Maxwell Fern

Thinking out of the box is what makes KSP so enjoyable. The contracts says you have to test it through the staging sequence, it doesn't say anything about it not having being activated before the actual test.

My 2 cents on a new, more realistic aerodynamics model: the hard part with such a model, such as FAR, is not the aerodynamic itself, but simply keeping control of your craft. If Squad releases a realistic model alongside an overhauled SAS (or any kind of new piloting control) that helps you not put your craft in stalling (not pulling too hard) while letting you use it at its maximum ability, I don't see anyone being unhappy about it. It all gets back to good designing, and I cant wait for it

I have the same problem as pastadiablo. I'm supposed to test the XL stack chute over 24.8km, and without action groups to set the limit higher there's no way to complete that contract. Is there a way to change that limit without action groups ?

I don't really get it. Ten times less ?! So just start a new carriere, grind science and bam, techtree over, you're in sandbox again. I might understand that some people liked .25 the way it was, but I'm really enjoying the challenges those prices set.

I'm having a problem with Deadly Reentry's inflatable heat shield: FAR doesn't seem to take in consideration its animation state, i.e. the part has an insane drag value, be it inflated or retracted. The Cd value si actually exactly the same, no matter what. I got in touch with Starwaster to try and find a solution, but we ended up with the conclusion to use another part, so I was wondering if anything could be done with FAR to address this issue. I'd be happy to help in any way I can. Thanks Ferram, KSP wouldn't be the same without this mod.

Well, I didn't observe any change... drag and BC only change is something is attached in front of the inflatable shield, regardless of its animation state. ADEPT's shield seems to be broken, as I can't get it to deploy or decouple...

I'm giving it a try right now.

Let me know if I can test anything for you.

@Wanderfound: actually, stability isn't an issue. A couple of well placed linear RCS are enough to keep the ship pointed in the right direction, even during the hardcore part of reentry. Obviously there's no way to change your trajectory during this configuration, but that's the behavior I'm looking for: agressive pod-like reentry. Leaving the drag issue on the side, I've managed reentries from 300km orbits with an apo of 25 with a really decent stability. I'll eventually post seom screenshots of the final prototype @Starwaster: thanks dude, you're awesome.

My main problem is that the parts do not behave the same in the SPH as on the runway. For example, I'll place a washer-thingy on the side of my plane using symmetry, and on top of that I'll put a swept wing so that it could rotate to the back. Now if i use the group in the SPH, both washers turn the same way, meaning one wing folds back, the other folds ahead. Now if I load my plane on the runway and do the exact same thing, both wings fold back or ahead at the same time. Rotatron are even more crazy: in the SPH, on top of that problem two rotatrons will never rotate at the same speed, and if I try directly on the runway they'll spin like crazy, sending all parts attached to them flying. Which is fun, indeed, but not very useful. I also have a lot of other problems too long to list here, but basically if at one point something goes weird, I'd better start over than try to fix it. Which is pretty frustrating.

Well guys, I was wrong, you were right. Spaceplanes part shouldn't have ablative shielding, and indeed the Shuttle had reflective tiles, nothing ablative. So Mk2 parts are fine as they are, it's my reentry profile that needs a rework... However... I'm working on a spaceplane capable of agressive reentry. In a nutshell, it has the inflatable heat shield as a nose and retractable wings (courtesy of Infernal Robotics). It's actually working pretty good, but I'm facing a problem with drag, and I don't know if the problems comes from DR or FAR: - With the shield alone as the nose of the plane, the drag is insane, be it inflated or not: it actually doesn't make a difference (Cd value is the same). My several tons ship in a nearly vertical freefall with the heat shield deinflated hit the ground at barely 100m/s after a return from orbit. - puting anything in front of the inflatable shield (shuch as another shield, or an air intake) negates entirely its drag, even inflated. Which means a lot more time to slow down in the upper atmo, and more overheating. So, is the inflating animation just a visual trick ? From the amount of drag it generates, I would have said FAR consider it always deployed, but since hiding its center behind a small part makes the drag go away, I'm confused.

Thanks guys, I'll give this different reentry profile a try. Can't be worse... Anyway I'll stick to my question: is there no way to add a shield to a part ? I see DR adds one to the stock Mk1 pod, so how can I add one to say the Mk2 cockpit's underbelly ?

I'm giving a try to this legendary mod and after two hours, my brain is starting to fry. First of all: is there some documentation out there on the parts, or at least some good up-to-date tutorials ? I can't seem to find any. Now for the main problem: as a first exercise, I'm trying to make foldable wings. For each, there's an open hinge attached to the ship's body, on wich a rotating part is attached, on wich a swept wing is attached. After some trial and errors, I managed to make the hinges work as intended (symmetric, locked at certain values, assigned to a group). But the rotating part is driving me nuts. I couldn't get anything symmetric with the rotatrons, and using the "Washer", I actually managed to get the exact behavior expected... In the SPH only. Once on the runway, one of the washer rotates in the wrong way. Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong ? Thanks guys.

My trajectory could probably be more shallow. I could try gliding around the world as high as possible to shake the excess speed, I could try using high altitude drogue chute, retro-rockets... KSP always offers its bunch of alternatives My wish though is to shield those parts to perform a glazing, ablative, direct reentry straight to the KSC, àla Space Shuttle. If I can't it's no big deal, but I'd have regretted not to ask. Especially because I suspect it might just be the matter of a couple of lines in a cfg.

Hi guys, I'm in my Spaceplanes period right now but can't figure out how to properly shield a Mk2 ship (former Spaceplane+). Everything quickly disintegrates when hitting the 30k mark, from the wings to the cockpit. Note that I have no problem with regular pod reentry. Do I need to up my game and design some crazy contraptions or is it possible to add directionnal heatshields on Mk2 parts (and wings) ? I'll never thank you enough for this thrilling mod. Please keep up the good work !