Examining Fairings - Wiki Update

[LittleBlueGaming]

Doing some work on the wiki page for fairings, I would like some input on if I'm interpreting things correctly. Also, if there's something else you'd like to see, just let me know.

1 - It appears that parts which clip outside the fairing do show mach effects, but don't actually contribute to drag as long as they stay connected.

2 - Interstage fairings don't actually connect to the part above them, so they can shift in relation to one another.

I need to test with aero forces on to see if the shifting creates new drag.

3 - Fairings don't add stability directly, but can make a rocket more stable by reducing the torque on weak joints created by drag.

I'm not entirely sure on this one, I find it hard to believe that the extra drag on the girders made such a difference, but then again, I'm not a scientist. The amount of flex at 100m/s with and without the fairing just looks like too big a difference to me to chalk up to drag.

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[KerikBalm]

Doing some work on the wiki page for fairings, I would like some input on if I'm interpreting things correctly. Also, if there's something else you'd like to see, just let me know.

1 - It appears that parts which clip outside the fairing do show mach effects, but don't actually contribute to drag as long as they stay connected.

Interesting.... I have had many problems with interstage fairings (I think at one point it was causing my ship to jitter... although it may have been service bay related.

As you can see in this pic:

I often can't get them to close.

In that situation, after much frustration, I remove the part, close the fairing and then attach the part through the fairing, does this have the same effect? (ie no drag)

I'm not sure what happens to a part that is completely outside the fairing (LV-t45 in that case), but attached to a part that clips through the fairing (FL-T400 in that case).

Do they all count as being shielded from drag?

[FancyMouse]

>>3 - Fairings don't add stability directly, but can make a rocket more stable by reducing the torque on weak joints created by drag.

But I sometimes need to reinforce the joint around the fairing bases :-(

[LittleBlueGaming]

Interesting.... I have had many problems with interstage fairings (I think at one point it was causing my ship to jitter... although it may have been service bay related.

As you can see in this pic:

https://scontent-fra3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11051972_10103582138552453_2244033946117548209_n.jpg?oh=d823e2e4483531553265019eab547d0f&oe=55E95C42

I often can't get them to close.

In that situation, after much frustration, I remove the part, close the fairing and then attach the part through the fairing, does this have the same effect? (ie no drag)

I'm not sure what happens to a part that is completely outside the fairing (LV-t45 in that case), but attached to a part that clips through the fairing (FL-T400 in that case).

Do they all count as being shielded from drag?

Getting them to 'attach' to another part is very finicky. When I was doing a rocket, attaching the end of the fairing to a decoupler, there were only a few pixels of room where it would let me close.

I can take a look at that, should be interesting. I've never attached through a fairing.

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>>3 - Fairings don't add stability directly, but can make a rocket more stable by reducing the torque on weak joints created by drag.

But I sometimes need to reinforce the joint around the fairing bases :-(

You can strut from the fairing base to the payload, or if the fairing isn't too long, you can strut all the way up vertically to the next part.

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I'm not sure what happens to a part that is completely outside the fairing (LV-t45 in that case), but attached to a part that clips through the fairing (FL-T400 in that case).

Do they all count as being shielded from drag?

The part the fairing clips through is completely protected, so it appears as long as the connection node is inside the fairing(in the VAB/SPH) the whole part counts as shielded. Parts attached to it, however, are not shielded.

You can see the drag indicators for the two top structural fuselages, but there aren't any for the one that has a node barely inside the fairing.

[FancyMouse]

>>You can strut from the fairing base to the payload, or if the fairing isn't too long, you can strut all the way up vertically to the next part.

Yeah I know how to do it, but I was just trying to point out that it may even decrease stability.

[KerikBalm]

The part the fairing clips through is completely protected, so it appears as long as the connection node is inside the fairing(in the VAB/SPH) the whole part counts as shielded. Parts attached to it, however, are not shielded.

You can see the drag indicators for the two top structural fuselages, but there aren't any for the one that has a node barely inside the fairing.

Well, that is a partial answer to my question.... but a full answer requires you to perform that test with the parts upside down..

As you see in my picture, that SSTO has the fairing pointing backward.

If I have two fuel tanks stacked on top of each other, with their axis parallel with the velocity vector, the bottom tank is "shielded" by the top tank.

What happens when the top tank clips through the fairing?

Does the bottom tank get the same shielding effect as you would get if you placed a nose cone or something on top of it? or does the top tank "not count" because its inside the fairing?