Wanderfound

Okay: a new entry, this time designed as a specialist speedster rather than a cargo plane that just happens to be quick. It does still have a cargo bay, but that was because I wanted somewhere to hide the unaerodynamic bits. Craft file at https://www.dropbox.com/s/evi0sary5oijw9s/Kerbospeed.craft Requires Spaceplane Plus, Mechjeb and FAR/NEAR. I'd normally pull Mechjeb off for the shared version, but I couldn't find where I'd hidden the MJ unit, so it would need to be rebuilt. Shouldn't take long, though; it's a very simple plane. Runway to orbit in 3:32, and that was at a first attempt; there's probably 30 seconds to be shaved off with an optimal ascent. About one and a half minutes were spent coasting to apoapsis; the reason for the seriously elliptical orbit is because I couldn't shut down the engines fast enough during the circularisation burn. Although it's certainly a spaceplane, it is stretching the spirit a bit. If you stood this thing on its tail on the launchpad it could easily get to orbit as a vertical rocket. There were quite a lot of "reentry" flames on the way up. The nose Vernors were there because I thought it might be a bit of a handful, but it turns out that I didn't need them; they stayed off the whole way. It flies beautifully. And, yet another demonstration of the pointlessness of airhogging: this has exactly one intake per engine.

They did get denerfed, just not entirely. FAR originally cut them to 33% thrust, then beefed them back up to 50% when too many folks complained. Jet engines in stock are extremely overpowered, and the lower drag at altitude in FAR exacerbated the problem. As well as chopping overall power, Ferram redid the speed/thrust curves to make them more realistic. Turbojets shouldn't be able to beat Mach 6; that's scramjet country. There are limits to how fast you can run a jet engine before it blows up. And, yes, it's staying this way; Ferram has strongly stated that he's not reversing the decision any further. It is still easy to make highly effective spaceplanes in FAR, and it is still possible to get an air-breather over Mach 5. You don't need hypersonic speeds; Mach 4.5 at 30,000m is enough to reach orbit with less than 60 seconds of rocket power. You just have to give a bit more attention to piloting and streamlining now. Before, you could bully through bad aerodynamic design with pure thrust; that is no longer easy to do. If you want a demo, go play with some of the planes at http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1353924 The Velociraptor in particular is ridiculously quick. The main issue when flying it is in trying to avoid going too fast in the lower atmosphere, because you'll destroy the airframe due to excessive dynamic pressure. Also see http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90354-Spaceplane-speed-challenge-shortest-elapsed-time-from-runway-to-orbit Even with the nerf, you can get from runway to orbit in well under four minutes.

The wing mounted gear is why he's having steering issues. As the plane accelerates down the runway, the wing flexes. As the wing flexes, the steering geometry changes. Fuselage mounting is always preferable if you can. If they're on the wings to make the nose higher, consider mounting partway up the sides of the fuselage and rotating until they point straight down. Angled gear is as troublesome as wing gear, for similar reasons (suspension flex instead of wing flex, but the effect is the same). I'd second the canard recommendation; as well as easing takeoff, it will help in pulling the nose up at extreme speeds and altitudes. You may wish to set some of your control surfaces as spoilers. As well as helping you stop after landing, you can use them to increase drag in the early stages of reentry. If you want some examples of things that work, check out my design thread: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread

I always launch at 100% throttle, whether it be spaceplane or rocket. If my TWR is too high for that, I ditch some boosters. Ain't no sense in carrying engines that you don't need. I get that there are folks who like the 50% throttle, but judging by the forums I think y'all are very much in the minority.

Because it's an unsatisfying compromise. 0% makes sense; 100% makes sense. 50% makes no sense for a large proportion of players.

Looks like a bug, then. They've been working fine for me.

Not personally, but I'm sure they're aware; folks have been screaming about this all over the place since the day .24 was released. Thoroughly endorse the idea of a full-throttle shortcut, BTW. Especially handy for spaceplaners during an aborted landing. BTW: anyone else finding that X doesn't always totally kill throttle? Most of the time it works, but occasionally it seems to leave the throttle just a tiny bit on. Not enough for exhaust flames to be visible, but enough to mess up your orbit if you don't notice it quickly.

