KerbalX

Details

• Type: SPH
• Class: aircraft
• Part Count: 31
• Mods: 2
• KSP: 1.12.5

Mods

• Squad (stock)
• TweakableEverything

Aircraft Characteristics

Crew: 1

Dry Mass: 3,405 kg

Wet Mass: 6,942 kg

The KT-14A Starling 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 Starling is built around its composite delta wings which give it a somewhat different flight envelope, provide considerable lift, and even handle some impacts and rough landings better than most of 10 Series aircraft. It mounts two tandem engines at the tail with a pair of connected radial intakes under the wings. It operates well under subsonic speed (below 384 m/s ASL) with a decent intermediate range of 1,474 km although for the sake of a good fuel reserve I recommend restricting your missions to 1,327 km or under.

It has a maximum ceiling of about 9,147 meters with a flight envelope that can have a measurable change in maximum ceiling based on airspeed so always give yourself a wide margin before suddenly climbing or reducing your speed. I have rated the service ceiling at 6,717 meters for normal operations although I recommend a cruising altitude of only 3,308 meters to account for both fuel and lift efficiency.

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 72 m/s and if flaps haven’t been deployed then it will still occur but at 81 m/s.

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 and landing gear 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 70 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 55 to 65 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 50 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 to gently flare up just before touching down to allow the rear wheels to push the runway first to avoid wheel barrowing and then kill your throttle and start to apply the brakes. The configuration of the delta wings allows for a bit of a rougher landing

Built in the SPH in KSP version 1.12.5.