Hey everyone, Zerø here from simpleplanes.com. And in this SimplePlanes: Challenge post, I challenge you to make an experimental or prototype aircraft.

I've been on the site for... Quite a while now. And I realized that people don't really give much love to these two categories of aircraft, so I want to change that. So today, I've decided to make this challenge free for everybody.

There are two ways you can enter this challenge, and that is through the experimental way, or the prototype way. If you wanna do both, go ahead!

But first... We need to know about what these two things are (in this challenge's definition).

What is an Experimental aircraft?

Experimental aircraft are aircraft intended for testing new aerospace technologies and design concepts. Experimentals are usually designed from the ground up just to experiment with one thing.

Such example would be the X-15.

An X-15 carried by the B-52

What is a Prototype aircraft?

Prototype aircrafts are an early sample of an aircraft typically used to test whether the design they chose are considered to be good for the final product. Prototypes tend to be redesigned a little after it's success of testing.

Such example would be the YF-22 and the YF-23.

The YF-22 and YF-23 on a demonstration flight

Rules:

Before we go, this challenge will have it's own categories and difficulties. You can choose which would you be participating. It gets quite complicated and confusing, so stick around.

First, let's talk about the category division.

Experimental Aircraft Rules:

• Aircraft must have a lore, and a task.
• Aircraft must be able to do what it needs to do, no matter the performance.
• Fictional and replica is allowed.

Experimental types are divided into 4 categories:

• Speed Research Test
• Maneuverability Research Test
• Technology Research Test
• Stability Research Test

Prototype Aircraft Rules:

• Aircraft must have a history, and a program requirement.
• Aircraft must NOT be the final product.
• Replica and Fictional is allowed. However, if you chose a fictional design, you must finalize the product you have submitted to the challenge, and publish it separately. This way, we know that the design was in fact, a prototype. The finalized product needs to be a successor to the previous design.
• Once you submitted your aircraft, you are forbidden to reupload or update your aircraft. Instead, you have to publish an improved version of your prototype as a separate aircraft. The improvised product needs to be a successor to the previous design.
• Prototype design's deadlines will be extended by 2 months due to the extra steps you need to do.

Second, let's talk about physics settings and performance costs.

• If you enter the challenge using High Physics, the performance cost of your aircraft needs to be at least below 2500. This option will be available if you enter intermediate, or rookie difficulty.
• If you enter the challenge using Medium Physics, the performance of your aircraft needs to be at least below 2800. This option will be available if you enter intermediate, or rookie difficulty.
• If you enter the challenge using Low Physics, the performance cost of your aircraft needs to be at least below 3300. This option is available for every difficulty.

And now, let's talk about the difficulty.

Rookie:

Do you consider yourself bad at building, or have you just played SP for a couple of months, and you're too afraid to be outclassed by the golds and platinums? Well, fear not, this is the difficulty for you!
There are no additional rules here! So feel free to go crazy!

Intermediate:

You want to have a sense of competition, but you don't want to be outclassed by super expert builders? Well, here's the difficulty for you.
Here are the additional rules:

• Aircraft must look plausible to be made IRL.
• Aircraft cannot exceed more than Mach 5 (not even the decimals on Mach 5), as it would technically damage the airframe beyond recovery.
• Aircraft cannot pull more than 20Gs sustainably.

Expert:

Do you consider yourself the best at building, or above average at building? Do you want the toughest, and most strict rule this challenge has to offer? Well, this difficulty might just be for you.
Here are the additional rules:

• Everything from the Intermediate difficulty rules.
• Aircraft must be VR Capable. This means, it must work on low physics.
• Aircraft must be well detailed.
• Aircraft cannot exceed the Thrust to Weight ratio of 1.8. Except for Rocket Engine powered experimentals, that one's fine.
  

  ---

Prizes:

There will be judges other than me, if there's more than 15 entries. I expect a lot since I gave the challenge alot of time. Would be a shame if it didn't.

Oh also, in order to sort things out, please copy this, fill it, and put it at the end of your aircraft's description:

Difficulty: Rookie/Intermediate/Expert
Aircraft type: Experimental/Prototype
Physics: High/Medium/Low
(If Experimental)
Experimental Type: Speed/Maneuverability/Stability/Technology

Please read pinned comment for further information

That's all, I hope I didn't ruin the challenge like last time, because that was a disaster. Good luck, have fun, and most importantly...