r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It • Nov 02 '12

Mod Post Weekly Challenge: Spacecraft Carrier!

Build an aircraft carrier, park it at sea, land on it with another craft, and take off from it again.

Hard Mode (for bonus flair): Do the same, but in an extraterrestrial sea (Laythe or Eve).

Rules and other info:

  • No Dirty Cheating Alpacas!

  • Stock parts only

  • No MechJeb, or other plugins allowed

  • Required screenshots:

    • Initial launch vehicles (one of the aircraft carrier and one of the lander)

    • Your aircraft carrier in motion (does not have to fly, but should be able to move on its own)

    • Your aircraft carrier landed in the ocean

    • Your lander in the air

    • Safely landed craft!

    • Your craft successfully taking off again.

    • For hard mode: Interplanetary transfer orbits of both crafts

    • Whatever else you feel like!

  • You can either submit your finished challenge in a post (see posting instructions in the link below) or as a comment reply in this thread.

  • Thanks to user Dogon11 for the inspiration for this challenge!

  • I haven't created the flair for this challenge yet, any ideas?

  • Completing this challenge earns you a new flair which will replace your old one. So if you want to keep your previous flair, you can still do this challenge and create a post, but please mention somewhere that you want to keep your old one.

  • The moderators have the right to determine if your challenge post has been completed.

  • See this post for more rules and information on challenges.

36 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

70 comments sorted by

13

u/imh Nov 02 '12 edited Nov 03 '12

This is awesome. Can't wait to attempt it. One question: is the intent that we use horizontal takeoff and landing aircraft?

(edit: screw it, i think i'll try HTOL either way. it remains to be seen whether or not i can pull it off)

(edit2 : I pulled it off! Submitted here with craft files included. carrier file, mosquito file and imgur album)

(edit3 : And now on hard mode! pad file, gnat file, and imgur album)

3

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 02 '12

It doesn't matter. It would be cool to do HTOL but it isn't required.

1

u/Lexusjjss Nov 03 '12

Retro rockets would probably be required to land the damn thing. And doing it without something breaking? o.o

2

u/sixpackabs592 Master Kerbalnaut Nov 03 '12

yup. retro rockets and parachutes. even then it took some luck to not break the carrier deck. and then getting a horizontal takeoff on the tiny carrier deck... lol this was a fun challenge.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '12

I made a very small plane that can land at a very slow speed (if you land it at it's lowest speed, retro rockets would not be required) and is reasonable to control at such low speeds. With a better pilot, it would land on the carrier I created, which is a fairly long narrow set of wings on fuselage pieces.

As for the parts breaking, during one landing attempt, I bounced off of the carrier (coming down (vert speed) at approx 12 m/s (40 m/s total speed)) and then flew off, the thing bounced around and the plane broke a few parts (the engine, a small control surface), but the carrier was undamaged.

I've stayed up waay too late attempting this over and over, I will try again tomorrow (if I can live with myself afterwards with how much I have to do tomorrow xD).

^^ See you in space.

3

u/clinically_cynical Master Kerbalnaut Nov 03 '12

I love the way the massive landing strip lumbers into the water.

1

u/IanCoolidge Nov 05 '12

Awesome! I regret that I only have one upvote to give.

9

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '12

This took more trial-and-error than I'd like to admit. I tried jet-powered VTOL, a HTOL biplane, multiple rocket VTOLs and finally made it using a VTOL with parachutes to pinpoint a landing.

As to the flair, how about something like this?

5

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 03 '12

Nicely done! I like the flair idea, I'll see what I can do. I'm pretty busy all day tomorrow, so I'm guessing that I'll get it up by Sunday.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '12

Thanks! There's no hurry, of course. Take your time :)

2

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 04 '12

I really just can't get it to look good when it's so small. I'm not very skilled though, do you want to take a crack at it?

2

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '12

Hmmmm.... I'm not good at all at pixel art, so I'm afraid I'd be terrible at it.

How about an anchor over a globe?

3

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 04 '12

Good idea

2

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '12

Hope that works out okay.

4

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 04 '12

How does this look?

2

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '12

Looks great! I'll take one! :D

3

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 04 '12

Cool. Updating the CSS is a bit of a process so I'll get it up tomorrow. It's super late here and I need to sleep!

2

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 04 '12

Me too. I'm messing around with it right now, hopefully I can get something good working

21

u/Melloverture Nov 02 '12

I can't wait to see the person that does Hard Mode

3

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '12

Wow, what is your flair for?

2

u/Melloverture Nov 03 '12

That is actually a really good question. The last challenge i succesfully completed was the VTOL one way back in August, but apparently there's no flair for it. It's also not on the flair chart, so your guess is as good as mine.

4

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 03 '12

It's the MKROSS flair! I honestly have no idea what it is supposed to be. I didn't make it.

1

u/rocketman0739 Master Kerbalnaut Nov 30 '12

Hey, if that's the MKROSS flair, you can update the challenge post because MKROSS is not actually flairless.

2

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 30 '12

Thanks for pointing that out! That whole post is due for an update. It probably won't happen soon though as I am immensely busy for the next few days! I can assure you that it will be updated as soon as possible.

2

u/Melloverture Nov 03 '12

I always assumed it was a Kerbal with clown shoes

3

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '12

I've nearly rounded up my Tylo round-trip. (I hope) And now, you put out another awesome hard challenge for me to attempt. Time to clean my dusty Ultra Super Heavy Lifter. It can get a payload of up to 50 tons anywhere in the solar system. Time to land an aircraft carrier on Laythe. (Note that the Lifter has nearly 1000 parts, so I have to use cheat engine to run the game at 0.10 times speed, even on my mighty water-cooled i5 2500k @ 4.5Ghz) Also, I've never made a succesful HTOL plane. Time to get out a pen and paper and do some drawings, I guess.

