Use RCS and Main engines at the same time?

[juvilado]

Hi, i want to build an HTHL spacecraft for HL in Minmus, and was thinking about using rcs thrusters to compensate vertical descent while still can operate with main engines just in case. Is that possible? How do you do that? 

[Hupf]

• You can very easily operate the RCS thrusters with the ijklhn keys and the main engines with ctrl/shift in normal flight mode
• RCS thrusters have a tweekable (right-click on them either in the VAB or even later in flight) that allows them to be activated by the ctrl/shift main engine throttle as well (i.e. boosting the main engine's thrust)

Edited September 13, 2016 by Hupf

[Red Iron Crown]

29 minutes ago, Hupf said:

RCS thrusters have a tweekable (right-click on them either in the VAB or even later in flight) that allows them to be activated by the ctrl/shift main engine throttle as well (i.e. boosting the main engine's thrust)

This works well, just be careful to disable the main engine.

[katateochi]

What I've done for some time is to bind the vertical RCS controls (h and n) to the (forward, back) side buttons on my mouse, which lets me keep my left hand on the pitch/roll/throttle controls and my right hand on the mouse so I can still control the camera.  That setup is also very nice for docking.
I'm not sure if KSP lets you bind the forward/back mouse buttons to the controls, I do it using the mouse driver software which lets me bind keyboard function to mouse buttons, so I don't have to modify KSP binding settings for RCS.  Not possible with all mouse software, but I think most gaming mice drivers can do it. 

[Mycroft]

I only use RCS in place of the main engines in docking or if it's a dire emergency. Otherwise, it's just not efficient and strong enough. I do not see it as a good idea, especially since RCS is so important for docking, so I would recommend saving it for a last resort, if nothing else will save your crew.

[Pecan]

On 9/13/2016 at 11:23 AM, juvilado said:

Hi, i want to build an HTHL spacecraft for HL in Minmus, and was thinking about using rcs thrusters to compensate vertical descent while still can operate with main engines just in case. Is that possible? How do you do that? 

Is there any specific reason why you want to land horizontally on Minmus?

Edited September 14, 2016 by Pecan

[Mahnarch]

Probably a buggy he wants to land and then propel with a rocket engine.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Mahnarch

[juvilado]

5 hours ago, Pecan said:

Is there any specific reason why you want to land horizontally on Minmus?

Quoting Kennedy: " not because its easy, but because its hard " 

On 13/9/2016 at 5:20 PM, Mycroft said:

I only use RCS in place of the main engines in docking or if it's a dire emergency. Otherwise, it's just not efficient and strong enough. I do not see it as a good idea, especially since RCS is so important for docking, so I would recommend saving it for a last resort, if nothing else will save your crew.

The RCS would be for reducing vertical speed while aiming to land horizontally. RCS would be on the bottom of the vessel.

[Pecan]

2 hours ago, juvilado said:

Quoting Kennedy: " not because its easy, but because its hard " 

The RCS would be for reducing vertical speed while aiming to land horizontally. RCS would be on the bottom of the vessel.

Well yes, except in this case 'because it is harder', rather than  'because the only way is hard'.  No point except itself is needed - have fun :-)

[Mycroft]

9 hours ago, juvilado said:

Quoting Kennedy: " not because its easy, but because its hard " 

The RCS would be for reducing vertical speed while aiming to land horizontally. RCS would be on the bottom of the vessel.

What I did for that was simple: make your craft a VTOL. Much better!

And actually there are several techniques for landing horizontal craft that aren't VTOLS on say, the Mun. I've done it. But look up Scott Manley, he can show you how to much more clearly...

[Corona688]

Why not slap on some verniers?

[juvilado]

 

1 hour ago, Corona688 said:

Why not slap on some verniers?

Nice idea, ill work on that

[foamyesque]

On 2016-09-14 at 5:06 PM, Pecan said:

Well yes, except in this case 'because it is harder', rather than  'because the only way is hard'.  No point except itself is needed - have fun :-)

 

Well, there's reasons.

 

 

Woulda had some trouble parking that on its tail :v

[Mycroft]

Oy! Looks cool! It seems like you landed without incident. I'll see if I can whip up a few pictures of how to land a spaceplane later on.