pincushionman

Do keep in mind the units system you're working in. The "taxi" speed you're describing is 156 mph. If that's not enough speed to generatee lift, you may also need more wing. Canards might be helpful.

Mass distribition. If I have a separate core, I can tune the COM of my plane much more easily.

The problem I have with the SciJr (and the goo cans, let's be honest) is their placement in the tech tree. They're the biggest, bulkiest experiments we have, yet we have to use them while we're fighting all the other part limitations at the beginning. The Jr is lightweight yet bulky, resulting in difficult-to-return or difficult-to-land-and-collect science because of the craft-flipping challenge and low crash tolerance. The goo cans, while smaller than they used to be, are the only physicsful radial science part and therefore can almost never be flown alone until you get bays, usually wasting mass and part count. And neither are reuseable. The other experiments are gotten late enough in the tree we can darn near guarantee that we already have the parts necessary to remove any challenge in their use. They're lightweight, physicsless, can be re-used with impunity, and we have bays and heatshields. So, in the late game, there's little value in fighting those limitations and they get left behind. In my opinion, we should start with low-science, easy, place-anywhere thermometers and barometers, and the goo cans and Jrs should be further down where they can offer significant rewards for putting up with the design limitations they demand.

I wonder if there is a mod to alarm you for upcoming close apoproaches (given a user-defined distance and closing speed), for those of you who are worried?

You also need to get comfortable with a type of maneuver known as a "zoom climb." This is where you go high and fast on jet power, and pull up sharply to convert forward speed into vertical speed, letting you glide above the flameout altitude (and the magic 23km cutoff) on a ballistic trajectory. This is, of course, easier with some engines than with others. There's a lot of meters between 15k and…let's face it, something way higher than 23. You also might consider a rocket assist to hump you over the critical altitude. I'm currently working on a design that uses thuds and wheesleys to pop up high enough to do high-altitude surveys, which is conceptually pretty similar to what you're trying to do, so I thought I'd mention it.

Doesn't mean he's their only deity.

Yes, and it's almost essential for ion use.

We had a discussion some time ago about separate "core" and "nozzle" parts, in the context of jet engines. I made the point that you could then have piston or electric "cores" as well as gas turbines, and that could drive different effectors (nozzles) like airscrews, generators, or wheels driven by these cores via a resource like "enginePower" or "compressedAir" or something like that. I'm glad the discusion has come back, not least because I was never savvy enough to even begin to mod it. As for limiting the various effectors by whether they're in water or not, the AtmosphereCurve of current jet engines is ultimately about pressure, no? Could that be used to enforce proper behavior?

Remember that "best/lowest delta-V" windows may be few and far between, but "adequate" windows for most targets should come around at least once per Kerbin year.

I notice almost all of these games are from the past few years. What about the true classics? Staying power, especially after "the next best thing" has come and gone, is the measure of a great game, in my opinion.

The map also assumes you've got a favorable transfer window and an efficient intercept.

This is a hell of a necro, but I'm about to pull the trigger and buy a Thrustmaster T-Flight HOTAS - but the question right now is whether the older "X" or the newer "4" is the best option. Here's what I'm finding, I think: The HOTAS X supports multiple programs, so I could have a mode where the main stick axes handle pitch and yaw, rather than pitch and roll (say, "lander mode" or "rocket mode", as opposed to "plane mode"). Several posters on this forum have commented that such a feature would be very useful, and I'm inclined to agree. Is this feature gone from the HOTAS 4? The HOTAS X is a true 5-axis stick, with the throttle rocker separate from the twist grip. The documentation for the HOTAS 4 seems to say they are not separate, just two different ways to apply yaw? (this is the most important question, if they aren't separate then the "X" is definitely the answer) The HOTAS 4 has better sensors and a smaller dead zone? The HOTAS 4 has up-gradeable firmware. How much of an issue is this, really? The HOTAS 4 can daisy-chain a new pedals unit. Does anyone have experience with the HOTAS 4 that could chime in about any of these details?

Right now there is no penalty for time warping, other than the opportunity cost of missed windows.

