White Owl

In my opinion, IAS isn't really called for; usefulness trumps realism in this case. But I've never been overly concerned with duplicating a specific real-life airplane... maybe somebody into that kind of modeling would disagree.

You may have discovered the infini-glide bug in stock KSP aerodynamics. Planes won't actually stall, just keep producing magical amounts of lift and keep climbing even without engine thrust. Perpetual motion as long as you have atmosphere. It's extremely unrealistic and the most annoying bug in this otherwise excellent physics sandbox game, IMO.

Woo! And I know this is in development so no hard promises... but should this version be relatively safe from save-breaking? I really want to use these parts for some long term construction.

At higher altitudes the air is thinner, and the aerodynamic forces acting on the wings are weaker than the same airspeed at low altitude. Fly high enough, and surface speed doesn't tell you how much lift you can expect; no telling how close you are to stalling. In general, if my plane handles well at 100 m/s sea level, then it'll also handle well at 100 m/s EAS up at higher altitudes. (Big caveat that mach effects will make things different.) As for usefulness in reentry, neither surface speed nor mach number tell me if my plane will have enough pitch authority and overall lift to climb up out of the too-hot air while I slow down. EAS does tell me this, as long as I already know at what airspeed my plane can maintain a given altitude. Another practical use would be landing in some high mountains. Attempt the landing using the surface speed that worked at KSC at sea level, and there's a chance of the stall catching you by surprise. But if you know the EAS stall speed, it's always valid.

I loves me some EAS indication.

But the current RF-compatible version is still potentially save-breaking, right? I've been hanging on to the previous version because that warning in the OP scares me.

I've never attempted a gravity assist, never yet tried to learn how to set one up. After viewing these pictures, I think I understand the basic idea - obviously some hands-on practice with maneuver nodes is needed to really get it - so I think that's mission accomplished. Nice work.

Fixes are great. You're cool.

Sounds very similar to my current game, with the exception that I'm not planning on using RemoteTech or any of the life support mods. I agree with you that Regex's 6.4 scale Kerbol system is a very good size.

All much clearer! LOL For the time being, we can just fly without an EAS indication.

I appreciate you're trying to help... "has to be moved to LateUpdate now" doesn't really mean anything to me. "See the thread by lttito in dev"... hmm. I look at the Add-on Development forum for a thread started by lttito, and I don't find one. KTAS I know as Knots True AirSpeed, but I don't see anything about that in this forum. What are you trying to tell me?

This needs to be stock. It's so simple, so useful.

Much as I love this mod, I have to report a bug. Last night I was reentering my spaceplane. I selected the EAS display, but no EAS was displayed above the navball. I had orbital speed or surface speed like in stock, and mach number in the FAR window. Made for a kinda tense reentry and landing without an airspeed indicator. Using the latest release. No other bugs I noticed. Edit: just checked, no EAS displayed when starting a new flight on the runway.

Thanks for the tip! I slowed them way down, and they definitely look good that way.

These engines are so great, I'm going to use them for every launch in the foreseeable future. These are exactly what I've wanted in this game for years.

I'd do it, but I still don't know how to use most of the information FAR gives us. Make it look like a real-life airplane. Put the center of mass a little forward of the center of lift. Place your fuel tanks directly on the center of mass, so the CoM won't move as fuel is consumed. Place your elevators far enough from both CoM and CoL that you'll have plenty of leverage. Avoid canards unless you really know what you're doing, 'cause those get crazy unstable if they're just a little bit wrong. If you're going fast, give it swept wings. If it's unstable, sweep 'em some more. All that's simple enough. But how to use the charts and graphs with all that really important looking data... pfft, I ain't got no idea!

I wonder if some of the perceived volume issues may be due to the Russian audio samples being twice as loud as the Apollo or STS1 samples. Try simply turning off the Russian recordings and see if that sounds better.

I really want to like the update with the volumetric clouds. Really, I do. But... it's looking kind of funky. All the clouds are screaming by at hurricane speeds. Launch a rocket, and the clouds move faster than the rocket as it climbs. Once in low Kerbin orbit, the clouds are clashing with city lights in a kind of jittering fashion that somewhat resembles z-fighting. I think the volumetric clouds would look amazing if they would just move about a hundred times slower, or even hold completely still.