Kerbodyne Elevator XS: extreme vertical-launch SSTO. Like the efficiency of air-breathing SSTOs, but can't be bothered with all that spaceplane stuff? Got a computer that can handle a moderately chunky part count? Have we got a deal for you... Ten turbojets and twenty RAPIERs provide all the power you could ever want. Who needs wings? In thrust we trust. Use the action groups rather than staging, and disable crossfeed on the docking port connecting the lifter to the cargo (self-propelled Rockomax 64 used here as an example) before launch. Action group 8 will disable the RCS on the cargo. Take it vertically to 10,000m then gradually pitch over to 30°. Keep the Vernors off until you need them. Cautious aerobraking is recommended before descent. Undoubtedly the silliest thing I've ever designed. Handle with care. https://www.dropbox.com/s/dwjph1dijh...%20Stock.craft Original release thread at http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90241-Kerbodyne-Elevator-XS-extreme-vertical-launch-SSTO

Kerbodyne Velociraptor: light cargo express SSTO for Spaceplane Plus and FAR Like the idea of SSTO cargo spaceplanes, but can't be bothered waiting around for them to get up to speed? Have we got the plane for you... This thing is ridiculously fast. It can go supersonic while in a vertical climb and reach orbit with tanks better than half full. Treat the throttle with caution; although it has enough thrust to reach crazy high Mach numbers at sea level, you'll shatter the airframe if you crank it up too much below 10,000m. Climb vertically until the atmosphere thins, level off while you take it to 30,000m and flick the Vernors on to enhance stability during the oxidising burn Check the action groups and switch off the Vernors while docking. The Vernor thrust should be sufficient for VTOL landings on the Mun or Minmus. https://www.dropbox.com/s/3u2omnejrwstcma/Kerbodyne%20Velociraptor%20ST.craft?dl=0 Requires both Spaceplane Plus and Ferram Aerospace Research (or NEAR) mod packs. Also available: Kerbodyne Velociraptor II. Not quite as fast in atmosphere, but substantially easier to fly. Still more Ferrari than family sedan, though. https://www.dropbox.com/s/s231vw8argy5vjm/Kerbodyne%20Velociraptor%202%20ST.craft Original release thread at http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90344-Kerbodyne-Velociraptor-light-cargo-express-SSTO-for-Spaceplane-Plus-and-FAR

Are you finding that you're spending a fortune on rockets just so you can keep your orbital refuelling stations supplied? Would you like to be able to lift more fuel than a Rockomax 64 into orbit for just a few thousand √? Then you need the Kerbodyne Wedgetail... As usual, check the action groups and save the Vernors for when you need them. It can take off without them, but you may find it easier to lift the nose with them on. Deactivate Vernors when docking; the RCS ports are balanced, but the Vernors aren't. Trim the flaps back down to normal after you lift off, and use a fairly normal ascent profile: 30°-45° to 20,000m then a medium-slow climb to 30,000m. Turn the RAPIERs off as soon as they switch to closed cycle and don't turn them back on until the turbojets start to choke. Leave the turbojets on for the final ascent; there are plenty of intakes to feed them once the RAPIERs stop hogging all the air. There's an abort system and a drone core on board, and a spotlight in the cargo bay for use during docking. The decoupler used for the abort system requires this minor hack: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/entries/1650-Making-decouplers-for-Spaceplane-Plus Handle with care; she's a big 'un. https://www.dropbox.com/s/1bxr1jwfqzq7xfy/Kerbodyne%20Wedgetail.craft?dl=0 Requires Spaceplane Plus and FAR/NEAR. Original release thread at http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90699-Kerbodyne-Wedgetail-a-bulk-fuel-tanker-for-Spaceplane-Plus-and-FAR-NEAR

