(QUESTION) Version .15 Additions

[mockingking]

I do hope this is the right place to ask.

Anyways, since .15 is out, I\'ve been playing around with the new toys, and lo and behold, what fun! Planes! Now with real plane parts! Except for the part where I always fick up. Either my planes don\'t fly, or they don\'t stop flying. I\'ve taken to just slapping parachutes on all the parts; just in case.

Alright. Per Aspera Ad Astra. So instead of going back to rocket-based planes, I decided instead to just steal a flying device. I noticed weird things...other people, they use canards. Ducks? Hah hah, very funny. But they actually work, so I copy that. And control surfaces, and trims, and air-breathing engines, and mk2 fuselages and...wait, I already don\'t get this.

QUESTIONS!

1. Control surfaces. I understand them, but they do not understand me! They always attach the wrong way! They\'re ment to be parallel to the wings, yes? But they always end up sticking up in some manner of 90 degree angle! Why is that, and how may I fix it?

2. Air-breathing engines. What, why, and how, gentlekerbs?

3. Trim. Is that...no, I actually have no idea. What is trim? Why would I want it? And how does it work?

4. Mk2 and Mk3 fuselage. I apologise for my ignorance, but *what* are these?

5. RCS-Port-Linear. I know RCS. I do not know Port-Linear.

6. Avionics Package. It says 'sensors' and 'computer'. Guess what? - WHAT?

7. Rams. Evidently not meant for battering. Someone explain, please.

8. The Tail Connector. It looks ridiculous, but surely it has some manner of purpose, yes?

9. I accidentally dropped my original Kerbonauts (Bill, Bob and Jeb) in a command pod cum parachute somewhere half a continent north of the KSC, along the coast. How will I best go about retrieving them? Fly a plane there? Or just go up into space and try to drop down next to them? I just want to make sure they\'re OK.

I will be most grateful for any assistance >

[The Darkness]

1. Control surfaces. I understand them, but they do not understand me! They always attach the wrong way! They\'re ment to be parallel to the wings, yes? But they always end up sticking up in some manner of 90 degree angle! Why is that, and how may I fix it?

Gotta agree with this one also I\'m a little puzzled myself. In the meantime if I figure it out I will repost.

[Thobewill10]

Use WASDQE to rotate them. Hold shift for more precise movements

[trbinsc]

1. Use WASDQE to reposition them.

2. They don\'t work in space, but they are much more efficient than rocket engines.

3. It\'s an offset to the zero point on the controls, to make spaceplanes easier.

4. Spaceplane fuselages, to make them look better.

5. Spaceplane VTOL jets.

6. It\'s a spaceplane ASAS, you can override it a little bit.

7. A decorative intake for air engines.

8. Attach tailfins to this.

9. End the flight, They\'ll be sent back to the crew roster to fly again.

Hope this helps!

[ping111]

1. Use ASDFQE to rotate parts so that they sit flush.

2. Put the air intake (the big fan) on the front of the fuel tank.

3. Dunno.

4. The Mk\'s are just to be like versions. Their only difference is their diameter (and nose completion).

5. Dunno.

6. Are you talking about the nosecone? I think that\'s just a(n) (A?)SAS module.

7. Dunno.

8. Dunno.

9. Do whatever you want. A plane would definitely be faster and more efficient, though.

[The Darkness]

Thank you, kind sir\'s for the control surface advice.

[trbinsc]

-snip-

2. Put the air intake (the big fan) on the front of the fuel tank.

-snip-

Actually, the intakes are decorative.

[ping111]

Actually, the intakes are decorative.

wut. GOD DAMNIT.

Please tell me at least the thingies that look like blue traffic lights do something.

[trbinsc]

wut. GOD DAMNIT.

Please tell me at least the thingies that look like blue traffic lights do something.

The other intakes? Those do nothing but look cool.

[ping111]

The other intakes? Those do nothing but look cool.

FFFFFUUUUUUUUU-

Well, my cruiser jet did need some nosecones anyway...

