Proof that NOSE CONES REALLY DO WORK ON EVE

[Bzz]

Hi

Everyone knows that nose cone effect only kicks in at certain speed. I was always wondering if they should be used in EVE's atmosphere, because there You move kinda slowly. And I wanted to find out if You can reach high enough speed on EVE to see nose cone effect.

So I did this test. I put 4 similar rockets on EVE. Everything is the same. Except nose cones.

The Quick answer is YES. Nose cone effect kicks in at about 100 m/s (at 1500m in this example). This effect is more noticable in video. I leave a link.

Also, I want to ask... Someone told me that i CAN'T put any video links in this forum topic (general KSP Discusions). Is it true? Or can I? And... should I? Do You want to see similar stuff? Please let me know!

[HoloYolo]

Thank you! I can use this for Eve now that I know they work! I like you a lot. Have rep from me again.

[Bzz]

Thank You again!!!

[CalculusWarrior]

Ah, this is good to know!

[Xyphos]

I wonder why the separator one goes faster, perhaps you found another physics bug?

[selfish_meme]

I wonder why the separator one goes faster, perhaps you found another physics bug?

In another thread someone discovered the same thing, my guess is that drag is a cumulative average and two less draggy things in front of a draggy thing make overall less drag.

[Teilnehmer]

I wonder why the separator one goes faster, perhaps you found another physics bug?

It’s not a bug. This just shows that the KSP stock physics is OK.

See this thread.

my guess is that drag is a cumulative average and two less draggy things in front of a draggy thing make overall less drag.

The effect does not affect same-diameter parts. So, the reason is different.

Edited July 17, 2015 by Teilnehmer

[WWEdeadman]

I see a lot of strutting work on that first picture. Struts still add their drag and mass to the parent part (as in the part you strut from) even AFTER they disappeared due to staging. We had a pretty large thread about that. Here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/122688-Something-doesn-t-seem-right-here?p=1965188&viewfull=1#post1965188

So, I am not sure your results are 100% accurate. I mean, yeah, I'm pretty sure nosecones improve aerodynamics, but I'm not sure the amount of improvement is accurately displayed here. Unless the drag on the struts got fixed somehow, and I just didn't notice.

[Rhomphaia]

I see a lot of strutting work on that first picture. Struts still add their drag and mass to the parent part (as in the part you strut from) even AFTER they disappeared due to staging. We had a pretty large thread about that. Here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/122688-Something-doesn-t-seem-right-here?p=1965188&viewfull=1#post1965188

So, I am not sure your results are 100% accurate. I mean, yeah, I'm pretty sure nosecones improve aerodynamics, but I'm not sure the amount of improvement is accurately displayed here. Unless the drag on the struts got fixed somehow, and I just didn't notice.

If the struts were applied with symmetry then all would be equally affected.

Here is another example with one strut from the platform to each rocket.

[Bzz]

...? is that a "tail connector A" beating all other nose cones and even fairing????

[Rhomphaia]

...? is that a "tail connector A" beating all other nose cones and even fairing????

Yep, Tail connector A and Rockomax Brand Adapter seems the clear winner for Eve, not even the RBA/Shockcone could match it there, though it wins out on Kerbin.

the fairing is a single segment as tall as it could be made. I have also tested two and three segment designs, but the weight starts to tell, the two segment performs about the same as the one segment, the three does not perform so well.

[Michaelo90]

...? is that a "tail connector A" beating all other nose cones and even fairing????

Well, the 2,5m nosecone is known to be draggy compared to a 1,25m nosecone with adapter.

As for the fairing, a pointy one should be among the least draggy. However, they can get quite heavy, which would be an even bigger problem on eve than on kerbin. You can see how it can't keep up in the beginning, before the speeds are enough to make aerodynamics matter. That's because of the extra weight. You can also see is the very end that the fairing one eventually caught up (after running out of fuel and tipping over).

[bos]

I have noticed that if you deploy the fairing, much of the mass is shed but the drag & stack occlusion remain (only things inside the fairing are now exposed to drag). The following launch profile has good success on Kerbin at least, in an exploity kind of way.

[WWEdeadman]

If the struts were applied with symmetry then all would be equally affected.

Here is another example with one strut from the platform to each rocket.

http://youtu.be/OVCAkkGqAe8

Nice. I just wanted to make sure the struts don't influence the result.

And I sure feel like using the tail conncetor as a nose cone more often after that video...