Casual Player having problems with usefulness of planes

[Masakakihara]

Hi Guys,

as i was enjoying my 1.0 career ive stumbled upon the mission to do some temperature scans, above i think 18km halfway across the globe.

So after unlocking my first jet engine and landing wheels i thought i was ready to go. Was just starting to have a lot of fun with planes in 0.90.

But after noticing my flight would take me about 45m real time to complete, i just gave up after 15m.

Is it still possible to use planes for missions like these halfway around the globe?

I'll still build planes for fun, but functionality seems pretty much gone atm. The flying itself is no problem, love the new aerodynamics.

Thanks for reading.

[T-Bouw]

Are you using physics warp?

That sped things up for me in 0.90.

I haven't got that far yet in 1.0 though, so I don't know if that's still reliable.

[Taki117]

Yes, aircraft are most useful for part test contracts and short hops to nearby locations (at least early on). To get around the planet you need a suborbital space plane.

[Parkaboy]

Basic planes are mostly useful to do contracts close to the space center. It's easier to build a shuttle-type vehicle that can go orbital or suborbital to tackle those contracts further away, especially since the basic jet engine can't take you much higher than 13 km.

Of course, planes don't have to be just planes. They can be spaceplanes or, as mentioned, spaceshuttles.

[Dizzle]

Yeah, I don't bother with those missions. You can't take the basic jet engine up that high anyway.

[Masakakihara]

I'll have to see what i can come up with in my career.

I do use timewarp but even then, the speed is so slow it drives me nuts. (about 400m/s max)

If i use a shuttle with a suborbital or orbital trajectory i'll have to go through that scan node when reentering else i'll never get that high again.

Seems like a very difficult task so early on.

I mean ive been to the mun/minmus, even set up a space station but cant manage to fly high and fast enough for a contract on my home planet.

[Cdr_Zeta]

Hello,

I noticed my contracts in 90 I think were far away; I planned on setting up a new base near those seemingly collective locations; sometimes you may run out of funds and this might be all that is left...play the game as it is what it is and if you run out of funds...

Zeta

[Masakakihara]

Guess this should be in gameplay Questions, sorry

[KerikBalm]

I'll have to see what i can come up with in my career.

I do use timewarp but even then, the speed is so slow it drives me nuts. (about 400m/s max)

If i use a shuttle with a suborbital or orbital trajectory i'll have to go through that scan node when reentering else i'll never get that high again.

Seems like a very difficult task so early on.

I mean ive been to the mun/minmus, even set up a space station but cant manage to fly high and fast enough for a contract on my home planet.

If it says above 18km, then a single satelitte in a polar orbit can cover them.

If you can get to the Mun, and back, that means you can get to orbit, and still have 1,000 m/s left... that is enough to go suborbital to your destination, and if you miss it on the way down, you can land and still have >1,000 m/s to get up again... and that is plenty to get 18km high.

or you can go suborbital, if you miss it on the way down, fly on jet power to the location, do a zoom climb and fire the rockets again.... and you're done.