Wanderfound's Spaceplane Design Guide 1) Decide on a basic engine/fuselage/wing configuration. How many engines and what sort? Mk 1 or 2 fuselages? Full length for all engines, or nacelles for some? Swept or delta wings? Wings set high, low or centred? Mid-mount or rear? Canards? Tailplanes? 2) Build the core fuselage first, with engines but without detailing. Then make the sides: additional fuselage sections, engines, intakes, nacelles, wing pieces, control surfaces. Engage symmetry and slide this piece up and down the core until you're happy with the CoM/dCoM position and relationship. If you can be bothered, remove the intakes and engines and replace them in order to control the air-demand priority: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/84217-Explaining-burnout-asymetry?p=1234436&viewfull=1#post1234436 For more detail on why that works, see http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/64362-Fuel-Flow-Rules-%280-23-5%29 3) Tweak the wing position, add or remove canards and stabilisers. Get the CoL placed right. Adjust the control surface tweakables. 3a) Check the aerodynamic analyses. Continue wing-fiddling until these are right. 4) Add accessories; batteries, solar panels, science gear etc. 5) Add landing gear, fuel lines and struts. 6) Place RCS thrusters. Balance. 7) Place Vernors. 8) Action groups. 9) Paint If you need to go backwards through these stages (e.g. moving the wings after placing the RCS thrusters), it's safest to re-do from scratch all stages starting from the earliest returned-to stage. This will avoid a lot of the quirks of the SPH symmetry function. Fuel Pumping Get familiar with the fuel flow rules: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/64362-Fuel-Flow-Rules-(0-24-2) The TLDR version of that is that fuel comes from the farthest tank first, but you can manipulate which tank is "farthest" by use of fuel hoses and parallel tanks. My normal arrangement on a fuselage + outriggers design is to run fuel hoses at the nose from the lateral tanks to the core. This makes the rear-lateral tanks the farthest (and therefore first-drained) from the core engines. I then add a pair of fuel lines from the rear of the core directly to the lateral engines; this forces them to draw via the core, making rear lateral the first tank to drain for them as well. This arrangement ensures that any initial mass shift will be forwards, enhancing stability. After the lateral tanks drain, the core will burn from front to rear. In some circumstances, particularly on single-fuselage planes, it can be worthwhile to lock off a forward tank as a "reserve". Just use the right-click tweakable to disable fuel flow, and remember to reenable it when appropriate. All of these balancing tricks become superfluous if you have TAC Fuel Balancer (good) or Goodspeed (better) installed. Goodspeed in particular allows for all sorts of pumping/balancing possibilities. dCoM Hunting Get RCS Build Aid. Seriously. You need it. Anyway, now that you can see your CoM and dCoM markers at the same time, you want to start bringing them together. You want to get the CoM/dCoM offset down to 1m or less. Fortunately, it isn't too hard to do. The markers update live. Build your tank/engine/intake/wing combo, engage symmetry, and slide them up and down the fuselage. Watch the CoM/dCoM relationship change as you do. Spread your fuel load laterally, not longitudinally. Mid-mounted engines provide more flexibility in fuel placement. If you're carrying cargo, place the CoMs under the middle of the cargo bay. Think about the location of CoMs in relation to landing gear and takeoff rotation. Get your weight balance right, then fiddle about with CoL. When adjusting more precisely, remember that parts without fuel move both CoMs but parts with fuel move CoM much more than dCoM. Structural fuselages are useful, as are partly-full tanks. Weight a long way from CoM has a big effect, weight close to CoM a small effect. How to Read and Use FAR Analysis Screens You can design perfectly well just by eyeball and flight testing; the flight data isn't absolutely necessary. But it does help if you can use it. The first screen in Ferram is the static analysis screen. This gives you pretty graphs. It has two options at top: Sweep AoA and Sweep Mach. There are boxes at the bottom which say Lower, Upper and Mach/AoA. This page can produce two different graphs: if you press the Sweep AoA button, it shows the behaviour of your plane from Angle of Attack values between Lower and Upper, at the speed shown in the Mach/AoA box. If you press the Sweep Mach button, it shows behaviour at speeds between Lower and Upper at the AoA shown in the Mach/AoA box. The blue line is the Coefficient of Lift. It's good when this is high. The red line is the Coefficient of Drag. It's good when this is low. The yellow line is the Coefficient of Manoeuvrability/Instability. You want this to be angling down (like it is here), and it's best that the slope of the line isn't too steep and that its X-intercept (where the yellow line crosses zero) isn't too far above zero. The green line is lift divided by drag. It's good when this is high. This picture shows how the plane will act at Angles of Attack between 0° and 25° while travelling at Mach 2. Sometimes the lines split into two lines. This shows how the plane responds after a stall: you get a sudden loss of lift and increase in drag that lasts until you return your AoA to where the line isn't split any more. This is the same picture at Mach 0.8. See how the plane can stall at that speed? If you click the Sweep Mach button, you instead get a look at a bunch of different speeds with Angle of Attack held constant. This shows Mach 0-6 with a 3° AoA. The bumpiness on the left shows the effect of breaking through