Aircraft SAS needs some special case handling.

[cephalo]

So I went home for lunch today to play some KSP. The contract was to collect temperature data on the other side of Kerbin. The result was a very un-enjoyable, 40 minute struggle with Jeb over piloting philosophy. You see, I like to point the nose above the horizon, while Jeb prefers to point the nose below the horizon. I feel strongly that a high speed collision with the surface is to be strictly avoided.

So I got to a reasonable cruising altitude, set the plane up for a slow climb, and as this is a very long flight, set the warp up to max. I watched it for about 10 minutes making little adjustments as Jeb is not a great pilot. Went to make some lunch, and after about 2 minutes I went to check on things and saw my plane diving into the sea, and was too late to save it. Revert! So I reflew the mission, and every time I had the plane where I wanted it, Jeb would point the nose down after about 30 seconds of warp. I can't control the plane in warp without catastrophic failure, so each time I have to go back to x1 readjust the plane. This 30 second pattern repeated for 40 minutes on a flight that should have taken 10 or 15 on full warp. Not allowed to save during this flight either.

The SAS should have an option for maintaining level flight while in an atmosphere. It doesn't have to be perfect by any means, but it should stay out of the drink at least with a functional aircraft. It's really exhausting to have to babysit like this for such a long time. It would be funner if the SAS worked in this case.

[Fleb]

I like to use Pilot assistant, if you don't mind mods it's great for taking aircraft long distances.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/100073-0-90-Pilot-Assistant-Atmospheric-piloting-aids-1-4-2-%28Mar-31%29

[pincushionman]

I've had much more success on long flights by using trim instead of SAS.

[Crzyrndm]

For all your longhaul aircraft needs: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/100073-1-0-x-Pilot-Assistant-Atmospheric-piloting-aids-1-7-0-%28May-7%29

Edit: Seems I left the page open...

[Arsonik]

If the plane is naturally pitching down you can tilt the wing surfaces behind the center of mass forward (down), or vise versa for any wings towards the front of the plane. Depending on the type of plane/how you have designed it, as little as a 5° tilt could have a large impact. If you don't understand what I mean by the direction to tilt the wings, just look at your aircraft stationary on the launchpad and see what direction the wings on your pitch axis tilt when you pitch. Copy this in the editor.'

Hope this helps.