Getting Used to the New Aerodynamics in V1.0.4

[Jett_Quasar]

I'm still getting used to the new aerodynamic model in V1.0.4 but it certainly has it's advantages... I just need to update my design philosophy. The video below is a test flight of my personal spacecraft "Magnum Sky" in flight over Kerbal Space Port.

I've come to believe that anything can be made to fly in the game now.

-- JR

[Rune]

Yup, if you give it a big enough kick in the ass, a brick will fly. Making it a SSTO with such awful drag, though... needs a REALLY big kick in the ass.

Rune. Case in point, the RL MIG-25.

[Mat2ch]

Can't watch, because of the music contains blabla, thank you GEMA.

Edited September 27, 2015 by Mat2ch

[Jett_Quasar]

Yup, if you give it a big enough kick in the ass, a brick will fly. Making it a SSTO with such awful drag, though... needs a REALLY big kick in the ass.

Rune. Case in point, the RL MIG-25.

It's actually fairly aerodynamic for what's on board I only use two Whiplash and four Rapiers to get it in the air. Setting it up as an SSTO is one thing but all of my space craft need to make it out to Minmus for refueling. For this design I'm working on a small piggyback flyback spaceplane booster. It should do the trick no problem.

I'm actually impressed with how few wing segments it takes to get heavy payloads airborne. This design has an ISRU and two drills, room for 7 passengers, cargo bay full of experiments, twelve penetrator probe missiles, 5400 fuel, 6700 oxidizer and four additional engines including an LV-N that aren't used during atmospheric flight and yet I am able to get lift with just a few small wing segments and elevators that are tucked out of the way underneath the craft.

It makes me wonder what else I can get flying; Hmmmm...

JR

Edited September 27, 2015 by Jolly_Roger

[Wjolcz]

It's actually fairly aerodynamic for what's on board I only use two Whiplash and four Rapiers to get it in the air.

This is actually quite powerful set of engines, tbh. Everything will fly if you give it enough power.

Quick edit: You also have MK2 pieces on the thing. They actually give some lift. You probably also have the torque enabled and RCS to help you steer it.

[Rune]

It's actually fairly aerodynamic for what's on board I only use two Whiplash and four Rapiers to get it in the air. Setting it up as an SSTO is one thing but all of my space craft need to make it out to Minmus for refueling. For this design I'm working on a small piggyback flyback spaceplane booster. It should do the trick no problem.

I'm actually impressed with how few wing segments it takes to get heavy payloads airborne. This design has an ISRU and two drills, room for 7 passengers, cargo bay full of experiments, twelve penetrator probe missiles, 5400 fuel, 6700 oxidizer and four additional engines including an LV-N that aren't used during atmospheric flight and yet I am able to get lift with just a few small wing segments and elevators that are tucked out of the way underneath the craft.

It makes me wonder what else I can get flying; Hmmmm...

JR

TWR on the runway? Because with a sleek aerodynamic design, you can break the Mach (and thus, SSTO) with about 0.50. And of course anything will fly if it is going fast enough, even if it has very few wings: lift is proportional to the square of velocity.

As to the design, it looks great, don't take this as criticism. Just explaining why pretty much everything will fly if you give it TWR close to one, even a collection of tanks that relies on body lift. They may not be efficient on account of drag losses, but we don't always go after efficiency, do we?

Rune. Ok maybe I do, most of the time...

[Jett_Quasar]

TWR on the runway? Because with a sleek aerodynamic design, you can break the Mach (and thus, SSTO) with about 0.50. And of course anything will fly if it is going fast enough, even if it has very few wings: lift is proportional to the square of velocity.

As to the design, it looks great, don't take this as criticism. Just explaining why pretty much everything will fly if you give it TWR close to one, even a collection of tanks that relies on body lift. They may not be efficient on account of drag losses, but we don't always go after efficiency, do we?

Rune. Ok maybe I do, most of the time...

Yeah I'm all about doing things differently, and I'm not concerned with efficiency that's not the envelope I want to push. I was really negative about the new aero for a while but I've found that there are certain aspects of it that are great and that includes the fact that you can get bricks to fly... fairly easily as it turns out. And I have lots of other designs that I want to get airborne.

Not all of them will fly in atmo but there's a few that I want to convert to SSTO status. And I'm working on some new designs as well. I can't believe that other people don't do the same.

JR

[quasarrgames]

I'm glad you're having fun with it. The new aerodynamic model seems to screw me over a lot with this newfangled body lift and whatnot.

That being said, it's fun to make an airplane with steel beams for wings. For extra jet fuel resistance!

[Jett_Quasar]

I'm glad you're having fun with it. The new aerodynamic model seems to screw me over a lot with this newfangled body lift and whatnot.

That being said, it's fun to make an airplane with steel beams for wings. For extra jet fuel resistance!

Yeah I learned from Slashy that I should be more Zen about space planes. It's just another technical issue to be resolved during the design/test process. I don't let a little thing like aerodynamics push me around - I build what I want and make it fly with the age-old Kerbal philosophy... moar engines! (I guess that's not very Zen after all - huh?)

Edit: ...And a little bit of Rock 'n Roll doesn't hurt either!

JR

Edited September 29, 2015 by Jolly_Roger

[Findthepin1]

I'm getting used to it.

https://2b2f0611-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/mushroom2006sotherthings1/pictures-1/blimp%20ksp.png?attachauth=ANoY7cqvMAOGSkDv60cALKRkIlGpvaJl8zT85dvu89hCiGamJizYGNgPg78L7D9OJHSGwHLLpWjJkh_hY5X-GS6MXJ60tXnFBY7VLG3YWlNhRbWYR4A1NN5452QzE93A3D1mXQdMbR-1d916T_mhSsj_nLNkrSjg0rXt-HtQYnHGUxWz2rk8W_qL0N6_9GolxQEzVbTN3rGfL0i52Hp1PGwFB7pIL6dtlhb5Fp6IOae0MHC03jlN_QU2YSAhbpBAaX-sehUnr1PR&attredirects=0

Flying continuously for about eleven minutes now, used three-eights of its fuel.

EDIT: I tried to land the thing and the engines exploded.

Edited September 30, 2015 by Findthepin1