Here's a link to the playlist for This series is planned to focus on exploring the Kerbin system, which has been scaled up to 6.4 times the stock game sizes and distances. I'll be using a few select parts mod packs, but will build as much as possible with various procedural parts. I've actually removed the entire stock fuel tanks folder from my install, since procedural fuel tanks make all those parts obsolete. Also, all the stock wing parts are gone, and all the science parts. It's worth mentioning that this list includes every mod I've ever installed while recording the current series. I have never attempted to install all of them at the same time, and I doubt the game would run very well if you tried. Most of these mods, I take a select few parts/features and uninstall the rest. These mods fundamentally change the way the game plays, usually for better realism. Ferram Aerospace Research - The #1 mod I consider so absolutely essential to the game that I would refuse to play KSP without it. FAR adds realistic aerodynamics to the game, so lift and drag actually make sense. Don't frustrate yourself trying to build realistic airplanes in the stock game; it'll make your head hurt. Deadly Reentry Continued - Adds heat to the reentry effects, so you have to think carefully about deorbiting into an atmosphere without burning up. Also adds some ablative heatshields in common sizes. Real Solar System - This mod changes the size of all planets and moons, and their orbits. The base mod is intended to closely duplicate the real-life Sol and Earth system, but I'm using a different configuration. 6.4 Kerbin - This config file for RSS is Regex's work to duplicate the stock Kerbin system, with all bodies upscaled by 6.4, since that's how all KSP parts have traditionally been scaled. Real Fuels - Changes all engines and fuel tanks to use realistic fuels, with realistic TWR and Isp. Probably too much rocket for the stock system, but almost essential for RSS scale journeys. Stockalike RF Engine Configs - This is the config I'm using for Real Fuels, since the realism overhaul pisses me off too much by rescaling everything. TAC Life Support - Since I'm going for more realism, this mod just makes sense. Kethane Pack - I have plans to modify this mod with config file edits. Still just a concept. Kerbal Attachment System - Kerbals can place and remove parts on EVA. I'm not using the whole winch system, though. Modular Kolonization System - Gives kerbals something to do on distant worlds. Here are some regular, non-procedural parts. AIES Aerospace - I'm using the Real Fuels config for the engines. Fuel tanks and payload fairings are gone as well. Dummy Weights - Such a simple and immensely useful mod. KSPX - Mostly for the stockalike engines, and a few other bits. Octagonal Truss Set - I loves me some trusses. (No longer using, since I decided to go with Goodspeed trusses.) RealChute Parachute Systems - So much better than the stock parachutes in every way. FusTek Station Parts Expansion - These parts look better than the original mod they're based on. FusTek Parts - I like the docking nodes from this pack. Space Shuttle Engines - These engines are exactly what I've wanted ever since I first picked up the game. Aviation Lights - Red on the left wingtip, green on the right, and white on the tail. Wolf Aerospace Perfectrons - The stock separation boosters are so terrible. These are much better. Goodspeed Aerospace Parts - Picked this up for the hexagonal trusses, and found several other useful parts in the pack. RLA Stockalike - I'm using only the RCS ports from this pack; they're well designed. DMagic Orbital Science - Great looking animated science widgets for probes and rovers. The Bolt-On Mission Probe - Great looking, low profile, simple probe cores. KW Rocketry - My install doesn't have the RAM for the entire pack, so I'm only using a few engines, an RCS port, and the struts. Versatile Toolbox System - Better containers for the KAS mod. DaMichel's Parts - I have plans for the fuselage pieces from here. Magic Smoke Industries Infernal Robotics - Mechanized parts that bend, rotate, extend, etc. Infernal Robotics Model Rework - Makes the IR parts look better. Lack Luster Labs SXT - I'm using selected parts from the SXT pack. Most notably airplane cockpits and cargobays. Near Future Technologies Pack - Lots of great higher technology parts. Again, I'm only using a few selected parts. These parts change size, shape, mass, volume, lift, etc. in the VAB and SPH. Procedural Dynamics - Procedural Wing - The first procedural parts mod, and the only wing parts you'll ever need. Now features procedural control surfaces, so there is literally no longer any use for old-fashioned non-adjustable wing parts. Procedural Fairings - The fairings change size and shape to fit any payload. Stretchy SRB - Procedural fuel tanks and SRBs, compatible with Real Fuels. Enormously useful mod for building all kinds of craft. Be aware Stretchy SRB will soon be replaced by the next listed mod... (No longer using this one.) Procedural Parts - A much cleaner and more user friendly way to adjust your procedural tanks. Remember it's very WIP at this point, but already very usable. Procedural mod resource storage parts - I use this to hold my TAC life support resources. (No