[mockingking]

Very good, gentlekerbs! Very good! I applaud you!

Now, I still do not understand Trim, but everything else appears to make sense.

Edit: Furthermore; what do the Nacelles do?

[Monkthespy]

Trim offsets.

To set the offset, press ALT+WASD. Such as your plane is constantly tipping down. What you would do, is go ALT+S. That would offset it slightly up. Keep holding it until it is nice and level.

[mockingking]

That just leaves the mystery of the nacelles. Are they perhaps merely cosmetic?

[White Owl]

Future versions of the game will refine the airflow requirements of air-breathing engines, and the intakes will become functional. Right now they\'re decorative, but I suggest using them anyway so your design will still work later. Same story for the nacelle and radial engine body.

The avionics package and computer is an Advanced SAS.

The RCS port (linear) is like the old RCS thruster block, except it only thrusts in one direction, perpendicular to wherever you place the port. Restricting the thrust to a single direction actually makes this kind of RCS more flexible, since you can fine tune exactly how much thrust you want, exactly where you want it.

The tail connector (I suggested this part, yay!) is primarily for attaching control surfaces, but get creative with it. Many real aircraft have tapered tails.

[RedDwarfIV]

1. Control surfaces. I understand them, but they do not understand me! They always attach the wrong way! They\'re ment to be parallel to the wings, yes? But they always end up sticking up in some manner of 90 degree angle! Why is that, and how may I fix it?

This is a new feature. They didn\'t used to work like that. But you can still get horizontal surfaces by putting them on the wingtip.

2. Air-breathing engines. What, why, and how, gentlekerbs?

Basically, these will not work in space. Less air - less thrust.

3. Trim. Is that...no, I actually have no idea. What is trim? Why would I want it? And how does it work?

Elevons and airlerons. Like what most jet airliners use.

4. Mk2 and Mk3 fuselage. I apologise for my ignorance, but *what* are these?

Mk2 is the smaller one. Use these on things like fighters and light bombers. Mk3 is the larger hull type, and this is for airliners, heavy bombers, and crazy Tim_Barrett designs.

5. RCS-Port-Linear. I know RCS. I do not know Port-Linear.

This was in C7\'s Flight Pack. It\'s an RCS port pointing straight outwards, rather than to the sides like normal RCS. Used for pushing the ship around, rather than moving laterally.

6. Avionics Package. It says 'sensors' and 'computer'. Guess what? - WHAT?

It\'s an ASAS, only smaller.

7. Rams. Evidently not meant for battering. Someone explain, please.

Ramscoop, I think. Probably just something to make it look cool, and to give it the impression of looking like an engine. Haven\'t seen it myself.

8. The Tail Connector. It looks ridiculous, but surely it has some manner of purpose, yes?

It\'s for putting tailplanes on. Basically, this is where the rear wings go on a small aircraft.

9. I accidentally dropped my original Kerbonauts (Bill, Bob and Jeb) in a command pod cum parachute somewhere half a continent north of the KSC, along the coast. How will I best go about retrieving them? Fly a plane there? Or just go up into space and try to drop down next to them? I just want to make sure they\'re OK.

Plane. You\'d have more controlability, though it would take longer.

Hope this helps.

[Tethran]

I\'ve been trying to build a spaceplane for most of the last couple of days... So far I\'ve just sent a lot of kerbs to their deaths.

One of three things happens.

[list type=decimal]

[li]My control surfaces don\'t work, the plane flies in a straight line off the runway until it hits a hill.[/li]

[li]My control surfaces do work, but not properly, and the plane goes in all sorts of stupid directions because they randomly change which way they\'re working (classic example tried out a plane and all the surfaces moved together wonderfully, removed an engine without touching any of them and suddenly one set started pointing down on hitting W and the other set pointed up...)[/li]

[li]My control surfaces point the direction they\'re supposed to, but the plane rolls on the runway until a wing clips the ground before it can really take off.[/li]

Frustrating as hell. Especially since I can\'t actually tell what I\'m doing wrong.

