HyperDart - A new spaceplane

[Belisarius]

Looks wonderful, can't wait to go for a spin. The design is a logical successor to the X-15 Delta and X-20 DynaSoar. I'm just wondering, though... wouldn't the pointy nose melt on reentry? I remember Sputnik commenting on this possibility with his VonBraun Ferry.

 

[CigDriver]

There has been a slight redesign to the hyperdart I've lowered the delta-V that she has and she will use a launcher now. S cubed has licensed the Xb-70 design for use as the new launcher!

Slight modifications to the XB-70 design have been made, mainly moving the vertical stabilizers out to the wing hinge, this gives clearance for the Dart. She is now termed the XL-70.

This is still an early development shot of the XL-70. There is still a lot of pieces missing.

I'm sure real life aerodynamics would be a disaster with the Hyperdart mounted on the spine, but we have a little wiggle room in orbiter

The XL-70 flys the Hyperdart to Mach 3 at 90000 feet for release. It isn't much of a boost, but anly little bit helps! I've also adjusted engines on the Hyperdart to be a bit more next generation instead of delta glider. The Dart now carries 175000 kg of LOX and LH2. I'm not sure where it all fits, but at 100 psi we only need 26 and 71 cubic meter tanks. It might work with some tankage breaktrough I based the new engines off the RS-2200 that would have powered the X-33. A single RS-2200 is about the size of my three smaller areospikes, so we'll call it "feasable." Using various web calculators this combination (with a dry weight of 25000kg) gives her a delta-v of just over 8000 perfect for reaching orbit with the boost.

I'm just wondering, though... wouldn't the pointy nose melt on reentry?

I'm not sure, I'm no rocket scientist But she is based on a real design so there must be some way of making it work.

 

[GregBurch]

AWESOME! This design is now in the "sweet spot" of realism for me.

 

[eveningsky339]

I love air-breathing boosters. I just have a thing for them.

The mach 3 launch at 90,000 feet will do more than you think-- you'll be cutting down the required amount of propellant by well over 20%. I recommend adding a drop-tank or something of that sort to the HyperDart itself, as it will not be able to reach orbit all on its own.

 

[CigDriver]

Just a quick update. I'm still here and working on this package. I've been doing lots of configuration tweaking. I added in the lift profiles that are in the spacecraft3, always a good idea to make sure you have the most up to date documentation, not the just the latest dlls! The hyperdart and XL-70 fly fantasically now. I did some test with launching the HD off the XL at 90000 feet and 300m/s, she flys great and makes it to a 200x200 orbit with 6-15% fuel left depending on how nice I fly it. I've also been having fun with a little cfg trickery, I made the drooping wingtips of the XL as the speedbreak with negative drag so they give a nice little boost in the down position. In real life this was do to them capturing the wake and reducing the needing lift, but this works nicely. The XL flies with a slight nose up (2-2.5 AOA) at speed and altitude, just like the one I have for FSX. The one bad thing is it is rocket powered so the thrust doesn't drop off, you have to do that manually. I seem to remember something like spacecraft.dll but it was for airplanes, I'll have to do some digging.

 

[James.Denholm]

She's looking good, CigDriver. I'm just curious, during separation, what happens to those two v-poles holding the HyperDart up? Do they separate from both vehicles, or fold into one of them, or simply remain on the booster as they are?

 

[tblaxland]

I seem to remember something like spacecraft.dll but it was for airplanes, I'll have to do some digging.

Aircraft.dll?
[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=347"]AircraftDLL[/ame]

 

[CigDriver]

Thanks for the link, I searched there but didn't find it. In quick testing it appears (an is noted in the documentation) that jetisoning a payload causes a CTD Kind of makes it pointless. I'll still play with it and see if I can get it working.

As this project has progressed from a simple little spaceplane to have more and more depth I might need to look into taking that jump into creating a dll for the various craft. I'm not a programmer, besides some basic actionscript, so it is a big scarry step for me! I'll look into it a bit more, it does seem that I could take many of SC3 parameters and plug them into existing source code though.

...what happens to those two v-poles holding the HyperDart up?

Most likely they will just stay put. But I might get motivated and animate them somehow. they will not detach though.

 

[RisingFury]

http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/

This is where I learned it.

The ship looks beautiful. Hopefully you'll be able to get your bugs sorted out and maybe make a DLL for it

 

[CigDriver]

"Thank you for attending this quick status update, gentlemen. We've made some progress on the HyperDart project recently. First slide please."

