Project XR2 Ravenstar - Mk II

[Coolhand]

thats a good idea... i've tried to keep the radiators - both the old style and this, to look as aerodynamic as possible (well, more than the spindly radiators on the dg's) so they might hold up to flight stresses better, though it's not reflected in the code thus far. I could easily add an extra vent for that though, provided doug wanted to add that functionality in his code.

 

[Messierhunter]

fleshing out the model for the radiators, everythings capped off and pretty much 'solid'.. textures are a stand in at the moment, they'll look more 'techy' when i've time to complete them.

Looking great already!

re: the payload bay windows... i'll see what i can do, the interior still needs some re-modelling and i quite like the idea. I'm not a big fan of the floating invisble camera for the bay and i've thought of adding a telescoping camera mount to the bay. it does serve a practical purpose of giving an overview of the bay, i'm not sure if windows would replace that as functionally.

Yeah, I agree that it probably wouldn't be too functional in a practical sense, but it would give a greater feeling of functionality. The telescoping camera mount sounds good too.

 

[doggie015]

fleshing out the model for the radiators, everythings capped off and pretty much 'solid'.. textures are a stand in at the moment, they'll look more 'techy' when i've time to complete them.

re: the payload bay windows... i'll see what i can do, the interior still needs some re-modelling and i quite like the idea. I'm not a big fan of the floating invisble camera for the bay and i've thought of adding a telescoping camera mount to the bay. it does serve a practical purpose of giving an overview of the bay, i'm not sure if windows would replace that as functionally.

*whistles* Couple that very well designed ship with an active VC... You are not addon developers, you are addon-making Gods! Honestly you have done much better with this than I could even do (Look at my A380 and you'll see why!). Great job :speakcool:

 

[pete.dakota]

I'm getting a repeatable crash in the XR2 when using CTRL-down to move down to the main panel from the top one, and when using F8 to cycle to panel view from HUD view. Not sure why it's only started doing it now, never happened before.


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It's repeated again just now while using CTRL-up, too. However this time I was able to switch from the main panel to the upper, then back down to the main with no crash.


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It's got something to do with Align Planes MFD being up when the scenario loads.

 

[dbeachy1]

It's got something to do with Align Planes MFD being up when the scenario loads.

This is a known bug in the Align Planes MFD that has been reproduced using the default DeltaGlider: it occurs when no target is selected in the 'Align Planes' MFD and the MFD is destroyed and re-created, e.g., by switching panels. Martin already fixed the bug in the Orbiter beta awhile back, so the good news is the CTD does not occur in the next Orbiter version.

 

[SlyCoopersButt]

Don't know if I/anyone else ever mentioned this sound bug before or not, With all XR series ships during hypersonic flight in the upper atmosphere when viewing the ship from the outside I can hear the mach callouts when the camera is a few kilometers away from the ship when they should only be playing inside. It also plays at full volume regardless of the master volume.

How far away the camera needs to be to hear the callouts outside seems to vary. Try 3/15/50 km etc. If hundreds away then it doesn't matter if the ship is hitting mach one in lower atmosphere.

The thought department: I think it would be nice if the XR2 & XR1's outer airlock door and nose cone could open at the same. It would cut egress/ingress time in half. Perhaps as an action of the airlock safety disable button.

 

[Usquanigo]

thats a good idea... i've tried to keep the radiators - both the old style and this, to look as aerodynamic as possible (well, more than the spindly radiators on the dg's) so they might hold up to flight stresses better, though it's not reflected in the code thus far. I could easily add an extra vent for that though, provided doug wanted to add that functionality in his code.

That's something that occured to me on the radiators in the Mk1, seemed like they could go fast. And I also love how they open up on it too. The new style is cool as well though, but something about that multi-blade set up was cool.

Oh, and Fuzzy Dice FTW. I hope they stay in the new one, I have them enabled currently. :hotcool:

 

[Coolhand]

JUST TO LET YOU ALL KNOW... Since i've had a ton of requests for this lately...


Paintkit is online!!!! (ambient occlusion + wires). get it from the hangar.

[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3710"]http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3710[/ame]

Have fun & enjoy... remember if you just want to add new colours then use the XR2 default plain grey skin as a base but please give credit where it's due if you're modifying one of my textures, thanks.

