KerbalX

Details

• Type: SPH
• Class: aircraft
• Part Count: 43
• Mods: 3

Mods

• Making History DLC
• Squad (stock)
• TweakableEverything

Aircraft Characteristics

Crew: 1

Dry Mass: 2,714 kg

Wet Mass: 4,884 kg

The KT-13A Sandpiper is one in a series of trainer aircraft I’ve built with different series’ representing different categories such as the 10 Series representing small aircraft meant for subsonic operations. They are entirely stock-built although some addons such as TweakableEverything and TweakScale may be necessary.

The Sandpiper is meant for operating at much lower speeds and altitudes in comparison to the other craft in the 10 Series and takes many of its design aesthetics from aircraft like the venerable Piper Cub or Cessna 132. It mounts a single engine in the tail with a forward circular intake and operates well under subsonic speeds (below 384 ASL) at a fairly short range of approximately 543 km although I recommend a mission range not exceeding 488 km to provide you with a considerable fuel reserve.

Unlike many of the other aircraft in the 10 Series it doesn’t have retractable leading gear and only has a single steerable wheel in the rear, this means the leading gear aren’t designed for a significant impact upon landing especially outside of a runway.

It has a maximum ceiling of about 5,263 meters with a curious flight envelope with a number of anomalies that drastically change things like stall speed and lift if encountered in the course of your flight. It isn’t recommended to attempt to reach the maximum ceiling in the course of normal operations but it is more easily attainable than some of the other aircraft in the 10 Series. I’ve rated the service ceiling at 3,368 meters which is also what I recommend for cruising altitude since there isn’t a lower altitude with greater fuel efficiency or lift for level flight.

Takeoff Procedure

The normal takeoff procedure is handled with flaps being deployed, SAS activated, and throttled immediately deployed to full. This approach should lead to a gentle roll down the runway with lift occurring without pilot input at about 54 m/s and if flaps haven’t been deployed then it will still occur but at 67 m/s. It’s also designed to be viable for shorter runways making it deal for the island field or other small fields that can be added from various addons.

Do not apply the outer flaps or flap brakes at any point during takeoff.

Your initial ascent should continue over the runway and continue for at least 50 to 100 meters before raising your flaps in the unlikely event that you have a sudden loss of lift following takeoff. It’s at this point where you can safely adjust your speed and rate of climb through pilot input.

Approach and Landing Procedure

There are many different approach and landing procedures depending on your choice of field and runway so I’m going to cover the approaching and landing on KSC Runway 027 which if you take off from KSC Runway 090 it’s simply turning around and going for a (mostly) straight-in approach.

Your KSC Runway 027 approach should begin at an altitude of approximately 1,222 km (1,151 km AGL) and about 22 to 30 km from the KSC at a speed of about 60 m/s with flaps deployed. You should begin a 3 degree descent along with the goal of reaching 176 m (105 m AGL) about 2 km from the runway and gradually reducing speed to about 45 to 55 m/s with minor adjustments to your throttle and heading to stay on the glide slope.

The final approach begins at about 2 km from the end of the runway at which point you should be at an altitude of 176 m (105 m AGL) and at a speed of approximately 45 m/s with flaps deployed. You should avoid completely killing the throttle since you are already very close to stall speed which could cause you have an accelerated plummet into the runway.

The procedure for touching down is a bit different because of the tail dragger configuration of the fixed landing gear so flaring up should be extremely minimum or you should attempt to land on all of landing gear equally. If you execute too high or too sudden of a flare up you risk destroying the engine and its housing although an otherwise safe landing is entirely possible. You should immediately kill the throttle upon touching down and start applying the brakes.

Built in the SPH in KSP version 1.7.1.