Wakaleo

I flew my first jet aircraft halfway around Kerbin to fulfil half of a contract. Was it worth it? Hardly, at least not for the time and effort involved, but I got a lot of experience flying planes! Hey Jouni, nice landing! That looks as risky as the strip I landed on a long time ago on Stewart Island off the south end of New Zealand. Or even more risky, any number of strips in the highlands of New Guinea.

This mod seems worthwhile installing - better than throwing funds away.

More good tips. Thanks.

Thanks for the great tips, people. Looks like there's several options, including scrapping these contracts and doing something more profitable (thanks FancyMouse). MarvinKitFox, you have some interesting ideas - I like the orbiting Kerbal and the bunny-hop idea, but how do you repack a parachute? cybersol, that would be a great help. Looks like that's one to install. I did build a rocket with wings but couldn't stop it going base over apex when trying to level out. I reverted before any Kerbals were harmed!

I'm currently trying to gather credits by doing contracts and have a couple of questions that all you clever people here will surely be able to help me with. 1) Is the navball icon denoting the contract for which I have activated navigation the only guide to how close I'm getting to it? The contract is on the opposite side of Kerbin and it's taking quite a while to get there in the basic jet plane I built (26 parts / 7.0 tonne). The contract requires observations from two nearby locations while flying and two others (also nearby) on the ground. The current plan is to get the two by flying the plane over them (surprise, surprise!) and the others by parachuting the plane to the surface and going extra-vehicle to walk to each. 2) I'm sure there are better ways to fulfil the contract but is this a reasonable way to do it? 3) I thought of launching the plane with rockets to cut the journey time i.e. a sub-orbital trajectory but can't work out how to attach the rockets to the plane. Can this even be done?

That is a cool-looking craft, eddiew! And it's a great name for a craft that resembles the fearsome predator of the Cambrian seas.

Yes Cap'n Apollo, it's a steep learning curve (more like perpendicular!) for we newcomers to the game, but scoring 100 science while on your first orbit is much better than I could do. Claw (the Claw-erator) offered good advice to keep the ship stable when going extra-vehicle. Others have recommended and I do too - he helped me heaps and is quite genial to boot.

Claw, your third suggestion worked for me. Pressing Alt+X before going extra-vehicle kept the ship and Jeb stable. Thanks heaps for the advice. Still lots to learn but loving every minute of it.

That was a quick response! Thanks Dman979 and Claw, I'll give those a try. - - - Updated - - - Claw, (1) the first time I tried to EVA the ship was motionless (well, obviously in orbit but motionless on the nav ball) but it still spiralled out of control when Jeb went extra-vehicular. Fortunately he was still hanging on so I could board again. (2) I do have a couple of mystery goo containers and batteries but they are mounted on the sides. Is that still too close to the hatch/ladder? (3) And do you mean I should press Alt+X while still in vehicle, because when I tried it while hanging on to the ladder both the ship and Jeb went haywire and flew apart from each other.

Gidday all you KSP gurus, I'm only new to the game and have been getting my career going using Scott Manley's videos. Pardon me if this topic has been already raised but I couldn't find any that told me specifically what was happening and how to fix it. Every time I try to EVA while orbiting Kerbin the ship immediately starts spinning and turning, making it impossible to let go and recover the results from science experiments like the mystery goo. If I make the Kerbal let go, the ship heads off in one direction and Jebediah, Valentina or whoever tumble away in another. I've tried chasing the ship using RCS but with it tumbling so chaotically it's impossible to get a grip and board (for me anyway). What can I do to prevent this, or at least work with it? Thanks in advance for your answers.

By the living Harry, there's a lot to learn in this game. I wish I'd paid more attention during maths class! But that was sooooo long ago in a galaxy far, far away. This forum is a great resource for saving Kerbalkind from reckless rocketeers (hmmm, could that be the byline of the builder/s of an enhanced re-entry capsule). My parachute was destroyed during re-entry over the north polar region - Jebediah was doomed but looked happy as a pig in you-know-what until I reverted the game just before impact to save him. Could this self-immolating chute be an effect of higher atmospheric density over the poles and therefore higher re-entry temperatures?

Welcome superstarlord. I too agree with you - I only recently found out about this fascinating game and already the hook is set and I'm being reeled in. Trying not to kill too many Kerbals while on the steep learning curve. Because of my inexperience and fear of failure (!) I'm yet to start a serious career mode. Shouldn't be long now though!

Thanks for the welcome and encouragement Endersmens and Michaelsteele3. I'm not sure about missing out on my sleep Endersmens - I get pretty cranky these days if I miss even my nana er, power nap!

Gidday and welcome Kiros. I'm also from the land of Oz and new to the forum, but unlike you I'm also new to KSP. Now it's just a matter of finding the time to fly to the moon and beyond!

Thanks for the welcome Maximus97, Commander Jebidiah and EtherDragon. The main trouble I have at the moment is finding the time to practise my KSP rocketry - even though I'm retired!

Hello all, I played the KSP demo just over two weeks ago after reading about it in an accounting magazine (not mine - my wife is the real wizard with numbers) and I'm hooked. What a fun, fabulous and educational program! I'll be visiting this forum to get expert advice when things go wrong, or even right, perhaps! Cheers, Wakaleo (Jim)

I hadn't heard of KSP until seeing an article about it in, of all things, an accounting magazine! After trying out the demo for an hour or two I downloaded the full program. What a terrific 'game'! I am now on the steep (vertical?) learning curve but have so far managed to get into orbit around both Kerbin and Mun but not without some spectacular failures. This forum is a fabulous resource for information about all manner of KSP aspects and will certainly be my first stop for help with any difficulties I have. I'm looking forward to deeper explorations of the Kerbal universe. I also hope to be able to contribute, although there are many people here much cleverer than I am. Wakaleo (Jim)