 

[dbeachy1]

Great job, Steve! :speakcool: I went ahead and linked to the paint kit download page from my Web page and added a blurb to the 'latest news' section.

 

[Erupter]

I've started enjoying the XR2.
Quite a nice craft, although there are some aspects that make me dubious.

The APU: quite frankly the only reason i can find for it's presence is to rise the level of difficulty in managing the ship.

Form factor: well that's the artist choice, but it really is too much sr71ish

Controls: in respect to dimensions and complexity, the panels give a simplicistic look. The DGIV does a much better job at sounding complex.



Now some ideas i just had about the ship.
-engines: since engine pods are already shaped like an sr71, would it be realistic to create a dual-mode engine? stato-reactor AND chemical rocket?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR-71_Blackbird

The engines of the sr71 were dual-mode: ram and turbines.
Maybe performance could be increased towards multimach speed?
The end section was already meant to continously work in afterburner, thus able to withstand high temperatures. In such a case, taking into account an engine-halt delay during which the ram/turbo ducts were to be slowly obstructed until no airflow would be present and a mechanic heavy-duty isolation membrane ought to close the expansion and burning chamber, we could think of alternative fuel ducts for pumping standard chemical rocket fuel in the said chamber and transform the aft part in a standard rocket engine. Thus essentialy converting the afterburning section, in a chemical expansion chamber.
Fantasy, but really that much so?
Already the J58 engines do much of the work.

Another idea of mine affects the APU.
I really don't like it nor see any reason for it: hydraulic pressure could be provided by electrical pumps.Also there are currently no means of providing all the electrical power needed for the aircraft operation.
So my proposal: dump the APU, substitute it with electrical pumps (something else that could fail, also it is possible to envision scenarions in which atmospheric pressure over control surfaces is so heavy as to counteract hydraulics pressure... ? well fantasy can work), and convert everythin to electricity. Current radiators bay doors could be changed with latidudinal hinges (instead of the actual longitudinal) and on the other side of each door solar panels could be installed, thus providing necessary recharge to the onboard batteries or suspend fuel cells consumption.
Or, simpler still, solar panels could be fitted to the internal side of the
payload bay doors, just shuttle style.

Also this would make it possibile for require correct ship orientation during missions: no solar flux, no energy. And another autopilot mode could be devised for long range missions: auto solar facing.

I think this wonderfull craft would make a real jump with such a complex and realistic system featured.

In the while, thanks for the ship

 

[agentgonzo]

Another idea of mine affects the APU.
I really don't like it nor see any reason for it: hydraulic pressure could be provided by electrical pumps.Also there are currently no means of providing all the electrical power needed for the aircraft operation.

Hydraulic pressure is achieved more efficiently through the APUs directly rather than via electrical pumps that are driven from electricity generated from fuel cells. I imagine (but am not sure) that APUs are also lighter than electric pumps. Solar panels that would fit the craft wouldn't generate anywhere near enough power for the electrical systems and the hydraulics, you'd also need batteries to store the power when in the Earth's shadow.

...Or, simpler still, solar panels could be fitted to the internal side of the
payload bay doors, just shuttle style.

The panels on the inside of the shuttle payload doors are radiators, not solar arrays. All power on the shuttle is generated via the fuel cells.

 

[Erupter]

The panels on the inside of the shuttle payload doors are radiators, not solar arrays. All power on the shuttle is generated via the fuel cells.

Ok... i retire in my ignorance :axehead:

Hydraulic pressure is achieved more efficiently through the APUs directly rather than via electrical pumps that are driven from electricity generated from fuel cells. I imagine (but am not sure) that APUs are also lighter than electric pumps. Solar panels that would fit the craft wouldn't generate anywhere near enough power for the electrical systems and the hydraulics.

But hydraulics are almost never used, batteries should do the job together with fuel cells for the short times that hydraulic pressure is needed.
Apu lighter...
mmm
BTW all current BOEING airplanes have dual hyd pumps: both engine driven and electric. So an electric pump is quite enough. And electric motors (brushless mainly) are quite efficient nowadays, especially with modern solid state driving and induction recovering circuits.
And, from the aviation world, an APU is really a small turbine engine running on the same jet-A1 fuel. What would an APU be in space? there is no air for a turbine nor for an internal combustion engine...

