KerbalX

Dark Aurum mk 3..

A Kerbal Craft like no other. Meticulously and painstakingly engineered to be.. Engineered..
An odd and unfamiliar appearance at first, but piece by piece she assembles to form.. Dark Aurum. A Robust and sleek Vtol Rover with more attitude than the KSC has room for.. Hence the reason they insist on building her outside the SPH.. Surprisingly agile in the air, and a love for.. well.. breakdancing on the ground.. With a remarkable rate of landing on its wheels at least 70% of the time. Groundbreaking stuff!

Details

• Type: SPH
• Class: rover
• Part Count: 587
• Mods: 6
• KSP: 1.10.1

The Assembly line

Instructions: ..Assuming the Action groups are saved in craft file..

1. Lift Cockpit to boarding position/ Toggle Vtol blade pitch/ Opens cargo bay doors.
2. Cockpit docks with front wheels module/ Toggle cockpit seat descend to ground*.
3. Wheels module docks with center support module/ Toggle cockpit seat upside down*.
4. Cockpit module docks with rear wheels module/ Crane docks with the craft.
5. Crane orientates the craft towards the rear of the assembly line.
6. Protective canopy rotates and docks with craft.
7. Opens protective shell/ Docks Vtol attachment to the craft/ Inverts D-Au blade pitch and control orientation accordingly.
8. Extends/retracts the missile arm and target reticle.
9. Open/ Closes protective canopy to give that Kerbal some breathing room.. or a quick escape.
0. Open/ Closes Rover trunk/ Extends/retracts rear facing swing chair
Abort. Extend/ retract D-Au wings.

*Due to some Controllers being reversed some actions wont trigger the first time as per design.
Also due to a lack of hotkey slots some docking ports require manual attention.

The entire sequence to build Dark Aurum, goes as follow:

1.. wait.. Board Kerbal
U.. Lights on assembly line(D-Au lights all manual)
2.. wait.. Manual undock
3.. wait.. Manual undock
4.. wait.. Manual undock two docking ports
5.. wait for crane to stop.. (ignore the mild decapitation of Val during this stage).. Manual undock crane
5.. wait for crane to git out of er..
6.. wait.. undock canopy
6.. wait.. is the coast clear?
G.. Undocks Vtol Rig- (not manual)
7.. wait.. (G7 lol).. Manual undock
Step 12.. Manual Undock base docking port to release Dark Aurum and unleash hell!!

For inverted flight:

The blades should be deployed after pressing 1 during assembly.. Drive out..
Abort- Extends wings
T- for SAS
9- Open canopy
3- Cockpit seat extends and flips/ red green lights flip also to avoid confusion
9- Close canopy
0- Open trunk and rear seat
8- Extends rocket arm and target reticle.
Shift- Lift off to adequate height (5 meters should do it)
Flip the craft upside down forward or backward and hit 7
Anticipate change in orientation and fly off!
70 to 80% power usually Provides nice level flight.

The controllers on the Left wall are not assigned any hotkeys but control the kerbal lift up/down and Heli pad erect/move. After D-Au has been built custom control groups can be changed for convenience. Start with the two controllers on the far left. And Good luck with that spot landing.. The controllers on the right control the assembly line.

V2.0 New Features (updated to mk3 model-see on my profile)
-New Lights for Heli pad to illuminate those tricky night landings. Also more lights around assembly line.
-Flying red and green lights(they swap depending on which mode you fly) for D-AU (we were given our final warning by ATC)
-Flashing red and blue lights, should you want to impersonate a police vehicle.. which is definitely not illegal on Kerbin..
-Some minor visual tweaks to the bottom of D-Au for a more realistic and sleek look, also Jeb found keeping the RTGs outside the rover causes less frequent migranes on average.
-A controller that inverts all blades pitch to allow inverted flight with the push of a button. Also inverts control from here point to continue flying with normal controls.
-A modified fold away Swing chair for Val now centered and fully equipped with two rockets and a target reticle for disposing of those rear incoming dodgy malakas.. Or can be used as control point and flown upside down AND backwards!.. (honestly this thing makes no sense)
-Swing chair can be inverted to allow for a eagle view while scouting for those pesky space pirates..

Some characteristics of D-Au in flight:

The motors are electric and have limited battery life. No solar but two RTGs underneath the craft.
Juno engines attached underneath the fans, mostly for sound but do provide some lift.
Control of the craft comes mostly from 5 reaction wheels, fans just provide lift and have limited swivel capabilities for COL adjustment. Flies A-ok by default after pressing Abort..
Forward or up orientation for different controls, but Default normal and inverted flight is forward after pressing 7.. or 4..
Very nippy around corners but can be pushed beyond point of no return.. Fun ensues..
Waaaay more sturdy and impact resistant than you will believe.. (Everything Bends..its beautiful)
If somehow crashed and flipped without breaking everything required for flight(it happens).. can corrected by inverting motor direction hotkey 7. Hey if it sounds stupid but works.
Inverted flight is easy enough but it does shift the COL beneath the COM which can be interesting..
Full power is fastest but more difficult to control, 70 to 85% is best.
Can be landed upside down with easy disembarking.
Control point is not Kerbal in front but instead two guidance units on the center of the Vtol rig which alternates forward or forward upside down orientation after pressing 7. Controlling from Kerbal in front makes everything shake with SAS on. SAS off and you WILL crash..
Vtol rig can be discarded mid flight(hotkey G) to continue on wheels alone.. which brings me to..

Ground Characteristics:

If you think D-Au was initially intended for the skies.. Drop those wings, get up to about 8ms and turn, any which way.. no SAS now.. and see what makes her a force to be reckoned with!

Special thanks goes out to Valentina Kerman for test building/driving/flying/crashing the D-Au to perfection so you dont have to.. But trust me.. You want to.. As astounding as it feels to craft this puppy, driving/flying it is even better.

Jeb was also.. Involved.. Instructor officially, nerve wrecker actually.. but Whether love or hate, one thing is for certain.. He will push Valentina to her edge..

Final note..

Took me like.. one too many hours to build.. But I hope it inspires more craft of similar nature as KSP really gives one the tools to let the imagination run free. So thank you Squad and for the couple of you who are gonna try this beast. RockStars!

Mods

• Breaking Ground DLC
• Making History DLC
• Mark IV Spaceplane System
• ReStock+
• Squad (stock)
• TweakScale - Rescale Everything!