Conte_Vincero

No, I understood that, my preliminary calculations suggested that the increase in area (mass) was compensated for by the decrease in drag.

I disagree, According to the drag calculations in the thread and on the wiki, Wings actually reduce your drag! Because an average of all parts is used and wings have extremely low drag, the net result is lower overall drag! I've put the figures into my calculations so far and it checks out, so I'm just gonna verify this ingame. EDIT: Checked doesn't work rechecking calculations. I do feel that Spaceplanes are the most efficient as you are essentially getting lift for free from the wings, but anyway I'm pushing on to get my model working so I can run simulations

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/29788-How-to-calculate-lift I downloaded the plugin and verified it to be correct. Hopefully once I've got my Matlab script working then I'll be able to work out what the best approach is.

Yeah, but that's once I've got a working model. I've had to ditch Excel and switch to Matlab

OK, so update! I found an old forum thread which basically stated that for optimal efficiency you must keep the angle of attack at around 25 degrees. This means having the angle between your marker and the yellow trajectory marker on the navball at 25 deg. What I'm doing at the moment is setting my AoA to 45 degrees and then adjusting the throttle accordingly. However there are some more complications with velocity, and I may have to do some more digging to work out the best velocity to climb at.

Hey, were can you get Version 1.0.5? I just tried to install 0.6.2.9 and I got the same problem the guy two pages back was having

OK, thanks for the replies, Staging is going to be interesting as I plan to fly it out of Kerbin's atmosphere and then dock it with a tug for the voyage. Regarding climbing out of the atmosphere though, I'm trying to work out what my optimal AOA is to minimise fuel consumption. I think I've found a helpful text book, but if anyone knows if anyone has done such calculations before please let me know

Hello, I'm planning a manned mission to Eve, and was wondering about building a spaceplane for it, however I'm having some issues. The first of these is choosing the right engine, I am currently experimenting with Aerospikes and they seem to work well, but does anyone know if I should be using something else. Secondly the ascent profile, most spaceplane ascent profiles are created expecting you to use jet engines for the early stages, however as I can't use jets I'm struggling to work out the optimum. A 50 degree climb seems to work well, but should I stay low and then try to climb almost vertically? Answers would be very greatly appreciated, please go as technical as possible!

My instincts tell me that I should strap SRBs to every part with available space. Will that be OK?

Right, so I won't have enough time to get the improved track up before friday, but! I have come up with an improved cone design that should be more stable, and not use landing legs. Some massive persistance file editing will happen between now and then.

Seriously, copycat!

Yes, the cones are a bit close together. I had considered moving them further apart, but after I bit of practise I was able to get through them fairly easy, and I wanted tight corners to make sure that your brakes had a decent test. However I'm now having problems with my second generation designs, so I will expand them. Also It's odd that you are reporting cone problems. I haven't had any at all. Also I like your car, I had intended to outlaw all probe cores, so as to force people to use cockpits. However I didn't make that clear in the rules, so if you set a legal time, I'll allow it. However if I get a few more results in I may separate the RC cars from the rest.

Switching to the probe just after it is dropped and then back again should work. EDIT: I'll try it when I get home, I have a plan for a design that should make all WW2 fans proud

Sceanario will be up soon, but I got distracted and ended up designing a new car instead

It's 0.19.1.54, I transfered it to steam, but I don't think that should make a difference. Are you copying the quicksave and the persistance file across into a new save?