the sound barrier. The second page of Ferram is data and stability derivatives. This produces scary looking numbers. To get those numbers, you need to put in values for altitude and speed. All of the confusing letters that appear when you hover your mouse over the output numbers relate to this picture here: x is forwards, y is sideways, z is down. P is roll, Q is pitch, R is yaw. Don't worry about the Greek for now. If you hover your mouse over any of the numbers, it'll pop up a tooltip explaining what it refers to. Mostly, however, all you want to do is make as many as possible of the numbers green and as few as possible red. The one other useful thing on this screen is the "level flight" stuff up top right. If you set the analysis for zero altitude and the speed for whatever you think you can reach on the runway, you can find out how much AoA you need to take off (the "level flight" value). Try to keep that number below ten for easy takeoffs. Transonic drag and Area Ruling Go to transonic design and toggle the area curves. The green line shows the cross-sectional area of the aircraft as you move from nose to tail; the yellow line is a measure of how smoothly the green line is changing. Mach 1 Wave-Drag Area is the thing that you're aiming to minimise; if you manage to get the wiggles in the yellow line to the smallest amplitude possible, that is what you'll achieve. The lower the wave-drag, the less power you'll need to get up to speed. With all of these analyses, you should have your gear toggled up. See how much they affect the outcome here: How to Apply FAR Aero Analyses The pretty graphs: use these to check for excessive drag and regions of instability. AoA graph is the more useful of the two. Numbers: use the Level Flight figure to work on your takeoff speed and flap settings. For the stability figures, check takeoff (0 altitude and .35 or so speed), low altitude (5km and .8 speed), Mach 1 (speed obvious, 10km) and edge of rocketry (25km, Mach 4.5). You want green everywhere. You won't get it, at least to start with. Hover your mouse over the red ones and use the picture above to work out what the tooltips mean. Once you decode the x's and y's, usually they just mean something like "has a tendency to roll when pitching up" or similar. Sometimes the solutions are obvious (e.g. too much yaw slippage, add a rudder), sometimes they take a great deal of trial and error to sort out. With the transonic drag stuff, just wiggle parts about and see what happens. To achieve the lowest drag, "fill in" dips in the green line and "shave down" peaks. Video tutorials:https://m.youtube.com/user/TheWanderfound Illustrated tutorial:http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/craigmotbey/Kerbal/Tutorials/Hangar%20to%20Landing/story FAR allows some options beyond stock here. You can activate or deactivate axes, adjust max deflection and set flaps and spoilers. With the axes, think about what each control surface is intended to do. Control surfaces should be as far from their axis of rotation as possible, and as close as possible to the other axes. So, elevators at front and rear on the centreline, ailerons out to the side, flaps and spoilers at mid-centre, rudder right up the back, maybe some elevons mid-wing if it's a rear delta design. It's usually best if a control surface has one job only; you don't want inputs for one thing affecting something else. Maximum control authority is basically the thrust limiter for your control surfaces. Too little, and the plane won't do what you tell it to; too much, and the plane becomes a hair-triggered bomb waiting for an aerodynamic failure. How much is largely a matter of personal taste. Generally though, you want the values on rear surfaces to be higher than those up front (canards etc.). Manoeuvrability and stability are two sides of the same coin; improving one degrades the other and vice-versa. Forward-mounted control surfaces are better for manoeuvrability; rear-mounted control surfaces are better for stability. Mid-mounted surfaces should be ailerons on the wingtips and pure flaps/spoilers near the centreline. Flaps add drag and increase lift. Use them to lower your stall speed at takeoff and landing. Spoilers add drag and reduce lift. Use them to lower your plane to the runway without needing to pitch down. In either case, the control surfaces need to be right on CoM or balanced either side of it. If this isn't the case, activating the flaps/spoilers will also cause an alteration in pitch. Don't bother with flaps unless you need them for takeoff, and be sure to set a pair of action groups to raise and lower them. Do consider spoilers; they make landing much easier. That definition of flap/spoilers (i.e. flaps deflect down, spoilers deflect up, assuming we're behind CoM) is the real world definition. In FAR, "flap" means "raised and lowered in steps, one action group for each direction" while "spoiler" means "toggle to full deflection, one action group for on/off". FAR now allows the adjustment of wing mass/strength via right click tweakables. Mass = 1 is hugely overweight overkill unless you're planning on high-G supersonic aerobatics at treetop height. 0.5 is plenty tough enough to handle substantial abuse, 0.25 or even 0.2 is usable (but not recommended) for glass speedsters. Remember that vertical stabilisers etc. don't need to be as tough as main wing sections. Tweakables also provide a way to deal with one of the perennial banes of spaceplanes: CoM/CoT misalignment. Use the mass tweakable of high or low mounted aerodynamic sufaces to fine tune the height of CoM. Video tutorials: https://m.youtube.com/user/TheWanderfound Illustrated tutorial: http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/craigmotbey/Kerbal/Tutorials/Hangar%20to%20Landing/story

