HOVER-CAR SINGLE MANUAL

CONTENTS

0 REVISIONS AND HISTORY
1.INTRODUCTION
2 FLIGHT INFORMATION
3 MODS AND SETUP

ACTUAL FLIGHT INSTRUCTIONS:
4 PRE-FLIGHT CHECKS
5 TAKE-OFF
6 FLIGHT
7 LANDING

ADDITIONAL INFO ON FLIGHT/REASONS ETC
8 COMMENTS on TAKE-OFF/FLIGHT/LANDING

0. REVISIONS AND HISTORY
0.1 Updated design to 1.8.1, was broken in change from 1.7, also created this manual. (Jan 2020)

1. INTRODUCTION
HOVERCAR. UNIQUE CRAFTt that uses ROBOTIC PARTS to create a CUSTOM GIMAL SYSTEM, in this case for jet engines. Uses 8 low power Juno engines. One of the first(if not the first) of this type crated which uses a custom-created gimbal to have gimbal functionality to non-gimbaled engines. The gimbals are also higher range with a deflection of 30 deg.
Unique flight model/mode.

2. FLIGHT INFORMATION
Gimbal direction is controlled by translate LR for lateral, and UD for forward/back movement.

Main Throttle controls the engine power. TWR is the important stat for craft control NOT throttle %.

Roll/Pitch/Yaw control provided by the 2 powerful reaction wheels.

Vertical Acceleration is an important stat for this craft.

Level flight is possible and only the vecoring gimbals used for control. It is recommended to land in this mode.

Craft experienced significant vertical stability on take-off if the main struts are extended. Be sure to use the smaller takeoff wheels to prevent craft from flipping.

Entire Gimbal Assembly may be rotated for faster horizontal flight. This is assigned to Custom Axis 4 and is initially locked. AG1 unlocks this axis.

Ceiling is about 3000m full tank about 7000m empty.

3. MODS AND SETUP

This is a pure stock craft, as such no mods are necessary. The following mods will enable the craft to be piloted with quality of life.

3.1 Kerbal Engineer with a custom panel which has the following stats : Throttle, TWR, Vertical Acceleration, Vertical Speed. This can be made with opaque background and replace the throttle on the left of the NavBall.

3.2 MechJeb with the Attitude Adjustment controls set to show the Vector in Green with the center at CoM.

3.3 Any mod which shows the prograde vector on-screen(for help with landing). eg NavHud

3.4 Kramax Autopilot Continued - VERY useful for keeping the craft stable for landing etc.

3.5 Notes - So you can read the manual while in flight.

4. PRE-FLIGHT CHECKS AND SETUP

(OPTIONAL) KERBAL ENGINEER - HOVERCAR CONTROL BAR ON
(OPTIONAL) MECHJEB - GREEN VECTOR LINES ON

ACTIVATE SAS

(OPTIONAL) KERMAX AUTOPILOT ON- VERTICAL PITCH TO ZERO(ONLY IF YOU WISH TO FLY EXCLUSIVELY IN THIS MODE)

PERFORM A PRE-FLIGHT CHECK TO ENSURE GIMBALS ARE
WORKING CORRECTLY(l-r and u-d translation).

5. TAKE OFF

ENSURE LANDING GEAR IS UP(craft flat to the ground and held up by the smaller landing wheels).

ACTIVATE ENGINES BY STAGING

SET THROTTLE TO 100%

KEEP EYES ON NAVBALL -
HOLD THROTTLE AT 100% UNTIL 100m -
USE ROLL AND PITCH TO KEEP CRAFT LEVEL DURING ASCENT

CRAFT IS NOW IN FLIGHT

6. FLIGHT

6.1 HOVERCAR-LIKE FLIGHT

KEEP CRAFT PARALLEL TO THE GROUND WITH THE PITCH AND ROLL.(or Kermax Autopilot)

ORIENT THE CRAFT WITH YAW

USE THE GIMBALS TO VECTOR

USE THROTTLE POWER TO CHANGE HEIGHT

DO NOT ALLOW TWR TO FALL BELOW 0.95

6.2 AIRCRAFT-LIKE FREESTYLE FLIGHT

ALL CONTROL SURFACES UNLOCKED, HAVE FUN!

