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TROUBLE IS MY SHUTTLE


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The problem is this:

  • Your CoM (center of mass) is way back at the rear of the shuttle.  It has a lightweight and very draggy fuselage sticking way out in front.  This makes it naturally unstable.
  • Your control surfaces (ailerons, tail fin) are also way at the back of the shuttle.  Since the CoM is very close to the control surfaces, this means that the control surfaces have very little lever arm to work with.  That makes them not very effective at steering the craft.

Here is another forum post from someone with the same problem as yours.  You may find the discussion there helpful.

My suggestions for how to improve your situation:

  1. Move your center of mass forward.
  2. Add some control surfaces way up at the front of the shuttle, for example a couple of canards.  They don't have to be big.  Since they're far from your CoM, they'll have a big effect.
  3. Make sure that you have disabled roll authority on your tailfin (you can do this by right-clicking on it in the SPH or VAB). This will make it work better.  It would also help if you use the editor "translate" widget to move the tailfin down a little, so it's not sticking so high above the main fuselage.

 

Edited by Snark
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