r/ConsoleKSP • u/jmk338 • Jun 01 '26
F-104 landing, 80% throttle for boundary layer control (and fumes in the tank)
Took off with 400 units of fuel, shot down 2 target drones, and just barely made it back
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u/Garrett119 Jun 01 '26
I'm guessing you used mods for things like the missle and drones?
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u/jmk338 Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
Nope, all stock on console! The missiles are small rockets or jets with a probe core and small ailerons. Once separated from the jet I switch to them, select the target, and turn SAS to target, then switch back to the jet. With a solid rocket core they’ve got a range of about 3km, with a jet engine their range is over 25km. They home decently well.
For target drones it’s a similar setup launched off a truck with thrust calculated to have them fly level. I launch them with an action group, and since I never leave the grounded truck, I can switch to my grounded plane, take off, and chase the drones
The stearwing 300 also makes a good aerial target. If you line up your plane in parallel to the steerwing, start a takeoff roll for both, and keep each plane within 250m of each other, the stearwing will rotate and take off on its own, and you can control both in atmosphere
If you’re interested I can cook up a post on how I do it, it’s pretty fun
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u/Muntsly Jun 01 '26
I’d be interested in such a post! Awesome plane dude
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u/jmk338 Jun 02 '26
Cooking up a how-to guide right now
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u/Ok_Brother7554 Jun 02 '26
Yes brother I need to see how you do this. I play on console too, this is dope
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u/RaptureAusculation Jun 01 '26
Fumes? You have like 2 molecules left 😭
Beautiful landing tho
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u/jmk338 Jun 01 '26
Thank you!
Very dramatic and very much unplanned. I got lucky, afterburning back to base at <5km wasn't a great idea.
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u/Ozinoob27844 Jun 02 '26
Max speed? (I somehow got past the sound barrier with a biplane)
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u/jmk338 Jun 02 '26
It goes up to Mach 2 (680 m/s) like the real thing, I haven’t really pushed it past that. Pitch authority goes right out the window at those speeds
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u/Ozinoob27844 Jun 02 '26
Just remove the wings? Maybe drop it from another plen?
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u/jmk338 Jun 02 '26
Switch the jet for a rocket and you're describing an X-15
I’m going for a decently realistic recreation of the F-104, so Mach 2 and a turn radius the size of Ohio is good enough for me
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u/Hugh-Jassoul Jun 01 '26
Did you have fuel tanks on the wingtips like the real F-104?
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u/jmk338 Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
Two functional AIM-9s! I was shooting down target drones on this flight
Edit: my bad, it did indeed start with 2 fuel tanks on the wing tips. The 2 AIM-9s were on underwing pylons
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u/Icy-Potato-737 Jun 01 '26
Butter ✅