How to use stock fairings

[AeroGav]

I feel really dumb for asking this, but i've never figured out how to use them.   Maybe because i'm not really a rockets person.

Or are they simply not designed for what i want to do ?

I have the max size mark 3 cargo bay.  I'm looking for something low drag to use as a nose and tail for this fuselage.     I can use the Mk3 to 2.5m adapter then a 2.5m rocket nose cone, but both have very high drag, and the fuel capacity of the adapter is useless to me (the engines will be on pods and fuel stored in there and the wings, because the mark 3 engine mounting plate has twenty   times the drag of an FT800 tank + nose cone combo).

So, can i use a fairing to make a nose cone for the cargo bay?  The only controls appear to be left and right click, right click cancels the fairing generation and left click doesn't do anything.   I can drag it to a longer or narrower cone but nothing comes of it.  I take it they have to attach to another part then?

 

[RA3236]

You drag it in the direction of the fairing nose from the base.

[Plusck]

The "LMB to build" text has to be green - so (iirc) you need to start with a first section which is straight or flared out (but which can be very short) before you start building a conic section.

 

I didn't understand either to start with. Once you get it, it's very easy...

Edited May 7, 2016 by Plusck

[bewing]

I don't use them either, but I did some beta testing on it -- and one trick I saw was that you can't just left click any old place, you have to left click on particular parts of the fairing to get them to snap.

[moogoob]

I use them all the time for rocket cargo, and last I checked they are one of the better low-drag parts, as long as you make them suitable pointy. As someone said above, just click the first segment out straight, then drag inward to make a cone. One thing to be aware of - the fairing has to be closed to fly with it, IIRC. Either closed to a cone point like you want to do, or closed against another inline stack to make an interstage fairing.