Does circular air intake increase air gulped by an engine nacelle?

[jpinard]

A circular Air intake brings in 2 cu. of air while an engine nacelle bring in 5.0 cu.  I can't figure out if I put an air intake on front of engine nacelle if it will bring a combined 7.0 of air in?

[bewing]

Generally not. I have seen counterexamples shown, but typically one air intake gets assigned per engine. Spamming air intakes for a single engine has been adjusted in the game to provide next-to-no benefit. Or maybe no benefit at all.
It used to be a cheat that was abused a lot for high altitude flight, so the devs stomped it.

[sturmhauke]

16 minutes ago, bewing said:

Generally not. I have seen counterexamples shown, but typically one air intake gets assigned per engine. Spamming air intakes for a single engine has been adjusted in the game to provide next-to-no benefit. Or maybe no benefit at all.
It used to be a cheat that was abused a lot for high altitude flight, so the devs stomped it.

I think it's more like air intakes produce the air resource, and engines consume it. The rate of each is calculated based on part type, craft speed, and altitude. Spamming intakes produces more air, but the engines don't consume it any faster.

[GKSP]

On 7/22/2019 at 11:16 PM, sturmhauke said:

I think it's more like air intakes produce the air resource, and engines consume it. The rate of each is calculated based on part type, craft speed, and altitude. Spamming intakes produces more air, but the engines don't consume it any faster.

I think that is the case.  While attempting to create more resources for the player to manipulate, I noticed that the IntakeAir resource still did exist, though it was hidden in-game.  It just has the property of hidden for the resource menu.  If you use Raster Prop Monitor, it will actually show you how much air is available under the "Resources" tab.  Adding more intakes increases the maximum amount you can hold, and if you design a spaceplane to switch to combustion mode in-atmosphere (as well as closing the intake), you can actually use the air in a vacuum with jet engines before it runs out.

[sturmhauke]

2 hours ago, GKSP said:

 ...if you design a spaceplane to switch to combustion mode in-atmosphere (as well as closing the intake), you can actually use the air in a vacuum with jet engines before it runs out.

Theoretically maybe, but the thrust curve on jet engines drops at low pressures, which means they produce negligible thrust long before vacuum.