Flying SSTO Spaceplanes is imposible for me...

[R_Aerospace]

Hello Kerbal Community,

Recently I've been trying to create a space plane on a heavily modded install of KSP version 1.2.2.  However, it does not work.  Any of the jet engines that I use (ie: whiplash or RAPIER) do not generate a high enough TWR and cause the plane to run out of fuel before ever making it to an orbit. 

I know that this is not a design flaw, becauseI I've tested a very similar SSTO Spaceplane in a stock version of KSP (also running 1.2.2) and it got to an orbit just fine, with plenty of fuel remaining.

This leads me to believe that one of the mods that I have installed is causing the jet engines to work less efficiently, and/or causing a tremendous amount of atmospheric drag.  I do not have FAR installed.

Below is a link to a picture that shows my game data folder:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6FVkmwt4jGnSmNVaG1kdWlGN28

Can someone please explain to me why this is happening and how I can fix it? 

Thank you very much, R_Aerospace!

[qzgy]

Looking at your mod list, I don't see any mods that would affect jet engine performance...

Then again, I'm not sure about all of the mods.

Maybe it is design issue? Try removing all mods except the ones needed for it to work, and fly it again.

[R_Aerospace]

1 minute ago, qzgy said:

Looking at your mod list, I don't see any mods that would affect jet engine performance...

Then again, I'm not sure about all of the mods.

Maybe it is design issue? Try removing all mods except the ones needed for it to work, and fly it again.

I could try that, but like I said I already tried a similar design on stock KSP.  The only modded parts that my spaceplane has are MechJeb and I'm using RealFuels to adjust the composition of fuels in some of the fuel tanks (ie: fuel + oxidizer in a jet fuel tank).

[Spricigo]

1 hour ago, R_Aerospace said:

I know that this is not a design flaw, becauseI I've tested a very similar SSTO Spaceplane in a stock version of KSP (also running 1.2.2) and it got to an orbit just fine, with plenty of fuel remaining.

That is not enough to rule out a design flaw.  Small differences can lead to a totally different performance. 

So if you want to rule out a design flaw test the spaceplane that worked in stock.  If this one fly the same it is a design flaw in the modded. 

If there is a difference in performance between modded and stock then you need to pinpoint which mod is causing it.  Remove one mod at time and see if it solve your problem.  

 

 

[R_Aerospace]

49 minutes ago, Spricigo said:

That is not enough to rule out a design flaw.  Small differences can lead to a totally different performance. 

So if you want to rule out a design flaw test the spaceplane that worked in stock.  If this one fly the same it is a design flaw in the modded. 

If there is a difference in performance between modded and stock then you need to pinpoint which mod is causing it.  Remove one mod at time and see if it solve your problem.  

 

 

Thank you for your response!

I tried the exact same craft on the modded install, just like you said to do, but it didn't work.  I'm starting to think that it might have something to do with RealFuels, because of the way that RealFuels scales the fuel units.  Do you know of any way to get around this (other than uninstalling the mod)?  

[Spricigo]

Hard to say without knowing how the mods you use affect the performance of the craft.  And I'm not familiar with several of your mods 

But either you remove the mods that are causing the issue,  install mods that compensate for it or learn to design your way around it.