Wanderfound's Piloting Guide 1) Put the brakes on, then spool up your jets. 2) Careful of the tail as you pull up. Flaps down if you're using them. 3) Flaps up after takeoff, and pull into a climb steep enough that you stay subsonic until you're out of the pale blue band on the atmosphere gauge. 4) After reaching about 13,000m (exactly what altitude is "best" will vary between different ships; faster ships do it higher, slower ones do it lower), gently pull the nose down to level off and accelerate. 5) A shallow dive can be useful to gain speed, especially at first, but you want to be back into a slow climb by the time you're up to speed. As this is also your peak heating time, you need to be able to quickly gain altitude once things begin to cook. 6) Exactly what top speed is possible will vary between designs, but you want to crank as much speed as possible out of your jets before climbing above 20,000m. Once you do, the available jet thrust will begin to drop rapidly. 7) If you're carrying a nuke, you don't need to wait for space to light it. For the purposes of isp efficiency, 20,000m is virtually vacuum. An LV-N at this altitude should already be operating at almost full efficiency. 8) The stock overlays and gauges are useful, but the best way to monitor heating is with something like Kerbal Flight Data. A white temperature warning is just a reminder not to dawdle; a yellow warning means you should get climbing in a serious way; a red warning means pull up as hard as you can and maybe cut the throttle. 9) So long as you bring enough intake (about a shock cone and a quarter per jet), you can run jets at fairly extreme altitudes. However, if you're headed for space, you don't want to stretch it out so far that you start losing speed. Switch RAPIER modes or light conventional rockets once you stop accelerating. 10) If you're on oxidising rockets, shut down as soon as you raise your apoapsis to your intended orbital height. If you've got an LV-N, close down the high-thrust rocketry a few km short of your final altitude and keep the nuke burning. 11) Circularise on your most efficient engines, and get the solar out. RAPIER ships are particularly prone to running short of zap, thanks to the lack of alternator. * Send a Kerbal to the beach at the east end of the runway. Plant a flag. You now have a landing beacon. Set this flag as a target. * Burn retrograde from the opposite side of Kerbin to the KSC, until your trajectory intersects the beach on the west side of the KSC home continent. * As you descend, keep your nose within 10° of prograde and immediately correct any stall. You can afford a much larger AoA at higher altitudes, but you should still avoid stalls and close to prograde as soon as you start to feel the atmosphere through your controls. If you have airbrakes, deploy them as soon as you hit the atmosphere; retract them again if you feel that they are negatively affecting the stability of the ship once you hit thicker air. * Aim to level out at ~25,000m. * Check your distance to KSC. If it's over 200km, slowly descend in order to hit 6,000m at the mountains west of KSC (which are about 5,000m tall). If it's within 200km, begin S-turns to wash off speed and altitude. * S-turns. First, decide how urgent the turn is and whether you also want to drop altitude. If the turn is urgent or you want to drop, stand the plane on its wingtip, keep the nose on the horizon and pitch up (carefully). If less urgent or you want to maintain altitude, roll to ~45° and pitch/yaw the nose around, monitoring climb rate and controlling it with pitch as you go. * Make sure the flag is still set as target. If your prograde and target markers coincide, you're heading for the end of the runway. If they aren't on a bearing of 90° while you're doing this, you're coming in at an angle. Fly to the side until the target indicator is at 90°. Then fly towards it. * Get lined up, low and slow as soon as possible. As soon as you're over the mountains, start doing S-turns and drop to the deck. Pull it down to <150m/s and <500m altitude, then point at the runway and level your wings. The shallower the approach the better. Keep engines on minimal throttle to hold speed constant. * Avoid any drastic manoeuvres over the runway. You'll probably overdo it and make things worse. * Watch your VSI (vertical speed, to the right of the altitude meter) and keep it to 5m/s or so. Triggering spoilers will increase it; balance the spoilers will gentle pitch-up. * Kerbal Flight Indicators makes landing much, much easier. Just plonk your prograde marker on the end of the runway and cruise in. * Don't be afraid to wave off and go around again if it gets messy. Also remember that the paddock beside the runway is an easier landing strip than the runway itself. * Be ready to hit the brakes and do some delicate steering as soon as you land. Stick to the middle of the runway if you're using it. Trigger RCS and Vernors and use the "N" key for retro thrust. Stock SAS is horrid for aircraft in FAR. It's designed for rockets and stock aero, and it reacts badly to vehicles with a lot of control authority (e.g. spaceplanes). This leads it to continuously overcorrect, resulting in pitch and yaw wobbles of increasing severity. The best solution is to get a mod that includes a PID tuner, and use that to reduce the sensitivity of the SAS. For a good PID tuner, see http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/100073-0-25-Pilot-Assistant-0-8-Nov-24-Atmospheric-piloting-aids If you can't get a PID tuner, there are a couple of not-great-but-tolerable alternatives. Firstly, you can wind down the maximum deflection of your control surfaces to the bare minimum required. However, this reduces performance and requires fiddly testing to find exactly how low you can go. Secondly, you can disable SAS while flying in atmosphere and rely on the FAR Flight Assistance toggles alone. This is workable, but requires you to constantly manage your piloting; it is not as "set and forget" as a properly setup SAS system. Exactly which PID settings are best depends upon craft and preference, but this is what I use: UPDATE: a simpler way to (mostly) fix SAS is the Dynamic Deflection mod at http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/116888 Using both mods together provides excellent results. Dynamic Deflection is also of great use for air racing; it allows large control surface deflections for low-Mach high-G maneuvers, without being suicidal at high Mach.

