Tutorial: How to Quick Orbit Kerbin Without Worrying (too much) in Gravity Turns

[Kryxal]

You need to start your turn early so you don't have to make a sharp turn at speed ... that sort of thing breaks rockets.

[Pecan]

"Straight up, then turn right" only makes sense if you think planets are flat.

Hohmann transfer from surface to orbit would be the most efficient and easy to understand. You don't want to end-up travelling 'sideways' above your start point, you want to move around the body you're launching from - up to orbital speed.

For vacuum bodies that's fine, with the minor problem of mountains in the way.

For those with an atmosphere then, yes, there are added drag issues but the path of least resistance is still Hohmann, not two sides of a triangle that leaves you going the wrong way,

It's been linked a few times before but is always worth a look:

https://what-if.xkcd.com/58/

[Guest]

It's kind of like this. The red line is burning straight up and across, the green line is doing a gravity turn. As you can see, the green line is much shorter than the red line. The best advice I can give is to practice your gravity turn. Do it over and over until you can fly into orbit with one hand.

You do not need a ridiculously accurate gravity turn, but any turn is better than no turn at all.

I screwed up several things on this launch, but like I said, any turn is better than no turn. If I had tried to burn straight upwards to Ap, then burn sideways, I would have run out of fuel before reaching orbit. I did have to do a small circularization burn, but 70 Dv is pocket change in comparison to the cost of getting even a lopsided orbit in the first place.

[Drethon]

The way I look at orbits is the shortest distance between two points. On a body with an atmosphere you want enough altitude to get above the atmosphere and enough speed to achieve orbit. So from a simplified perspective you need to go up and go sideways. Going straight up and then straight sideways is quite a bit further than a diagonal line between your launch point and orbit "destination".

Slightly more complicated is taking atmosphere into account and wanting to get up and out of the worst of the soup first and then go into a more efficient path. This typically results in the curve ascent that MechJeb uses.

[monstah]

I have to admit, I can see his logic in going vertical but a decent g-turn is the best way to go. As for "the worry" in doing one I find that part of the fun......I never get bored launching as on some vessels ive built I can almost feel the craft creaking and wanting to break so I adapt my flying accordingly. Until my mission is over, tension, worry and adrenaline consumes me.....man I love KSP! ;p

Yup, that. Every. Single. Launch. Is a nerve-wrecking adventure. SPECIALLY with RPM and ShipEffects, tho I admit I've been using these less lately.