Nerbal The Second Posted January 16, 2022 Share Posted January 16, 2022 I've played KSP for about a year but never successfully launched any planes or space shuttles I've been trying to make a space shuttle to LKO but during reentry it flips if anyone has any tips that would be helpful, I also left a picture if that's helpful. Space Shuttle Image Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wizard Kerbal Posted January 16, 2022 Share Posted January 16, 2022 The Center of Lift should behind the Center of Mass, if not, it'll do it itself, and your plane will end up flipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HebaruSan Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Not sure what engine that is, but it looks huge. That might be what's pulling your center of mass so far back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wizard Kerbal Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 15 minutes ago, HebaruSan said: Not sure what engine that is, but it looks huge. That might be what's pulling your center of mass so far back. The wolfhound from the making history dlc, and it's suprisingly light. Still heavy though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HebaruSan Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 41 minutes ago, Wizard Kerbal said: The wolfhound from the making history dlc, and it's suprisingly light. Still heavy though. Yeah, a vacuum TWR of 3 is pretty serious overkill in that role. Try a Terrier or an aerospike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanamonde Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 When making a spaceplane it's important to check the balance both while it has a full load of fuel, and then manually drain the tanks (through r-click) to see how the center of mass changes as you use up fuel. Try to arrange the parts so that the COM is pretty close to the same place both ways. I also find it useful to have a set of control surfaces at both the front and the back. The extra control helps as the balance point moves, and during the parts of the flight where the air is very thin and thus diminishing the effects of the control surfaces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerodynamic Kerbal Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 (edited) I suggest you to put a lighter engine: either a dart or a terrier. Or maybe two Thuds? My Phoenix (might rename it to Pigeon) shuttle used a terrier on its first flight, but for moar power I put two thuds. And my new Hawk shuttle, currently in development will use two darts. So yeah: center of mass and lift problem here. And: My hawk will use a fuel drain valve so that during re-entry its center of mass moves forward So you can use that too. Edited January 18, 2022 by Aerodynamic Kerbal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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