One of my customers has requested that I make a single thread in order to easily find all of my designs. So, here it is. Specialising in aesthetically pleasing, relatively realistic and highly functional SSTO's, mostly spaceplanes. All designs are tested with FAR in operation; no guarantees as to performance under stock aero. If you want to get them to perform as intended, I recommend that you read my short spaceplane piloting guide: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1353890&viewfull=1#post1353890 Design requests happily considered, albeit not necessarily fulfilled. Dammit, Bob. KERBODYNE Kerbodyne 0.90 Range Kerbodyne Napoleon http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1739701&viewfull=1#post1739701 Kerbodyne Gunbalanya http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1729812&viewfull=1#post1729812 Kerbodyne Gunbalanya Micro http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1729863&viewfull=1#post1729863 Kerbodyne Gunbalanya Micro Slim http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1729893&viewfull=1#post1729893 Kerbodyne Spacehopper http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1733826&viewfull=1#post1733826 Kerbodyne Javelin http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1735611&viewfull=1#post1735611 Kerbodyne Trident http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1737779&viewfull=1#post1737779 Kerbodyne Twostep http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1752813&viewfull=1#post1752813 Kerbodyne Imperius Tug http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1744112&viewfull=1#post1744112 Kerbodyne Sidewinder http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1746093&viewfull=1#post1746093 Kerbike http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1750843&viewfull=1#post1750843 Kerbodyne Harpoon http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1759937&viewfull=1#post1759937 Kerbodyne Farlander http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1755194&viewfull=1#post1755194 Kerbodyne Dementia Nova http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1764737&viewfull=1#post1764737 Kerbodyne Astrotrout http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1765352&viewfull=1#post1765352 Kerbodyne V-Storm http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1766813&viewfull=1#post1766813 Kerbodyne Liftjet http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1773395&viewfull=1#post1773395 Kerbodyne Dunaflyer http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1769815&viewfull=1#post1769815 Kerbodyne Dolphin http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1727067&viewfull=1#post1727067 Kerbodyne Dropbear 2015 http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1727395&viewfull=1#post1727395 Kerbodyne Sabotage http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1721422&viewfull=1#post1721422 Kerbodyne Titan 8 http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1636232&viewfull=1#post1636232 Kerbodyne Aero R http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1654465&viewfull=1#post1654465 Kerbodyne Skyfang XN http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1653765&viewfull=1#post1653765 Kerbodyne Skyfang http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1653560&viewfull=1#post1653560 Kerbodyne Dragonfly X http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1652100&viewfull=1#post1652100 Kerbodyne Satshot http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1647974&viewfull=1#post1647974 Kerbodyne Stratos N http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1659593&viewfull=1#post1659593 Kerbodyne Peregrine http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1659477&viewfull=1#post1659477 Kerbodyne Stratos http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1656296&viewfull=1#post1656296 Kerbodyne Nostalgia http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1673199&viewfull=1#post1673199 Kerbotrainer http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1670972&viewfull=1#post1670972 Demo Gull VTOL http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1692778&viewfull=1#post1692778 Kerbodyne Komet R http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1691129&viewfull=1#post1691129 Kerbodyne Komet 2015 http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1691056&viewfull=1#post1691056 Kerbodyne Econoboost http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1699318&viewfull=1#post1699318 Kerbodyne Titan Shuttle http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1704195&viewfull=1#post1704195 Kerbodyne VTOL Trainer http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1716278&viewfull=1#post1716278 Kerbodyne Karnifex http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1718015&viewfull=1#post1718015 Kerbodyne Sabot http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1719719&viewfull=1#post1719719 Kerbodyne Archer http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1632210&viewfull=1#post1632210 Kerbodyne Alkahest RP4 http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1630134&viewfull=1#post1630134 Kerbodyne Constellation http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1610271&viewfull=1#post1610271 Kerbodyne Cloudbreaker http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1626248&viewfull=1#post1626248 Kerbodyne Initiale http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1626507&viewfull=1#post1626507 Kerbodyne Alkahest http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1630075&viewfull=1#post1630075 Kerbodyne XXV Range Kerbodyne Kosciuszko http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1583102&viewfull=1#post1583102 Kerbodyne Farseer http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1572727&viewfull=1#post1572727 Kerbodyne Infusion Corsair http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1573030&viewfull=1#post1573030 Kerbodyne De Minimus XXV http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1571108&viewfull=1#post1571108 Kerbodyne Investigator http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1558757&viewfull=1#post1558757 Kerbodyne Simplicio http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1555545&viewfull=1#post1555545 Kerbodyne Delta Glider http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1551661&viewfull=1#post1551661 Kerbodyne Cacafuego http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1557239&viewfull=1#post1557239 