"We took the XL-70 and hyperdart out for a full orbital test today. they are a nice looking pair I must say! I find it quite amazing that they are based on 40+ year old technology. Next slide please."

"Here they are at KSC, lined up and ready to go. Since the Dart weighs 200000 KG, she is a bit heavy for a design based ont he XB-70. To get the combo back within specs we have to run with a 40% fuel load in the XL. That is more than enough to get you to the launch point and back though. Next slide please."

"The XL has a complex gear retraction system, it is quite entertaining to watch! With the burden of a fully loaded Hyperdart on her she is a bit of a pig. But test pilot reports say she flies fine with a light touch. They recommend a shallow climb to build speed. Next."

"At altitude due west of KSC. 27.3 KM and 900m/s is specified for Hyperdart launches. The XL handles that with ease! Final slide please."

"The Dart is launched! The Hyperdart flew a great profile from here, reaching a 225x225 orbit with almost 6% of her fuel left. From past tests that is enough to get back, and even have a little reserve if the pilot is a bit short on energy thanks to being air restart capable. Thank you for attending, we will have more shortly."

The XL-70 is progressing nicely. I've got the basic mapping and texturing done on the exterior, but i have not started mapping the VC yet. I'm happy with the air launch, it is a bit tricky but does work. One issue I have come across is after you jettison the Hyperdart the XL's wheel trucks pop up above the wing. I can not figure it out. If they are down when you jettison they do not get messed up. I might have to redo the static model to have the gear in the up position. This weekend I'm going to try my hand at doing a dll, I really want air breathing engines on the XL. I played with the tutorial on orbiterwiki and it seems pretty strait forward if I only want to do a basic dll. SC3 works though and may be the final release.

 

[Jarvitä]

This just keeps getting better and better :speakcool:

 

[Balladeer]

Looks very nice CigDriver. Can't wait. I really appreciate and enjoy your "briefing" style treatments to your thread updates.

 

[CigDriver]

I've taken the plunge into C++, the HDlander is now functional as a custom dll craft There is a long way to go, but I got the main engine and thrusters working correctly. Now I'm going to try and get the animations working.

 

[James.Denholm]

I've taken the plunge into C++, the HDlander is now functional as a custom dll craft There is a long way to go, but I got the main engine and thrusters working correctly. Now I'm going to try and get the animations working.

That's awesome! Is this your first C++ program ever, or have you undertaken a series of tutorials and mucked around with it before?

EDIT: Can't help but say this, but...

Will it be UMMU compatible?

 

[CigDriver]

This is the first thing I've ever done in C++. So far I used the setup tutorial on orbiterwiki and surfed through some of the source code that comes in the orbiter sdk. the basic setup was pretty strait forward, the engines, thrusters and such. It is very similar to how SC3 works. Once i figured out what goes where it went pretty smoothly.

However, I tried to get some animations working last night and couldn't get it to compile. I'm going to have to look through some basic C++ tutorials to get a better understanding of how it all works. I kept getting an error that defineanimations was not defined, among other things that were not defined.

The tutorial link that Rising Fury posted looks pretty comprehensive, I'll wade through that over the next few nights. hopefully that will help me igure out my issues.

It was very cool to actually have a usable ship with a custom dll in orbiter

I will try to add ummu compatability.

 

[Belisarius]

Great work, your dedication to learning all the tricky bits is most admirable.

 

[RisingFury]

The tutorial link that Rising Fury posted looks pretty comprehensive, I'll wade through that over the next few nights. hopefully that will help me igure out my issues.

I learned C++ there. It's really good.

Hopefully we can ship that's as developed as the XR and DeltaGlider series in some time

 

[CigDriver]

Hopefully we can ship that's as developed as the XR and DeltaGlider series in some time

I wouldn't hold your breath Someday I'd love to be able to create something of that quality, but for now I'll be happy with something that works! I do plan on an iterative process, each one adding a few new features as I figure out how to do them. I hope to have the first version so that it works as intended and has at least basic ummu support.

 

[RisingFury]

I wouldn't hold your breath Someday I'd love to be able to create something of that quality, but for now I'll be happy with something that works! I do plan on an iterative process, each one adding a few new features as I figure out how to do them. I hope to have the first version so that it works as intended and has at least basic ummu support.

Well, you'll find it's surprisingly easy to do a lot of stuff. The template of the ship is very well written.

 

[Dman1410]

Any updates on the development?