascending to the North, making an East turn at 10,000 meters, and releasing shuttle while in a parabolic arc. The shuttle thus continues on to orbit, and the carrier plane continues on to the KSC for landing and recovery. Recovery back at origin runway is possible, but the fuel margins will be quite tight.

1) Turn on SAS, throttle to full, and stage. The nose can be lifted safely at 70 m/s. Ascend at 20 degrees nose-up until approximately 10,000 meters.

2) Level off and gain airspeed. If you are flying from the desert, this is where you would make your 90-degree East turn.

3) Fly hands-off and allow vehicle to accelerate and gain altitude to 20,000 meters.

4) Stage to activate Thud engines. Airspeed should be approximately 1,050 m/s at this time.

5) Gently work the nose of the vehicle to 45-60 degrees above the horizon and hold until carrier plane booster engine cutoff. Airspeed will drop by 100 m/s, but should soon climb again. Upon engine cutoff, apoapsis should be between 60 and 75 km.

6) Stage to separate the Swift spaceplane from the Juggernaut carrier plane. Continue burning with Swift booster engines with nose below horizon to flatten orbit. At this stage you will be racing to attain an orbit before the Juggernaut falls below the altitude where it is unloaded from the game.

7) Stage again once the Swift’s side boosters have run out of fuel.

7) Once stable orbit is achieved with the Swift, switch back to the Juggernaut carrier plane. It can now be flown to a landing.

Notes:

-Swift spaceplane should have approximately 400 m/s dV in a 75km circular orbit.

-The spaceplane features a Jr.-size docking port.

-Action Group 5 opens the solar panels.

-The Juggernaut carrier plane features custom control-surface-powered airbrakes, activated with the brake action group.

-I hope you enjoy, and happy flying!