Request New XR idea: Venting thrust and limited heat shield

[Kaito]

I have 2 ideas for any upcoming XR vessel that I think would not only improve pilot work load, but also make the XR series that much more realistic:

1) Fuel dump thrust.
On the XR2, when you are venting LOX/fuel overboard, you see it squirting out the back, at what appears to be high velocities. I think it would be cool (if somewhat annoying) if this also induced a thrust on the vehicle. The thrust obviously wouldn't be much, but it would be noticeable.

2) Limited heat shield.
Yesterday, while doing a direct re-entry from the moon in my XR2, I had the nose cone at 1200 C for easily over 10 straight minutes (inverted re-entry). I then thought "Well, if this was ablative, it would have all disappeared by now." So, my idea to to introduce a limited "time" that the heat shield has. Now, this would practically eliminate the idea of inverted re-entries (unless, before launch, you could "switch out" the heat shield for one meant for longer duration heating), but this would also mean that, if you fail to plan correctly, you could blow up due to your heat shield just disappearing.

What does everyone think?

~Kaito

 

[T.Neo]

I then thought "Well, if this was ablative, it would have all disappeared by now."

I would imagine... since this is supposed to be a reusable spaceplane, it would most likely have a radiative/thermal soak TPS, rather than an ablative one...

Of course, the TPS properties of the XR vessels lead me to believe that they are constructed of a fractionally crystallised unobtanium filament foam.

 

[Cras]

Yes, I have done things to the XR2 config file myself to make it a bit more realistic, but you can only do so much. At the end of the day, you have to realise that it is a piece of future awesomeness, and it is mighty fun to fly. The fuel it carries, the power of its main engines, the placement of the retro and hover engines, and yes, the heatshield. The default settings are a bit hard for me to accept, so I crank things down a bit, but it is impossible to try and see it as a even near tech.

Want a realistic spaceplane? Fly the Shuttle.

The XR2 is still pure awesome, and I have a blast flying it. Its heat shield and its awesome aerodynamics make it fun and a lot easier to fly than the Shuttle. I can't wait for the mkII. I suggest posting ideas for the XR2 in that thread, and see if you can get the ear of the devs and maybe they will consider it.

 

[T.Neo]

Want a realistic spaceplane? Fly the Shuttle.

What if I want to fly a realistic spaceplane other than the Shuttle?

 

[Urwumpe]

What if I want to fly a realistic spaceplane other than the Shuttle?

Replace me at work for 4 months and let me finish the Black Dart, I already enjoy reading "top secret" NASA papers about improved reusable heat shields.

Ablative heatshields make no sense for a spaceplane, especially since ablation means that your aerodynamics get ruined. But you have MANY alternatives there. I currently enjoy active cooling and heat pipes.

But the pretty nice capacitive model of the XRs is good enough for government work, can't really complain there, except it maybe having not really much heat capacity for its job. Space Shuttle tiles are still pretty hot after landing, so the heat does not soak into the spacecraft.

You can of course also do it like me and have your own "futuristic but playing by the rules" spacecraft, by making an add-on of your own (OK, without Donamys meshes, it would look pretty boring).

 

[Cras]

What if I want to fly a realistic spaceplane other than the Shuttle?

Eridanus is a good Shuttle alternative, but I find it behaves very strangly in re-entry.

The Starliner by Moach looks like it is going to be quite an impressive thing to fly as well.

 

[T.Neo]

I fear this thread has been hijacked. :shifty:

You can of course also do it like me and have your own "futuristic but playing by the rules" spacecraft, by making an add-on of your own (OK, without Donamys meshes, it would look pretty boring).

Pretty boring, sounds very likely.

Also, things would be better if my method of estimating mass properties was better than looking for references, tearing my hair out, and just making a random guess. :lol:

 

[Urwumpe]

I fear this thread has been hijacked. :shifty:

Yes, I think so. Lets stop here. :lol: