KerbalX

Details

• Type: VAB
• Class: spaceplane
• Part Count: 252
• Mods: 15

Mods

• B9 Aerospace - Legacy Parts Pack
• B9 Aerospace Parts Pack
• Ferram Aerospace Research
• Infernal Robotics Model Rework - Core Pack
• KW Rocketry
• Kerbal Planetary Base Systems
• Procedural Wings
• RealEngines
• RemoteTech RSS Configuration
• RemoteTech
• SXTContinued
• Squad (stock)
• TAC Life Support (TACLS)
• TweakScale - Rescale Everything!
• Ven’s Stock Part Revamp

Description

A mod space plane without proper name (suggestions welcome). Built with 252 of the finest parts, its root part is HL.Aero.Cockpit.

 
Built in the VAB in KSP version 1.3.1 for RSS/RO.

 
This is fully re-usable one-and-a-half stage space plane utilising SpaceX methalox Raptor engines for lifting itself to orbit and XLR99 engines for orbital manoeuvres.
Boosters usually can survive re-entry and featuring deployable wing and landing gear so if there’s a suitable runway (or actually just a flat surface, like, say, salt lake or something) they can glide there and land.

 
Space plane is capable of bringing payload up to 20 tonnes to 450x450 km orbit.
Fitted with equivalent of Kanadarm (you’ll need one more mod, InnerLock, available on SpaceDock for instance; KerbalX does not recognise it as of 21.03.2019)
Should be capable of returning about 5 tonnes from the orbit, tested with equivalent amount of fuel.

 
Launch under MechJeb guidance, tank priorities are made so the boosters burn their fuel first. Keep an eye on them, when the boosters are done, stage them. (Note - for some reason staging works weird for me, better assign decoupling to an action group and use it; Also, orbiter engines shut down when releasing clamps, I restart them manually using action group 8) After that, space plane should achieve orbit using MechJeb without any other control input.
Use FMRS to return to boosters and land one by one, orient booster using its RCS thrusters pro-grade with AoA about 15-20°. Re-entry is rather violent, but survivable. After slowing down, go into dive and deploy main wing. Lock it with autostrutting. With wing deployed recover from dive and glide to landing. Landing speed is rather high - about 150 m/s, use action group 0 to deploy braking parachute.
 
Next version of the boosters featuring jet engine and small amount of jet fuel with effective range about 150 km coming soon.

 
Space plane was found to be quite stable on re-entry, keep AoA about 30° and don’t deploy air brakes until sub-sonic. The space plane usually performs several bounces when you see positive vertical velocity. Keep side slip below 1°, otherwise there’s a danger of going into uncontrollable flat spin. You will need about 200 units of MMH/NTO before re-entry, use it for attitude corrections while above 65 km, maybe it is a good idea turn RCS off when the craft is stable. Below 65 km aerodynamic control surfaces exert enough force to keep the attitude without RCS.
Inner elevons on the main wing are configured as flaps that deployed upwards by action group 1 and retracted by group 2. Keep an eye on FBW control input on pitch channel and use those action groups to make it oscillate around 0. On initial phases of re-entry this is usually position 3 then it is gradually reduced to 0 when in dense atmosphere.

 
Default RSS/RO setup includes Ven’s Stock Revamp (or maybe it’s just suggested?). It has a minor incompatibility with FAR resulting in parts, surface-attached to B9 HL Cargo Bay walls not being considered shielded and as a result they burn up and explode, unless you apply following MM patch