Docking Port Engine

[Bluecheese]

I have made a docking port engine that works in the current version (1.5.10.2) of Spaceflight Simulator. For those of you who don't know what it is, a docking port engine is a way to create thrust without using any fuel by means of docking ports.

Features:
Creates thrust without using fuel
Can lift about 10 tons max payload into orbit (hovers at 12.8t payload)
Doesn't need expansions (HAVEN'T TESTED IT YET)
You can turn it on and off infinitely many times (howto further down)
Not framerate dependent (tested)
Highest thrust-to-weight ratio I know of (thrust 22.22t / bare engine 4.46t = 4.982)

Expandable

How to turn it on and off
To turn it on, extend the bottommost solar panel and disengage the docking ports when the solar panel is almost there. To turn it off, just retract the solar panel.

Limitations:
So far, the biggest limitation is aerodynamics. Since this thing is light for its size, it encounters a great amount of drag. That lowers the terminal velocity so much that it's actually hard to get to orbit. So far, I found that the best way to get to orbit is to go straight up until you're in space, then turn right. Wait (and adjust) until you're in orbit then turn the engine off.
Another limitation is that turning the engine on is not fast (you have to wait for the solar panel), and that it has no thrust control. That means landing on a planet with this engine may not be easy.
When you turn the engine off, sometimes it destroys the solar panel. I think it has something to do with aerodynamics.
Finally, thrust is 22.22 tons.

If you make something with this engine and post it in this forum, please credit me.

 

[Bluecheese]

Forgot to say, but it's my design.

 

[Bluecheese]

IMPORTANT UPDATE: remember where I said 'expandable'? I just figured out that it is infinitely expandable. First let me tell you how my docking port engine works.
There's a new feature on SFS called 'magnet strength'. It determines how strong docking ports get attracted to other docking ports. If you put a docking port with 0 magnet strength on one side and another with positive magnet strength on the other, the positive magnet gets pulled towards the non-magnet. If you put something in between to stop them from docking (my design uses a solar panel), it generates a continuous force to the non-magnet side. You can set magnet strength above 1.0 with BP editing. Currently, the blueprint above uses 100.0 magnet strength.
Now for the expandability.
I found out that making the magnet strength higher increases thrust without adding stress to the system. That 'stress' bit is important because too much stress can cause your engine to collapse. That's the problem my earliest prototypes had. The lack of stress means the engine can have as much thrust as you want. I hope this helps.

 

[Phoenix Aerospace]

ah the wonderful acarii drive.

 

[Bluecheese]

ah the wonderful acarii drive.

I actually don't think it's an Acarii drive because it requires the latest update (magnet strength) to function. I think it runs on a different principle. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Marmilo]

I actually don't think it's an Acarii drive because it requires the latest update (magnet strength) to function. I think it runs on a different principle. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

We still call them acarii drives

 

[Marmilo]

Highest thrust-to-weight ratio I know of (thrust 22.22t / bare engine 4.46t = 4.982)

I know of a higher one
Also is it edited?

 

[Bluecheese]

We still call them acarii drives

Good to know!

 

[Bluecheese]

I know of a higher one
Also is it edited?

Yes, and you can make a higher TWr by using information from the important update.

 

[Bluecheese]

Just browsed around the forum, and I feel like an idiot having reinvented the modern Acarii drive and thinking that I was the first to come up with it. I feel slightly better knowing that other people have done so too.
Modern Acariis are different from the original 1.35 Acarii though.

 

[Marmilo]

What if I told you you don't need editing to make a really strong acarii drive

 

[Bluecheese]

What if I told you you don't need editing to make a really strong acarii drive

After trying, the best I could do that way was 4.37 TWr.

 

[Guest B U H O]

So this is the sfs version of a kraken drive huh?

 

[Lemniscate Biscuit]

So this is the sfs version of a kraken drive huh?

Yes, and that's necropost.