Does Mechjeb handle aircraft autopilot too?

[mrklaw]

Just got a research mission on Kerbin and took it before realising there are four locations on the opposite side of the planet. This raises two problems

1) My little plane won't make it on the fuel it carries and I'll probably need to upgrade to get better wings etc (manageable)

2) it is a *long* flight and even at 4x speed I don't think I can sit there babysitting it - and if I step away from the keyboard you know that'll be the exact moment it decides to nosedive into the ocean.

So what do people do for long flights over kerbin? Do you wait for faster jets, or can something like mechjeb fly there for me? Not used it so far, as I'm enjoying flying manually, but I might need the help.

Edited May 16, 2015 by mrklaw

[jarmund]

Mechjeb allows you to set heading and altitude hold

[FleshJeb]

A lot of us use SMART A.S.S. in Surf mode to hold a pitch and heading. Get up to your cruising speed and altitude and find a pitch that your plane barely climbs at (<50m/s vertical.) It should hold you within a certain altitude range due to less lift and reduced thrust. I've fallen asleep in the middle of flights and been just fine.

I don't know how well this works in 1.x, as I mostly play 0.25

[AcidSludge]

At least in my game MJ does some funky things with airplanes at 4x in longer flights, so I wouldn't bet on it, but it has several functions for keeping HDG and ALT and stuff, or using the rover autopilot for waypoints et cetera, and at 1x MJ's reliability is pretty okay for me, so try it out

My M.O.: Start airplane, turn to desired HDG & ALT, leave at 1x, play XBox and occasionally look at my laptop if something strange is happening, at target doing whatever I've planned, return to base while playing XBox again.

[lincourtl]

The Spaceplane Guidance function will also hold altitude and heading. Very handy.

[mrklaw]

The Spaceplane Guidance function will also hold altitude and heading. Very handy.

Is that within mechjeb?

[1greywind]

There is separate plugin for aircraft autopilot: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/100073-1-0-x-Pilot-Assistant-Atmospheric-piloting-aids-1-7-1-(May-8)

[Kaerwek]

I've done this, with temperature scans on the other side of the planet.

Yup, for 25 mins I kept holding my up key to keep my plane not from nosediving at 4x speed. Trouble is, every now and then something jolted my plane so it was far from stable.

Keeping SAS on was so and so. It made my plane further wobbly.

Btw, two fuel thanks of the third size you get was sufficient for me.

And nope, didn't use MechJeb.

[lincourtl]

Is that within mechjeb?

Yes, Spaceplane Guidance is a Mechjeb module. This video is older, but the functioning hasn't changed the last time I looked.

[Dogface]

A lot of us use SMART A.S.S. in Surf mode to hold a pitch and heading. Get up to your cruising speed and altitude and find a pitch that your plane barely climbs at (<50m/s vertical.) It should hold you within a certain altitude range due to less lift and reduced thrust. I've fallen asleep in the middle of flights and been just fine.

I don't know how well this works in 1.x, as I mostly play 0.25

FleshJeb is right, Smart A.S.S. is great for SSTO ascent. You can set and change pitch and heading. I do a manual takeoff then set HDG=90 PIT=10 (SURF > SURF)

I think Spaceplane Guidance is best for landings.