What options are there in KSP for quantitatively determining the drag produced by parts

[Ridiculous Richard]

Hello,

I have been performing some simple nose cone drag test measurements (affix nose cone to test vehicle, ballast out mass differences, launch and see what peak altitude is achieved).  Although this has been successful for a simple part like a nose cone it is labour intensive, very sensitive to part mass (a different mass means different accelerations are caused and different speeds obtained) and positive feedback (less drag => more acceleration => higher speed => get to higher altitudes quicker => increased engine thrust => higher speed .......) and isn't a direct measure.

Is there a better way to get quantitative drag vs speed information?

The unrealistic ideal would be a set of drag (and lift for relevant parts) vs speed curves as functions of altitude and angle of incidence (but that would probably be far too complex to measure/calculate)

Thanks for any suggestions,

Richard

Edited January 10, 2016 by Ridiculous Richard

[Red Iron Crown]

Welcome aboard!

If you're amenable to using a mod, AeroGUI gives great summary data about various aerodynamic parameters, you might find it useful: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/105524-105-aerogui-v30-14-nov/

[Ridiculous Richard]

Thanks for the suggestion

[Snark]

Also, there's the aero debug display that you can toggle on with F12.

It's not "quantitative" in the sense that you can't get numbers out of it, and it won't give you a curve for various speed for a given part-- all it does is let you visualize, at a particular moment in flight, which parts of the ship are experiencing relatively how much aero force.

I'm guessing you already know about it and it's not what you need, but mentioning it just in case.

[Ridiculous Richard]

Hi Snark,

I didn't actually know about it.  The A.Cd (presumably area times drag co-efficient) lets me directly compare parts for a given set of conditions; I just need a test vehicle that flies both and I can then trade their drag off against their other properties.

 

Thanks for replying!

Richard