longer using, now that PP comes with TAC support.) These mods improve the KSP experience in several ways. Look better, more information, more usability... Action Groups Extended - Makes the action group system 100x more useful. (No longer using, as I didn't like how it replaced the stock actiong group system.) Ambient Light Adjustment - KSP videomakers everywhere must love this! Finally we can record what happens at night! (And there's a lot of night in this game, yaknowwhatImsayin.) Blackheart's StretchySRB Texture Pack - Make your rockets pretty. Chatterer - Space can be too quiet, so this adds radio chatter. Kerbal Crew Manifest - Edit your kerbals, and move them around without EVA. Distant Object Enhancement - See distant planets and satellites in the night sky. Editor Extensions - Enables many useful options in the VAB and SPH. This mod needs to be stock. Kerbal Engineer Redux with the new deltaV code - Now you know how far your rocket will fly. Also brings useful inflight information. (No longer using, mostly because Mechjeb is more accurate and more useful.) Enhanced Navball - Adds information to the navball. Kerbal Alarm Clock - Keep track of what ship is supposed to burn, when. Kerbal Joint Reinforcement - No more wobbly rockets! Some features are now stock in .23.5, but not all. Editor Part Highlighter - Makes it easier to find parts on your vessel. Simple mod that should be stock. SelectRoot - Make any part be the root of the whole structure. Warning: don't select radially attached or symmetrical parts, or bad things might happen. Navball Docking Alignment Indicator - Adds one simple icon to the navball that helps you line up for a perfectly straight dock. PreciseNode - Fine control over editing maneuver nodes. Fantastic mod. Mk2 Cockpit Internals - The good ol' Mk2 cockpit has a beautiful new IVA perspective. TAC Fuel Balancer - Very useful for managing multiple tanks of various fluids. Active Texture Management - saves RAM on mod-heavy installs. I'm using the Basic version. Environmental Visual Enhancements - Adds clouds, city lights, and HD textures. I want my game as pretty as the RAM limit will allow. Alternate Resource Panel - Improves on the stock resource panel. Looks better, and is more useful. Simple Trim Indicators - Simple, clean, useful mod. Displays trim setting at a glance, no screen clutter. In-game Notes / Notepad / Checklist - If you want to remember something, write it down! In-game Scientific Calculator - Sometimes guesstimating just won't get you there. Texture Replacer - Use this to replace the skybox, planet textures, or customize your kerbals. Endraxiel's Planet Textures - Use with Texture Replacer. High Contrast Navball - Very early WIP mod to change the navball for better readability. MechJeb - It's true, I just installed mechjeb. I like the extended information onscreen, but won't use any autopilot systems other than a maneuver node executor. Jeb and Bill 9000 - If I'm gonna install a mechjeb part, it better look evil. Fusebox - Helps plan ahead for electricity generation, storage, and usage. Image Viewer - View images ingame. I have plans for this. KSPRC Renaissance Compilation - Adds a lot of pretty graphics to the game. There's no way I could install the whole pack, but I'm picking and choosing a few features. SCANsat - Use your satellites to find biomes and resources, then draw some maps. Improved Chase Camera - Makes flying airplanes look a lot better. RasterPropMonitor - Adds functional MFDs to IVA cockpits. Kerbal Space Industries - Improves RasterPropMonitor in several ways. Super Hyomoto MFD by Wari - An attractive edit of KSI's edit of RPM. TT's Mod Releases MK3 Cockpit IVA with RasterPropMonitor - It's a great looking cockpit for the MK3. I'm going to use it with the large cockpit from SXT. Vessel Viewer - Lets you see what's happening inside your ship. Works great with RPM. KSP StockTweaks - Navball open in the mapview, free camera mode, and precision control are all default, like they should have been all along. I'm not using the joystick precision mode, though. Advanced Jet Engine - Changes the stock jet engines to real world performance.

Looks great. Simple and very useful, like all the best mods.

What about TrackIR? I've been asking for this feature since I first heard of KSP. Edit: I should read initial posts more carefully.

Used to be space shuttles, back before shuttles were common. Not sure now.

Yeah, I knew about the inaccuracies but still liked using it to kinda ballpark the appropriate deflection. No worries, though. It isn't actually necessary; I was just a little confused. This is still the only mod I consider absolutely essential to doing anything in KSP.

I'm returning to KSP after a few months off, and I find FAR has advanced to a point where I no longer know how to use it. How do I find out the correct amount of control surface deflection nowadays? The tweakable right-click menu allows me to set the deflection, but I can't figure out how to get FAR to tell me the stall angle like it used to. It isn't in the "sweep AoA" panel anymore. It isn't in the tweakable menu. Not in the action group options... What else is there?

This is a fantastic mod. Easy to use, and directly solves a problem that's been bugging all KSP video makers for way too long.