Mounting wings with incidence (UI questions, mostly)

[Zophos]

So...I've read a number of threads in here that tell me WHY I'd want to mount wings on a plane with a positive angle of incidence. What I'm having trouble with is HOW to do it in the SPH editor interface. Or rather, how to do it predictably and with the minimum of fiddling around.

Specifically, I can easily mount one large wing with a 5-degree positive angle. All I have to to is select the wing part, press shift-WASD --- I can never remember which is which until I press it, and I'm at work w/o KSP right now --- to tilt the part by 5 degrees, and place it back on the fuselage. This method works fine for 10 degrees or any other multiple of 5.

However, if I want to use some angle that is not a multiple of 5 degrees, the only tool I know of is the rotation mode gizmo, and I have two difficulties:

1. It's very sensitive to the point that it's very hard to tell how many 'clicks' of rotation I've applied and to reliably release the mouse button without changing the angle. Given that I'll want to apply the same incidence to the main wing and to the canard/tailplane, I really need to be sure I know how much I'm applying.
   
2. I have no idea how much rotation I'm getting per 'click' anyway. So if I'm trying to follow a recipe that prescribes, say, 2 degrees of incidence, I'm pretty much lost.
   

Is there a better way to set very small angles than the rotation gizmo? Or some way of controlling the gizmo with the keyboard (so I can count clicks)?

The problem is compounded if the wing consists of multiple parts that mount to the fuselage. If I rotate, say, three separate parts that are each on the side of a plane, each part rotates about its own center, creating a saw-tooth effect. To get the wing nice and smooth, I need to translate up the front part (to match up its rear edge with the front edge of the center part) and translate down the rear part (to match up its front edge with the rear edge of the center part). Again, is there a better way?

Thanks in advance for all advice. (Sorry for not posting illustrations, but I'm on a machine without KSP until this evening.)

Edited October 12, 2015 by Zophos

[Red Iron Crown]

Is there a better way to set very small angles than the rotation gizmo? Or some way of controlling the gizmo with the keyboard (so I can count clicks)?

Short of using a mod like Part Angle Display there is not, AFAIK.

The problem is compounded if the wing consists of multiple parts that mount to the fuselage. If I rotate, say, three separate parts that are each on the side of a plane, each part rotates about its own center, creating a saw-tooth effect. To get the wing nice and smooth, I need to translate up the front part (to match up its rear edge with the front edge of the center part) and translate down the rear part (to match up its front edge with the rear edge of the center part). Again, is there a better way?

The workaround for this is to mount one wing part to the fuselage, then mount the other wing parts to the first one. Rotate the first part and all the others retain their orientation to it.

[Zophos]

Short of using a mod like Part Angle Display there is not, AFAIK.

Well, I didn't know about that mod, so there's something I learned today. Thanks!

The workaround for this is to mount one wing part to the fuselage, then mount the other wing parts to the first one. Rotate the first part and all the others retain their orientation to it.

I had tried this at some point, but the parts insisted on attaching to the fuselage instead. Do I need to rotate the wing parts by 90 degrees first (to put the attachable edge at the front or back)? I thought I'd read somewhere that wing parts rotated sideways do not produce lift, so I hadn't pushed that line of investigation too far...

Well, I'll have to give this a try at home tonight and see how it goes.

[Red Iron Crown]

Do I need to rotate the wing parts by 90 degrees first (to put the attachable edge at the front or back)?

Yes, that's exactly it.

I thought I'd read somewhere that wing parts rotated sideways do not produce lift, so I hadn't pushed that line of investigation too far...

It used to work that way but it got fixed in the 1.0 aero overhaul. Now they all produce lift, the orientation of the attach node doesn't matter.

[Zophos]

It used to work that way but it got fixed in the 1.0 aero overhaul.

That would explain it.

As expected, quick and on-point answers from the community here. Thanks, RIC.

[Val]

Without using Part Angle Display, there's at least one way to reliably mount all wings with the same uncertain incidence angle.

1. Rotate the fuselage opposite the incidence angle with the gizmo in free mode
   
2. Attach all the wing parts, if not done already.
   
3. Use the rotate gizmo in snap mode with Absolute rotation on each wing piece, to set them horizontal.
   
4. Use the offset gizmo in snap mode with Absolute offset on each wing and move those that need into the same vertical plane.
   
5. Use the offset gizmo in free mode to make nice horizontal joins.
   F toggles Absolute and Local rotation/offset when a part is selected.
   

It's a bit of work, but all wings are now mounted with the same incidence angle.

I used this method until I got Part Angle Display.