1.0.1: pod,6x FL-100 fuel tanks, LV-T30 engine strictly vertical launch - 100% flip

[Tolos]

@rodion_herrera:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/08/11/article-0-14804F2C000005DC-577_634x464.jpg

KSP is more along this...

[Matt516]

Going above Mach speeds with a finless rocket low in the atmosphere might not be the best idea anymore...

[Mr Shifty]

Edit: Mipe, that javelin would have stability issues going transsonic.

More to the point, it would have stability issues if you threaded a bowling ball to the front of it, or if you tried to throw it into a tornado.

[Mipe]

Another curiosity: those tier 0 fins display some kind of health bars after breaching the atmosphere.

[Red Iron Crown]

That's indicating they're hot. New feature for 1.0.1.

[Mipe]

And they remain hot for the duration of mission?

[Red Iron Crown]

They should cool slowly once in space. It takes some time, there's no air to carry the heat away.

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

They will cool off faster now if you splash them down

[Mipe]

Right! I've now managed to reach the airfield with the same rocket + fins. It takes a little bit of coasting, but very doable.

Thanks for answers and, more importantly, the patience!

[rodion_herrera]

Also, canting the fins at several different angles to impart a spin on the rocket on ascent, the rates of spin really vary now and with predictable RPMs based on the angle you set the fins on.

[Jouni]

Reminder: There's no such thing as a strictly vertical launch in KSP. The space center is a flat object placed on top of a round object. Because the launchpad is near the easter edge of KSC, a rocket on the launchpad always tilts slightly to the west.

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

Reminder: There's no such thing as a strictly vertical launch in KSP. The space center is a flat object placed on top of a round object. Because the launchpad is near the easter edge of KSC, a rocket on the launchpad always tilts slightly to the west.

Thats also the reason why you start to roll with a plane on the runway once physics kicks in.

[godefroi]

So why was it working fine in 1.0?

The real question is, was this rocket stable in 0.90 with FAR?

[Mipe]

Hm, I can't seem to be able to achieve the orbit with under 3k dv anymore in 1.0.1... I am distressed.

(it involves turning early and blasting through the atmosphere, equalizing at ~35 and burning to LKO)

[SRV Ron]

From the model rocket days. One of our club members was experimenting with the fiberglass case E-series engines using solid propellent that was not the usual gunpowder. When the rocket, made of cardboard tubing and balsa fins, hit supersonic speed, it turned into a cloud of shattered pieces.

Swapping ends has always been there. Just more so with the new aerodynamic models if you turn too much at speed. Fins should help with the stability issue.

[Mipe]

Yeah, turns out they raised drag and lift in 1.0.1/2, so can't really "blast" through the dense atmosphere and build speed up on the ~35k altitude... It's constantly bled off now, so the below 3k dv flight profile is no longer possible, at least not for rockets.

Disappointing, but I'll live with it.