1.0 New Aerodynamics – How do I make planes?

[Prof. Endwalker]

The new aerodynamics broke every single one of my planes, and I have only managed to make one plane that doesn't even fly that well at high altitudes! Are the Centre of Mass, Lift, and Thrust nodes supposed to be in a different position? I am fed up with it! Even the most simple planes with lift and mass in the same point don't fly! They just flip over and stall right after launch! Having some pictures would help loads. I don't just want to play this game with only rovers and rockets.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Prof. Endwalker
Answered

[Xannari Ferrows]

CoL should be more or less on the CoM [slightly behind]. CoT should be inline with CoM. It'd also be a little helpful to see some of your aircraft.

EDIT: Also, it is possible to balance an offset CoL and CoT, but it's very hard to do.

Did I mention wings?

Edited May 19, 2015 by Xannari Ferrows

[Hyomoto]

Planes are complex objects, but it's not too bad once you understand a few simple ideas. The first of which is you never want your center of lift, the blue sphere, too far from your center of mass, the yellow sphere. You can think of the center of mass as a pivot point for the craft, and the center of lift is a upwards motion around that axis. If it is too far forwards, your plane with nose up and over, and if it's too far back, you'll never get off the runway. This is why most people place their center of lift just behind the center of mass. The center of thrust works in much the same way. If it is below the center of mass, you'll get a pitching up reaction, above it, you'll get a pitching down reaction. The last, and often overlooked, problem is the placement of your landing gear. You need, for simplicity's sake, to place your rear gear just behind the center of mass. As I said, that is a pivot point, and if your gear is too far backwards, when you try to pull up, your plane will have a lot of issue rotating.

Give this a try and let us know how it works.

[Red Iron Crown]

This tutorial explains the basic concepts in a simple, no jargon way with lots of pics. Some of it no longer applies, specifically stock aero has a better drag model than when that was made.

[Shaun]

Also, too many control surfaces can cause excessive Gs that can pull the plane apart.