Kerbodyne Dropbear http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1527285&viewfull=1#post1527285 Kerbodyne Cicada http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1527539&viewfull=1#post1527539 Kerbodyne Atlas http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1521521&viewfull=1#post1521521 Kerbodyne Benchmark XXV http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1481656&viewfull=1#post1481656 Kerbodyne Invasion http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1515200&viewfull=1#post1515200 Kerbodyne Skua http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1515151&viewfull=1#post1515151 Kerbodyne Wedgetail XXV http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1515154&viewfull=1#post1515154 Kerbodyne Lancer http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1509571&viewfull=1#post1509571 Kerbodyne Endeavour http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1491566&viewfull=1#post1491566 Kerbodyne Essence SPR http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1462963&viewfull=1#post1462963 Kerbodyne Nova http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1486879&viewfull=1#post1486879 Kerbodyne Gull http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1488835&viewfull=1#post1488835 Kerbodyne Tigershark http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1511356&viewfull=1#post1511356 Kerbodyne Bushranger http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1504987&viewfull=1#post1504987 Kerbodyne Tartaglia http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1515480&viewfull=1#post1515480 Kerbodyne Special Vehicles XXV Range KSV Whirlwind http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1493009&viewfull=1#post1493009 Kerbodyne Instant Infrastructure Kerbodyne Megatanker http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1585245&viewfull=1#post1585245 Kerbodyne Scitug http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1593570&viewfull=1#post1593570 Kerbodyne Suborbital Division Kerbodyne Scapa http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1515356&viewfull=1#post1515356 Kerbodyne Evangelist XXV http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1463820&viewfull=1#post1463820 Kerbodyne Payload Solutions Kerbodyne Microsat http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1431743&viewfull=1#post1431743 Kerbodyne Microbus http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1431743&viewfull=1#post1431743 Kerbodyne T-Shuttle http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1431743&viewfull=1#post1431743 Kerbodyne Microlander http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1447848&viewfull=1#post1447848 Kerbodyne Miniboost http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1447838&viewfull=1#post1447838 Note: all designs below balanced for 0.24. May not fly as intended in 0.25 Kerbodyne Wedgetail http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1353905&viewfull=1#post1353905 Kerbodyne Velociraptor http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1353924&viewfull=1#post1353924 Kerbodyne Velociraptor II http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1353924&viewfull=1#post1353924 Kerbodyne Elevator XS http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1353934&viewfull=1#post1353934 Kerbodyne Goblin http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1355016&viewfull=1#post1355016 Kerbodyne Longreach http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1356319&viewfull=1#post1356319 Kerbodyne Benchmark http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1357777&viewfull=1#post1357777 Kerbodyne Pteranodon http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1358464&viewfull=1#post1358464 Kerbodyne Komet http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1359869&viewfull=1#post1359869 Kerbodyne Munacy http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1360020&viewfull=1#post1360020 Kerbodyne Dementia http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1360602&viewfull=1#post1360602 Kerbodyne Epinephrine http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1364221&viewfull=1#post1364221 Kerbodyne Impactor http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1368623&viewfull=1#post1368623 Kerbodyne Migration http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1370535&viewfull=1#post1370535 Kerbodyne Porklifter http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1374206&viewfull=1#post1374206 Kerbodyne Migration Aerotrain http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1384576&viewfull=1#post1384576 Kerbodyne de Minimus http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1392463&viewfull=1#post1392463 Kerbodyne Brutus http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1394563&viewfull=1#post1394563 Kerbodyne Albatross http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1398173&viewfull=1#post1398173 Kerbodyne Pacifist http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1399695&viewfull=1#post1399695 Kerbodyne Evangelist http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1401723&viewfull=1#post1401723 Kerbodyne Graduate http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1402927&viewfull=1#post1402927 Kerbodyne Princeling http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1403128&viewfull=1#post1403128 Kerbodyne Evangelist II http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1411614&viewfull=1#post1411614 Kerbodyne Evangelist II TJ http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1411623&viewfull=1#post1411623 Kerbodyne Spacebat http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1411841&viewfull=1#post1411841 Kerbodyne Dairyman http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1423570&viewfull=1#post1423570 Kerbodyne Dairyman TSP http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1426134&viewfull=1#post1426134 Kerbodyne Jackaroo http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1424637&viewfull=1#post1424637 Kerbodyne Invector http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1434926&viewfull=1#post1434926 Kerbodyne Ranger http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1435468&viewfull=1#post1435468 Kerbodyne Special Vehicles KSV Benchmark GTHO http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90747-Kerbodyne-SSTO-Division-Omnibus-Thread?p=1444236&viewfull=1#post1444236

