Commander Valentina and Captain Jebediah head back home with the newly-built Deuce on its first cross-country flight, swinging past Zone 64K-9M to conduct an aerial survey along the way
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
engineers will be reviewing and validating the data collected from today's flight - if all looks good tomorrow Jeb & Val will be back up in the air to put the aircraft through some high-G maneuvers that the old engines couldn't handle
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
data review will be underway shortly for today's test flight but unless serious problems are found there or with the airframe inspection Jeb & Val will be cleared to fly back to KSC this week for the Deuce's first cross-country flight
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
Deuce has been cleared by the Genesis engineers reviewing the flight data but the structural engineers are still peering closely at the airframe for any signs of stress fracturing
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
Genesis team at Sheltered Rock want to replace the Deuce's elevator control mechanisms that are showing possible signs of fatigue so they can be examined more closely. New parts will be in place for Deuce to fly back to KSC no earlier than this Friday
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
elevator parts have been replaced on the Deuce and it will be flown back tomorrow, taking an aerial survey along the way. Original prototype will be flown over to Kravass for retirement in the Air History Museum alongside the original Civvie
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
dawn is already breaking over at Sheltered Rock and the weather is great for flying so Jeb & Val are getting an early start because who knows what it will be like later today. Deuce is rolled out and ready for preflight
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
ready to taxi out, Deuce has taken off with a full 2t load of fuel before with the old engines but did not do so while also climbing out of SRG. Based on climb performance from this week's testing however it shouldn't be a problem, and will also break the takeoff weight record
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
no issues on departure (new record: 5.145t), Val has cleared the mountains surrounding SRG and turned on course for bit.ly/Zone_64K-9M, where Jeb will use the underbelly camera to perform an aerial survey as they fly by before heading towards KSC
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
approaching the horizon Jeb has signed off with us, relayed via the Sheltered Rock comm tower perched atop a dominating 6km peak. We'll pick them up again as they approach KSC. Jeb will fly the second leg, says he's going to hit the deck for a speed record attempt
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
we've been hailed by Val as the Deuce pops up over the horizon 68km to the east. Nominal flight reported, only minor turbulence to contend with. Flight Control is vectoring them for a straight-in approach to runway 27
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
gear down, flaps at full Jeb is coming in nice and slow on final approach, 10km out traveling 95m/s (stall speed is ~70m/s) - neither pilot considers the use of thrust reversers on approach to be acceptable practice under normal landing conditions
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
smooth touchdown and rollout ends the 746km flight, reverse thrust applied on the ground to help ease the brake wear. Glad to have both our pilots back at KSC along with a brand new aircraft to put into service!
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
Jeb and Val head off to debriefing after parking next to the one Civvie still deployed to the tarmac (other two are in the hangar). Yup, Deuce is pretty big but it in turn will soon be dwarfed by the upcoming K-3X (which we should have lots more info on next month)
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
review of flight data has confirmed a new level flight speed record for propeller-driven aircraft at 167m/s, beating out the original Deuce, which was able to attain a speed of 145m/s. Check out all our records here: bit.ly/KSARecords
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
preliminary flight report for yesterday's launch is included in our review of events this past week - get more details via bit.ly/OpSummary4-23-…