It would also be useful if most of the control surfaces had an obvious 'Up' and 'Down' marking so that you know when you were assembling them and having to spin them around with WASD whether you had them on upside down.

[vexx32]

First of all, make sure SAS is disabled.

Second, use Fine Control (Caps Lock toggles it).

Third, wait till you\'ve gained a decent amount of speed before pitching up, and do it gently.

As to the others... for #2, it *may* be a bug, or you may have accidentally hit one of the roll keys.

Oh, and make sure that you have enough power and lift to get the plane off the runway. If it seems to be sticking to the runway, pitch forward until the back wheel come off the ground, then pull back up. That can help un-stick them.

[mockingking]

It does help indeed.

Although I\'m having trouble with the practical application of trim. There is nothing on the HUD displaying what I\'ve done to the Trim, is there?

EDIT: Furthermore, I appear to have hit a snag in my designs. They all seem to be extremely nose-heavy; hardly getting off the ground because they keep sniffing it, and then refusing to fly straight, favouring instead a course of perpertually pitching into a dive unless I steer upwards.

EDIT II: Additionally, all my planes display a strong attraction to the left edge of the runway. They turn left as soon as I power them up, then they fall off. Why, oh ye gods, why? EDIT II2: Nevermind, they all jut go left, left, left. Why ever that is.

[trbinsc]

It does help indeed.

Although I\'m having trouble with the practical application of trim. There is nothing on the HUD displaying what I\'ve done to the Trim, is there?

EDIT: Furthermore, I appear to have hit a snag in my designs. They all seem to be extremely nose-heavy; hardly getting off the ground because they keep sniffing it, and then refusing to fly straight, favouring instead a course of perpertually pitching into a dive unless I steer upwards.

-snip-

You seem to have found the practical application of trim, just trim upwards, and your plane will keep straight.

[vexx32]

Trim does make a difference, but if your plane is too unbalanced, it won\'t make enough of a difference to keep it stable.

[White Owl]

There is nothing on the HUD displaying what I\'ve done to the Trim, is there?

Yes there is, but it\'s kind of subtle and easy to miss. Take a look at the roll, pitch and trim indicator in the lower left corner. Usually when you aren\'t actively controlling the vehicle, all three pointers remain centered. If you change the trim, the pointers move away from center.

[mockingking]

Alright, I\'ve got trim now. Thanks a deal!

[Tethran]

First of all, make sure SAS is disabled.

It is. When I hit W or S one set of control surfaces will go one way, the other (or the engines if using one with vectored thrust) will go another. Making a change to the plane, even if it doesn\'t go anywhere near the control surfaces, it\'ll sometimes alter one or more of the control surfaces...

Third, wait till you\'ve gained a decent amount of speed before pitching up, and do it gently.

Some of them I\'ve hit over 100m/s and they\'re still not lifting.

As to the others... for #2, it *may* be a bug, or you may have accidentally hit one of the roll keys.

I\'m not touching the roll keys. It just keeps flipping. When it doesn\'t roll it turns left instead.

Oh, and make sure that you have enough power and lift to get the plane off the runway. If it seems to be sticking to the runway, pitch forward until the back wheel come off the ground, then pull back up. That can help un-stick them.

I made one plane that was just wings. Delta wings until I hit the edges of the runway. And rockets. It still didn\'t lift at over 100m/s.

I\'ve tried so many different designs and I just can\'t figure what I\'m doing wrong.

EDIT: Now I\'m getting ones that are getting wheels stuck in the runway.

[Pita_146]

I\'m having an issue with mine making a constant left turn on the runway as well. The ASAS nosecone seems to be able to override it though.

[mockingking]

One more thing, now.

I alway experience extreme wobbliness during flight. I can roll just fine, but pitch and yaw respond extremely sluggishly, to minimal effect, while cosntantly bouncing back and forth (mostly back).

What causes this?