The problem isn't starting at 50% (although that is slightly irritating and inappropriate for most launches; if you're using partial throttle at launch, you have more thrust than you need in all but a few cases), it's the fact that it can reset itself to 50% when coming out of timewarp. I've had several near-disasters due to this.

Doesn't need to be attached to the tank; they draw from all tanks equally, ignoring crossfeed rules, same as RCS. But, as you say, they need oxidiser and liquid fuel. If you don't have those, they won't work.

First up; congrats on building a plane that you like. Most folks find that very hard. The following is probably going to sound harsher than it's meant; I wouldn't be posting this if you hadn't specifically asked for critique. Just at a first glance: * You have more intakes than you need. Also, from a realism POV, the placement means that they would lose their airflow as soon as the wing stalls. * You have more sets of landing gear than you need. * You have a large displacement between CoM and dCoM. Try to keep it below 1m if you can. Spread your fuel load laterally and keep it close to CoM. * All of your control surfaces are rear-mounted and conventional (as opposed to all-moving). This may give you pitch authority problems at supersonic speeds. * Set your rudders to affect yaw and nothing else. Set your elevons to not affect yaw. Tune max control to personal taste; one person's "responsive" is another person's "unflyably oversensitive". * Are you keeping aerodynamic failures turned on? Your wings appear to be unreinforced; I'd expect them to be easily torn off during over-vigorous manoeuvring. * Do you have an abort system (e.g. decoupler behind cockpit, parachutes on the cockpit, both triggered by the abort action group) for when things go wrong? * Do you have any lights aimed at the docking port so you can see what you're doing during docking? * Do you have any downwards-facing solar panels? Single-direction solar is a recipe for disaster on long space flights. * Have you checked your RCS balancing? * Have you unlocked the steering on your front gear?

Nothing to do with me; just the usual internet thieving scum.

Yup, whoops. It's possible to blow up a plane in FAR even while flying dead straight, although you need to get fairly extreme to do it. Keep the flight indicator at "high dynamic pressure" for long enough and you've got a good chance of a rapid unplanned disassembly. With the Velociraptor used in the first post, it's a choice of climb steeply or back off the throttle; if you keep it at full juice while flying level at low altitude, it only takes a minute or two to make the whole thing explode.

BTW: you might be interested in these. http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90699-Kerbodyne-Wedgetail-a-bulk-fuel-tanker-for-Spaceplane-Plus-and-FAR-NEAR?p=1352830#post1352830 http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/90344-Kerbodyne-Velociraptor-light-cargo-express-SSTO-for-Spaceplane-Plus-and-FAR

The Editor Extensions mod helps with many construction problems, but as the Rusty Crown says, there is no way to make a connected loop in KSP apart from docking ports or struts.

My Jeb has been having fun with the EVA Parachutes mod. Mach 4 skydiving; got reentry flames on him last time he did it...

Are you finding that you're spending a fortune on rockets just so you can keep your orbital refuelling stations supplied? Would you like to be able to lift more fuel than a Rockomax 64 into orbit for just a few thousand √? Then you need the Kerbodyne Wedgetail... As usual, check the action groups and save the Vernors for when you need them. It can take off without them, but you may find it easier to lift the nose with them on. Deactivate Vernors when docking; the RCS ports are balanced, but the Vernors aren't. Trim the flaps back down to normal after you lift off, and use a fairly normal ascent profile: 30°-45° to 20,000m then a medium-slow climb to 30,000m. Turn the RAPIERs off as soon as they switch to closed cycle and don't turn them back on until the turbojets start to choke. Leave the turbojets on for the final ascent; there are plenty of intakes to feed them once the RAPIERs stop hogging all the air. There's an abort system and a drone core on board, and a spotlight in the cargo bay for use during docking. The decoupler used for the abort system requires this minor hack: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/entries/1650-Making-decouplers-for-Spaceplane-Plus Handle with care; she's a big 'un. https://www.dropbox.com/s/gg1668tq2mwz0v4/Kerbodyne%20Wedgetail%20ST.craft

First up: thank you thank you thank you. This mod has saved me endless hassle when docking my spaceplanes; they're a right sod to balance by eyeball and trial and error. Is there any way to separate the analysis of Vernors vs conventional RCS? I tend to use linear thrusters on my spaceplanes for docking (so I want those balanced) and Vernors for in-flight vectored thrust trickery (and these work best when placed in a totally unbalanced fashion; it's all about yanking the nose around). At the moment I'm just aligning the RCS thrusters before I put the Vernors on, but it's a right nuisance having to remove all the Vernors again any time I change anything that requires a rebalance. A toggle that lets you view Monoprop and Vernor thrusters separately would be wonderful.

Hmmn...I might just do that to all of my cockpits, SP+ and stock. Thanks.

Yup. Not looking to beat rockets, just looking to beat "it takes ages...". We've already got runway-to-orbit times of six minutes for a serious cargo plane and four minutes for a specialised speedster, and I reckon there's a minute or two to be shaved off yet.