Rockets or Planes?

[Rithsom]

Lately I've become quite fond of planes. Flying around Kerbin is much more relaxing than the launch, orbital insertion, and fine-tuning of maneuver nodes that you have to deal with when flying rockets.

[Red Iron Crown]

Rockets, if I had to pick one (which apparently I do). Planes are a fun diversion at times, but rockets are my bread and butter.

[GoSlash27]

"Prefer" for what?

I use spaceplanes for some jobs and rockets for others. Both are important in my program.

Best,

-Slashy

[ArmchairGravy]

Having just gotten my first 1.0 spaceplane a) into a 75k orbit and back at KSC in one piece my conclusion is spaceplanes are now even more useless for actually doing something useful. They are a fun design challenge, but if I want to put payloads into orbit or change out crews I'm going to use rockets. Many hours spent with Mr. Trial and Mr. Error netted this design that could dock a whopping 2 kerbals to something in LKO. Something like this would previously get 6 kerbals and a small satellite docked. Spaceplane payload fractions have gone from small to minuscule.

[FlyingPete]

I tend to use both once I've got the required tech. For lifting things like space station components, landers, interplanetary ships etc, it's rockets. I never liked the updated Mk3 parts- just too big compared to the available engines and other parts. Far easier to blast it up on a rocket.

Kerbals, satellites and other small payloads go by plane. A small plane is easy to make fully recoverable and economical to run. The Kerbal crews tend to rendezvous with a space station in LKO where I keep the Mun Bus etc.

[Cuky]

I like to use both.

Rockets:

- interplanetary missions, whether probes or crew

- building space stations

- launching larger satellites

Planes:

- atmospheric science

- crew ferry to LKO stations (currently in design)

- small satellites

[Pixel of Life]

I use both but I think I prefer rockets. I absolutely love flying large interplanetary ships - when I can be bothered to go through the hassle of launching and assembling one, that is. The longer and heavier, the better. I like to build them a bit underpowered so that I can really feel their immense weight when maneuvering.

[WeirdCulture]

Rockets... Planes are for the Wright Brothers...

[TKO]

I like em both. Never really used planes to try for orbit, so I've got no issue with the aerodynamics. They're more for looking for scouting out anomilies on Kerbin, and just trying out new designs. (Including rover-ferries.)

Rockets are equally fun. Much of the fun is just building them, which is a good thing coz the new aero has me re-learning just about everything about getting a capsule + rover into orbit. But like all good things in KSP, it's nothing that a few more boosters can't solve.

With the new, much less forgiving, aero I have to be more rigorous in my new designs, which is good. Building is half the fun. If they'd stuck with the old aero I would have just been re-using my old designs fromt the last couple of years, and probably getting bored with it by now.

[soulsource]

I'm now nearly exclusively using rockets. Why? Because my planes usually tend to explode. Either they veer off the runway, or they get ripped to shreds by aerodynamic forces. Even if they survive these two things, I more often than not crash instead of doing a proper landing. While it isn't a problem to find enough brave/stupid test pilots, sadly on hard difficulty funds are limited, and my space program simply cannot afford loosing expensive crafts...

[SHiftER2O]

No no my friend... TRUCKS AND TRAINS :D

[Wanderfound]

Rockets until NuFAR is released, then back on the wings.

- - - Updated - - -

Rockets... Planes are for the Wright Brothers...

Wrong.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/56621-The-Wrong-Brothers-career-mode-done-differently-%28pic-heavy%29

[billbobjebkirk]

Rockets are what you use for big space exploration missions. Planes are fun little playthings.

[boostme]

Rockets are too easy. Planes are much more fun, especially with the recent aero tweaks I can go back and make them even better. Granted: I still don't get the efficiency I get with large rockets, but I have loads more fun trying.

[Freshmeat]

I use rockets almost exclusively, mainly because my setup has configured yaw and pitch on the joystick instead of yaw and roll, and I cannot easily switch the two. I'd fly a lot more planes if I did not have to exit the game every time I wanted to.

[goldenpeach]

It really depend: sometime I can play with both planes and rockets for a while, then just for plane only and finally returning to rocket only.

[Red Iron Crown]

I use rockets almost exclusively, mainly because my setup has configured yaw and pitch on the joystick instead of yaw and roll, and I cannot easily switch the two. I'd fly a lot more planes if I did not have to exit the game every time I wanted to.

I thought there was supposed to be an easy way to change axes in 1.0. (Not sure, I don't have a joystick.)

[Wanderfound]

Rockets are what you use for big space exploration missions. Planes are fun little playthings.

Yeah, they're useless for lifting serious payloads long distances.

[katateochi]

Yeah, they're useless for lifting serious payloads long distances.

http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/ah120/craigmotbey/Kerbal/Kerbodyne%2025/Kerbodyne%20Kosciuszko/screenshot133_zps589d5c05.jpg

Squeee!!! that's epic!! Is that in a mostly stock (aside from the paint) 1.0.2??

Re OP's Question; horses for courses. I really enjoy using SSTO aircraft, there is something so darn satisfying about gliding back to KSC and landing on the runway. For career mode I try to use SSTO's where possible as they are just so profitable for ferrying crew and small payloads to orbit (it's just a pity you need to get half way into the tech tree before you can have the turbojet). I've not yet unlocked the "Wanderfound level skill set" in 1.0.2 for taking large payloads in them so I use rockets for that.

[Majorjim!]

1.0.2??

Looking at the wings I would say it's .90. Plus I don't think it's possible to SSTO to Jool just yet. ;-)

[Wanderfound]

Squeee!!! that's epic!! Is that in a mostly stock (aside from the paint) 1.0.2??

Stock parts, but flying in FAR back when KSP was still in 0.25.

Full album (including Laythe landing) at http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/craigmotbey/Kerbal/Kerbodyne%2025/Kerbodyne%20Kosciuszko/story & http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/craigmotbey/Kerbal/Kerbodyne%2025/Kerbodyne%20Kosciuszko/Laythe%20Landing/story

Edited May 4, 2015 by Wanderfound