Some help with my "basic" shuttle design?

[samsunix]

First post to forums and I love this game

I manage get my shuttle design to ~35km without major problems but after that it flips and goes major spin and end crash (most of the time). I have watch many tutorials in youtube and red forums and I THINK I got the basics how to build shuttle but maybe I'm missing something?

Pictures of the craft and ascent plan.

Thnx for the help.

- Sam

[Empiro]

I'd say your shuttle is pretty complex. There's a lot that's going on.

As with most problems with shuttles, the issue is the CoM changing while you're burning fuel. You can see the pitch indicator getting maxxed out in the lower left of the screen. Normally, your shuttle will nose up as the CoM shifts from the fuel tank toward the shuttle, but in your case the opposite is happening. I suspect the cause is that you're burning fuel from the top tank first. You can try to move fuel from the rear tank fowards. You can also try angling your engines less so that they have less tendency to pitch your shuttle up, though that could cause instability at other times.

[TheXRuler]

If what empiro said is indeed the cause then the tac fuel balancer will help you.

[samsunix]

Thank you for answers. I'll try it out.

[Pecan]

The straightforward 'shuttle' advice for any such problem that doesn't actually ask a question is ...

DON'T.

Almost any other way of getting into orbit and back, in KSP, is easier, simpler, cheaper and more fun.

If you're building a shuttle just for the sake of making a replica then; wall, head, bang. (It's possible, but it's going to hurt)

NB: New engine with wide gimbal has been profiled for 1.0.5 or 1.1. It will make handling the change in CoM easier, if not eliminate the problems inherent with the shuttle design.