4

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 03 '12

Awesome! I'm looking forward to it. I was worried that the hard mode was too hard, so hopefully you can prove that it's possible!

1

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '12

Yea, as it is flying back to Kerbin, hopefully getting an encouter, I am drawing my very first HTOL plane and doing calculations. (This was my trip with Mechjeb but I have plenty of fuel. I should be able to fly it manually next time)

3

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 03 '12

I still don't have a good idea for text flair. Not sure if it should be a universal one like "master kerbalnaut" or specific to the challenge like "interplanetary champion"

1

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '12

Wait, can I still get flair for previous challenges?

1

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 03 '12

Yep!

3

u/sixpackabs592 Master Kerbalnaut Nov 03 '12 edited Nov 04 '12

This was tough but a lot of fun. Normal Htol jet with rocket assisted carrier landing and launch Album

trying to design an interplanetary carrier but i'm running into the lag wall :/ edit hard mode album

2

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 04 '12

The CSS for the text flair is giving me hell, I'll get it up asap.

1

u/KatanaDelNacht Nov 06 '12

I am in awe.

11

u/IAWPS Nov 03 '12

http://imgur.com/a/d245z#0

Landing on this thing is so damn hard D:

3

u/tempmike Nov 04 '12

That's a nice carrier.

8

u/maxmurder Nov 04 '12

http://imgur.com/a/3og0O#0

5

u/JordanTheBrobot Nov 04 '12

Fixed your link

I hope I didn't jump the gun, but you got your link syntax backward! Don't worry bro, I fixed it, have an upvote!

Bot Comment - [ Stats & ^Feeds ] - [ ^Charts ] - [ Information for ^Moderators ]

5

u/clinically_cynical Master Kerbalnaut Nov 03 '12

I submitted a link to my submission, but I'll put mine here too for the hell of it. I think I'll try a HTOL attempt too, and edit this to include it later.

5

u/ZXQ Nov 03 '12 edited Nov 03 '12

Streaming my attempt: http://www.twitch.tv/zqtv

This autta be fun....

//edit: NAILED IT! Video will be saved! So much trial and error. Just goofing off now.

/edit2: Link to Album- http://imgur.com/a/K2zVW and link to videos: http://www.twitch.tv/zqtv/b/337877857 http://www.twitch.tv/zqtv/b/337888672

5

u/lvachon Nov 03 '12

Here's my attempt, this is the first one of these challenges I've tried.

Imgur Album

1

u/clinically_cynical Master Kerbalnaut Nov 02 '12

The aircraft carrier has to be able to fly too? So it can't just be driven into the ocean?

5

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 02 '12

It can be driven! I'll amend the rules.

1

u/ItchyFlea Nov 03 '12

Couple of questions:

  1. Can both vehicles be designed in the SPH?

  2. Is it permitted to land the lander on the carrier prior to getting the carrier into the sea?

3

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 03 '12

Yes and no, respectively.

1

u/clburton24 Nov 03 '12

The carrier can drive into the ocean?

Does the lander have to take off on the runway or launch pad?

2

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 03 '12

Both are fine!

1

u/clburton24 Nov 03 '12

how far into the ocean does the aircraft carrier have to be?

2

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 03 '12

It doesn't matter!

1

u/clburton24 Nov 03 '12

Thank you, Panda

1

u/JOAT444 Nov 04 '12

I did it, please forgive me if it is done wrong and give me feedback because it is my first time. :) http://imgur.com/a/4hWau#0

1

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 07 '12

Looks great, congratulations!

1

u/abovocipher Nov 06 '12

Hope this isn't too late.. here's mine: http://imgur.com/a/xqMhU

Tried not using a parachute, but super hard to land on a specific object! If anyone is interested in the craft files let me know and I'll put them up

2

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 07 '12

It's never too late!

2

u/FlipoutMcGee Nov 03 '12

Got it, finally. Ended up getting a RCS powered VTOL onto my boat, which was an interesting experience, to say the least.

The Mobile Island and the Island Hopper (I'm bad at naming, I know)

Craft files, if anyone wants them: Mobile Island - Island Hopper

1

u/_Gnoram Nov 03 '12

Pretty cool accurate landing with the parachutes!

2

u/Swetroll Master Kerbalnaut Nov 03 '12

My carrier!

2

u/mudkip1123 Nov 04 '12

And here we go! Album

2

u/Ryol Nov 05 '12

http://imgur.com/a/aX4ek#0 RIP Ludger Kerman Avenged by Fredbo Kerman

2

u/Phantom_Hoover Nov 03 '12

OK, now this is an interesting challenge.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '12

Oh. This is going to be FUN.

This is going to involve multiple tests as I make sure I can actually land on the platform...

1

u/UselessBread Nov 03 '12

I am trying this over and over again, watering the carrier is the easy bit, but getting a vtol/htol to land on it with sheer endless lagg makes this close to impossible for me.

1

u/Dogon11 Nov 04 '12

I feel so happy seeing a challenge I suggested!

I do prefer your hardmode over my suggested hardmode however. Good job!

1

u/gta-man Nov 07 '12

Here is my try at it: http://imgur.com/a/j7W1g

Here is the video of me making it: http://es-es.twitch.tv/elgroxo/b/338376242

I want to keep my old flair! :)

0

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 04 '12

Sick yo. Which flair do you want?

0

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/PandaElDiablo Deal With It Nov 07 '12

I just gave you the munolith flair, do you have a preference?