Here it is. The culmination of my time in pre-vanilla KSP. The Hover-Bot.1. 

It is a single stage to 'Munar' encounter, VTOL, all electric, Ion-propulsion driven lander vessel. 
After all of the lessons learned from the Hover-Moth, I ended up here. Addressing the problems I encountered with the Hover-Moth, this vehicle ended up bigger, heavier, but far more prepared for round trip 'Mun' encounters, and actually all around easier to fly.   
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The HoverBot.1 is a practical linear flyer (nothing remarkable), but is actually very adept in VTOL and close proximity maneuvers. The HoverMoth.1 was a test bed for the VTOL and electric propulsion systems, but it didn't have re-entry systems, reverse thrusters, or even lights (which made for deadly conditions in the dark craters of Mun). I added the aforementioned systems to the HoverBot.1, and set out for Mun encounters and return trips.

I was still using the WASD/SHIFT/CTRL control systems with a single throttle control with multiple toggle switches for various propulsion combinations. I eventually got the hang of flying around Kerbin, and gently hopping around the Mun. The HoverBot.1 performed excellently in all scenarios, and was an all around success. This vessel's performance was a major inspiration in the my second novella Hydray.5.   
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This video is sped up 4x

Orbit

​This was the only screenshot I took from the Mun encounters. It sucks, but it's true ("It's a HOAX!"). The HoverBot.1 was the easiest vessel to explore the Mun with that I personally have experienced. It had great control in the sinewy gravitational field, and was able to set down and hop off repeatedly with little fuss or struggle. I have since learned so much more about the static effects of Lunar silt and am wondering if Ion propulsion would be able to function for long without some form of repulsive field emanating from the mechanisms. I'm still hopeful.  

​-NR 

     The HovMoth or Hover Moth was my first attempt at a Moon (Mun) lander. I wanted to see a Hydrogen Ion driven, VTOL, single stage to orbit vessel capable of lateral atmospheric flight, but built to gently touch down and navigate multiple Lunar encounters. It took some adjusting but the HovMoth hit every mark as a prototype. It didn't have lights, airbrakes for reentry, and the thrust configuration wasn't the greatest, but worked as a first round draft.

​     If you look close you can see that I changed the nose cones from the funky mandible looking ones, to a much smaller dome shape in the videos. I unfortunately don't have a hangar photo of that configuration.   

     VTOL Takeoff to lateral flight

     "Skidding" to a stop

     Helipad landing

     The little ship was really stable as a VTOL machine, but was really unpleasant to fly aerodynamically. That was okay to me as I designed the optional wing functionality as a mechanism for Earth (Kerbin) reentry to fly laterally to a landing zone, once within atmosphere just in case reentry position ends up not being optimal.

​     The HovMoth touched down on and navigated Lunar encounters really well, but the thrust configuration angles were a little too aggressive in the slight gravity of the Moon (Mun). Between the thrust angles, and not having lights for better proximity orientation, there were a few more Lunar crashes than I care to mention, but the successes guided me in my next Lunar lander design. 

More on that  later.

Enjoy.

-NR

An honorable mention is this little guy, the Fruit Bat. It was one of my early designs in KSP and is mostly aesthetic rather than innovative or extraordinarily capable. An all electric atmospheric plane, the fruit bat is not particularly fast and is not designed for orbit. It is fun to fly though, and performs like a solid little jet. It was designed to familiarize myself with the all electric propulsion systems in KSP and to proof the onboard electric generation systems for long range flight. 
The Fruit Bat is reliable and fun to fly, plus it looks like something straight out of a sci-fi anime, and that was kind of what I was going for. 

​-NR

The Manta-Ray was mostly an experiment in animal form aesthetic, but ended up being a fair design for a really safe, slow, and stable plane. It runs on electric charge and hydrogen. I didn't get it orbital, and it's not particularly acrobatic, but super stable. It rolls well, but is a pain to pitch back and if not anticipated, will cause problems. Perhaps a multi-atmospheric submersible design could be inspired by this little guy. I wanted to design a plane that looked like a Manta Ray and this was the first round draft. (Name changed because I just found out about the x-44)  

The second attempt at a Manta Ray inspired plane looks good, but is tough to fly. Once flying the plane is extremely stable, but again does not pitch back well at high speed. Still running on electric charge and hydrogen, the best parts of this plane were the look and the name. The Hydray.1 inspired the name for my second novella, and a very different craft. More about that later.  

Here are some insights into my adventures in Kerbal Space Program. Learning curves and crashes create cool crafts.