6.3 USE OF GIMBAL ASSEMBLY ROTATION(fast flight).

Gimbal assembly rotation is locked and is unlocked by AG1. Rotating the entire assembly allows faster horizontal speed. Use to fly quickly in a straight line.

UNLOCK GIMBAL ASSEMBLY BY AG1

INCREASE GIMBAL ASSEMBLY ANGLE(CUSTOM AXIS 4) - DO NOT OVEREXTEND SUCH THAT HEIGHT CANNOT BE MAINTAINED

RETURN ASSEMBLY ANGLE TO ZERO(CUSTOM AXIS 4) TO RETURN TO REGULAR FLIGHT

7. LANDING

ACTIVATE KERMAX AUTOPILOT WITH VERTICAL - PITCH 0.00 DEG
- or-
ENSURE PITCH IS HELD AT 0 DEGREES THROUGHOUT LANDING MANOUVER USING PTICH/ROLL CONTROLS

ALIGN LANDING SITE IN FRONT OF CRAFT. CRAFT SHOULD BE HOVERING ABOVE AND IN FRONT OF LANDING SITE( 300m-500m height + horizontal is fine)

SET VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL VELOCITY TO ZERO(hover)

DEPLOY LANDING GEAR

USING THE GIMBALS, CHANGE THE VECTOR TO FLY OVER THE LANDING SITE.

USE THE PRIMARY THRUST TO KEEP THE TWR TO BETWEEN 0.95 AND 1.0, with a VERTICAL VELOCITY TARGET of -!0m/s

MANOUVER OVER THE LANDING SITE. USE SMALL MOVEMENTS IF MANUALLY ADJUSTING PITCH.

THROTTLE UP WHEN 50M ABOVE LANDING SITE TO MINIMIZE LANDING SPEED.

WHEN TOUCHDOWN THROTTLE TO ZERO.

8. COMMENTS ON FLIGHT INSTRUCTIONS
8.1 TAKE-OFF COMMENTS
Ensure main landing gear are UP. Creaft shold be flat to the ground. This is to prevent vertical instability and craft from flipping on take-off. Activate Engines with Staging and set Throttle to 100%. Maintain until 100M height, craft is then in flight. May be necessary to adjust pitch and roll while in initial ascent. Keep the craft level until 100M. It is best to keep eyes on the NavBall to keep level, as there can be a tendency to flip on takeoff. After craft is flying it is quite stable, this problem is only on take-off. The second set of landing gear was added to address this problem and ensure craft is level during take -off. It is very important to have the craft flat to the ground with the small landing gear for this reason or flipping is a very high possibilty. IF flipping is still a big problem(modifications to craft etc), one way of guaranteeing lift-off without crashing is to use full yaw and spin the whole craft like a frisbee whcih eliminates the vertical instability for a dizzy take-off, craft works well in yaw so its easy to crrect once 100m though a weird take-off method.

8.2 FLIGHT COMMENTS

Nice aircraft to fly and has a unique flight profile. Be sure to use the gimal assembly for manouvering.

The entire assembly can be unlocked and rotated backwards for faster straight-line flight. Use AG1 and Custom4 Axis.

8.3 LANDING COMMENTS
IF Kermax Autopilot is Installed(massively recommended), activate automatic pitch stability at 0 degrees. Else pitch will have to be corrected manually(which is totally possible).

TWR will lower much faster than it raises. It is tricky in practice to keep the Vertical Speed to a defined value, keep eye on TWR, constant adjustment will be needed. Remeber to use Kermax Autopilot it will really make your life easy on this, though its totally possible to land manually, if doing this rmemeber to make small movements as if the craft moves away from being parallel to ground control will be lost - use small movements. With practice its possible to consistently land on top of the VAB even manually.