 

[agentgonzo]

But hydraulics are almost never used, batteries should do the job together with fuel cells for the short times that hydraulic pressure is needed.

And, from the aviation world, an APU is really a small turbine engine running on the same jet-A1 fuel. What would an APU be in space? there is no air for a turbine nor for an internal combustion engine...

APUs in space flight are quite different from APUs in aviation. APUs on the shuttle provide hydraulics only (not power) and are powered by hydrazine (meaning it does not need air/oxygen to function). Batteries provide very little energy for their weight, which is why fuel cells are used instead.

 

[Usquanigo]

If one really wanted to, LOX could even be used as well (for the oxidizer, the XR2 can carry a HUGE amount of it, in terms of days of crew sustainability).

The "form factor" is wicked. It's the most realistic looking thing out there for Orbiter (other than the shuttle). In Coolhands avatar it looks like it IS a real plane. That's the last thing in the world I thought anybody would ever complain about.

And just how is the panel view "simplistic", and how does the DGIV act more complex? I've used both and I just don't see it in the least. The XR2 seems more advanced really, witht he exception of not having a fully automated autopilot that will take you into orbit on it's own (and that's a feature that takes the fun out of it anyway).

I played with the DGIV until I found the XR series. With the XR1, the DGIV becomes irrelevant. And the 2 is more plausible than the 1, so now I spend most of my time on/with the 2.

 

[T.Neo]

and that's a feature that takes the fun out of it anyway

Depends on whether you are really tired or not and don't want to fly all the way to orbit yourself. You don't have to use the autopilot, I don't, most of the time.

 

[dbeachy1]

Another idea of mine affects the APU.
I really don't like it nor see any reason for it: ...

You can disable the APU feature by editing your Config\XR2RavenstarPrefs.cfg file and setting 'APUFuelBurnRate=0':

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------
# APU Fuel Burn Rate : this is the rate at which APU fuel is burned in kg/sec.
# The Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) provides hydraulic power to the ship.
#   0 = unlimited : (runs indefinitely)
#   1 = very low  : 0.90718474 kg/minute (2 lb/minute)    (3.7 hours runtime)
#   2 = low       : 1.81436948 kg/minute (4 lb/minute)    (110 minutes runtime)
#   3 = moderate  : 2.72155422 kg/minute (6 lb/minute)    (74 minutes runtime)
#   4 = realistic : 4.08233134 kg/minute (9 lb/minute)    (49 minutes runtime)
#   5 = expert    : 6.12349701 kg/minute (13.5 lb/minute) (33 minutes runtime)
#
# The default value is 2 (low: 110 minutes runtime).
#--------------------------------------------------------------------------
APUFuelBurnRate=0

Then you can just turn on the APU and forget about it. If you want to disable the APU sound effect as well, rename or move your Sound\XR2Ravenstar\APU Run.wav file.

 

[Usquanigo]

Depends on whether you are really tired or not and don't want to fly all the way to orbit yourself. You don't have to use the autopilot, I don't, most of the time.

Well, you can't really time accel that close to the planet, AP or not, so there really isn't much point in having one as you more or less have to sit there anyway. But also getting up is part of the fun, and you can split the difference with the AP on ascent. Just engage the pitch control, then monitor the temp and adjust occasionally as needed, and there ya go.

Depending on how you have the config file tweaked, you can use the scrams more or less, and once you get the ApA up enough, coast out to it then do a hard burn to round out the orbit and that's it.

 

[Ghostrider]

I played with the DGIV until I found the XR series. With the XR1, the DGIV becomes irrelevant. And the 2 is more plausible than the 1, so now I spend most of my time on/with the 2.

I still fly the DGIV a lot, especially on interplanetary trips. The XR2 is a hot rod and great fun to fly but you don't want to be caught near Venus with it...

 

[T.Neo]

but you don't want to be caught near Venus with it

And just why is that?

 

[Usquanigo]

And just why is that?

I figured he meant becuase it looks so real that it would be quite out of place all the way out there.

As it stands now, I have mine tweaked to where it *just* makes it into orbit on it's own, might actually need a boost to get to the space station. Truly a space plane, no point in going much beyond LEO with something like that (maybe the moon with a big enough booster). I might actually tweak it down more. It has really added to the immersion, challenge and fun.