Polish Air Force PZL-230F Skorpion Jet Fighter

sketchfab

I love building simple jet fighter replicas in Kerbal Space Program, because the engine performance of “low-tech” parts closely resembles that of subsonic jets. They are used for pilot training, equipment testing and light science survey duties. But mainly looking cool in screenshots and video. Built in KSP 1.0.4, the Skorpion replica allows future Kerbal spaceplane pilots the opportunity to practise handling high performance jet aircraft. Gross weight and performance is very close to the real aircraft, weighing in at 11,000kg and top speed in the transonic range. It has a unique blend of high subsonic performance and STOL capability. Background: The PZL-230F Skorpion is a light attack aircraft developed by Poland in the 1980s. No operational aircraft were built as the project was cancelled in 1994. It has a futuristic design that resembles (to me) a tiny SR-71 Blackbird. This makes the Skorpion a quite logical jet trainer design in KSP before progressing to hypersonic spaceplanes at higher tech levels.