This is my first share. This is also one of the few planes I have build that has been a successful SSTO. I wanted a plane that incorporated the major parts of what a real live shuttle should have. So it has the cockpit, crew module, docking module, and cargo bay. The plane was designed without any intentional clipping of parts. There is a lot of intakes, but there are also 6 engines, so I don't think it is air-hogging.
In the cargo bay, is an untested lander. My desire was to create a realistic zero-lost-part-round-trip to Mun or Minmus using a SSTO orbiter that would take a small lander into orbit. The lander would then go to the Mun or Minmus, land, then return and dock with the plane. The plane would then de-orbit and return to the launch center. I wanted to open this up for everyone to try and possibly share their results and improvements.
The plane is inspired by the real SR-71 Blackbird in it's styling, but has many more engines. This plan has elevons on the front of the wings to increase lift. This plane will lift off around 140m/s. Once in the air, it will climb about 90m/s until it reaches higher speed. Engines will switch to close cycle around 23,000m.
For takeoff,
- Enable SAS. (I have flown this without SAS, but since Center of Lift and center of Gravity are almost the same, the ship will easily flip)
- Engage engines to full throttle (no need to hold brakes)
- Once ship reaches 100m/s start pulling back to lift off
- Around 140m/s the front wheels will lift up. Hold a steady angle. Do not pull back too much as the rear engines will hit the ground. The plane will smoothly lift off before the end of the runway.
- Once in the air, gradually raise the nose to 25 degrees.
- Climb to around 17,000m, and you will start experiencing plasma trails.
I am not an expert at this, but I will try to level out around 20,000m and increase velocity to the max and slowly climb to 23,000 meters until the engines switch to close cycle. then I will raise the nose to 45 degrees and climb until my apoapsis is 80Km. Once the ship climbs out of the dense atmosphere, I will define the orbit node and final burn. There is generally more than enough fuel to deorbit and perform a controlled landing.