Some birds are already capable, with effort, to speak and understand words and very simple sentences. They rely on their tongues like ventriloquists do, since they have no lips. Parrots and crows are, of course, the most well-known examples. Crows and other large corvids are capable of simple tool use (as in, use found objects to help accomplish tasks). So you don't necessarily need a whole lot more for your super-bird species than bigger brains (for more memory and thinking power), and a better means of manipulating objects. They're kind of on their way already. Though, most of all, there needs to be an evolutionary advantage to communicating more complex information and have complex coordination as a group. Our own capability for language grew from such a need, and it advanced society, which drove more complex language…in a self-reinforcing cycle.

I have read that a fan asked Tolkien that very thing, and he said something like "Well, I...um...hrm. Didn't think of that possibility." Later on he concluded that the Mordor forces, which did have flying mounts, were savvy enough to keep a watch on the eagles as a matter of course, and an eagle would be easy to spot, especially if OH MY GOD IT HAS THE RING TOO

Only did that once in college. Nothing bad happened, but…never again. I did not like.

…Hanged. [/grammarcop]

If they used an Atlas to launch it, then yes.

In a rigid-body system, the system does not care where moment is applied. The locations of the components of a force couple (RCS, fins, engine gimbal) matter very much, but sources of pure moment can be placed pretty much amywhere. Now, there is a different behavior in elastic systems (like we have). Displacements propogate through the structure in a wave, and of course the locations of components will affect the behavior. However, once these oscillations have been damped out, the end result is the same. The biggest effect that happens is the instantaneous deflections at the control points get out of phase with the global orientation, which is in turn out of phase with the sources of moment. But that's not unique to pure-moment sources; All other contols suffer from the same effect. And that doesn't mean it's a bug either; it's a consequence of structure that's insufficiently stiff.

Second VideoPad here. But keep in mind there's actually two versions to buy, and I believe the main difference is the number of video and audio tracks it will support. Make sure you look at the comparison page on NCH's website before you make a decision. Also, what NCH really wants to sell you is a suite of programs, so Videopad doesn't do everything, and saying something like "it's $70" isn't actually the whole story. Make sure what you want is actually included OR you have an alternative OR you're willing to buy the extra package as well. This is where the trial comes in handy. When you go to buy, they're going to ask if you want to bundle any of those extra packages for a discount. Be careful here; it seems when I bought VideoPad, the final price seemed to differ whether I bundled the capture packade to my VideoPad purchase, or if I bundled VideoPad to the capture software. That seemed a little shady, but it also might depend on which packages are "on sale" at any given time. But while the marketing might be odd, the quality of the product has been excellent.

Which is why I noted that it "contributes" to the problem, and there are other factors at play. Moving gear to the center (reducing flexibility) can help somewhat, in certain cases. Remember that the whole point of the takeoff roll is to produce enough lift to takeoff, and the wobble becomes prominent at speed - after the wings are producing lift, uneven lift, and resulting in uneven load on the wheels. There is a lot of physics going on in the takeoff roll.

I second @TopGull's suggestion, counter-intuitive as it is. You can also burn at Ap to raise your Pe, and with it your An/Dn, which may help. Remember, if your Ap is out of plane, one of thr nodes is already going to be better than the other for this task. Make sure you pick the appropriate one.

Considering we don't know who you are, or who your brother is, I don't understand what help you expect from us. If your brother's claim is "SQUAD stole my work," that's one thing, and frankly you're not the one he should be arguing with about it. If, instead, it's "I've built a shuttle that works just like that before," well…so what? If, instead, he's trying to convince you of his l33t ship-building skillz by showing off a stock craft, check his save folder for a craft IN the save folder, not the global "ships" folder. If there is one, check the datestamp against the known release date of the Dynawing from the wiki. That's legwork you're going to need to do yourself. And to be quite honest, please don't post back with your findings if that's the case. What I think is happening is that you and your brother are trying to push each others' buttons, and he's succeeding. Welcome to the forums, but please don't drag us into that.

There is an old bug that prevents symmetry from properly…"symmetrizing" stiffness. This leads to uneven deflection of wing surfaces, which leads to uneven forces on wings, which leads to roll, which leads to turning. This same bug also contributes to the tendency for wheels to pull to the left on the runway, but in that case it's not the only factor at play.

The others speak rightly. But if you're lazy, in Steam: Right- click on the game in your Library, and select "Properties." In the "Local Files" tab there is a button "Browse Local Files."