Anyone else using wings sideways as AIRBRAKES?

[Jetski]

1. AIRBRAKES have terrible heat tolerance
2. Eve landers need to stay pointed the right way, and the more precise you are at aiming the less heat shield mass is needed
3. Fins work kind of
4. Big wings work a little better, but add mass and still allow some wobble
5. Small sideways wings add a TON of drag and have extremely high heat tolerances, and weigh very little

Anyone else tried this, or have thoughts on the subject?  For what it's worth, this lander worked flawlessly on Eve.

 

[Fearless Son]

Makes sense, wish I thought of it.  However, with Eve landers I tend to have a lot of delicate components that need to be protected, which I often do by enclosing them in a fairing that does not disengage until I am already low.  Getting those wings to fit inside another fairing on top of that for launch aerodynamics would be another challenge. 

Have you considered attaching radiators to the lee sides of those wings?  The enhanced ability to radiate heat out one side of the surface as it builds up on the other might let it perform a marginally more aggressive descent.  

Edited March 2, 2016 by Fearless Son

[wibou7]

Interesting idea. But even if wings have high heat tolerance, I doubt they would survive hitting Eve atmo at interplanetary speed outside an heat shield like that... How fast were you going when you first hitted Eve atmo?
 

And there is no way this lander will make it back to orbit. Unless you landed it on very highest peak of Eve. And even then

 

[Starwhip]

3 minutes ago, wibou7 said:

And there is no way this lander will make it back to orbit. Unless you landed it on very highest peak of Eve. And even then

Eeeeehhhh, 1.0 changed Eve's delta-v requirement from sea level to south of 7,000 m/s. That sucker's got Aerospikes and asparagus staging, I wouldn't judge just yet.

[Nich]

What are the stats on that lander? Sea level TWR and vacuum dv?

[Jetski]

lol my profile pic is this lander on Eve  The wings are different everything else is the same as the lifter I used in the ultimate challenge thread. On my phone now so i cant link it, but theres an album there.  It works from about 1500m on up, not at sea level.  But 1500m isn't that hard to find. 1.05 is kind to dV but cruel to aero.

4 hours ago, Fearless Son said:

Makes sense, wish I thought of it.  However, with Eve landers I tend to have a lot of delicate components that need to be protected, which I often do by enclosing them in a fairing that does not disengage until I am already low.  Getting those wings to fit inside another fairing on top of that for launch aerodynamics would be another challenge. 

Have you considered attaching radiators to the lee sides of those wings?  The enhanced ability to radiate heat out one side of the surface as it builds up on the other might let it perform a marginally more aggressive descent.  

Didn't have heat issues at all, but aerobrake high a few times (83k) from a high orbit until friction brought me down to 60k and in.  Good idea on the radiators, might be able to aerobrake interplanetary!

Edited March 3, 2016 by Jetski

[Jetski]

3 hours ago, wibou7 said:

Interesting idea. But even if wings have high heat tolerance, I doubt they would survive hitting Eve atmo at interplanetary speed outside an heat shield like that... snip

 

That's the thing. They shouldnt, but they DO. Its kinda fun to see how much it slows you down. And the slant isn't necessary they work dead flat 90 degrees just fine

[wibou7]

45 minutes ago, Jetski said:

That's the thing. They shouldnt, but they DO. Its kinda fun to see how much it slows you down. And the slant isn't necessary they work dead flat 90 degrees just fine

I've got to try that. It certainly beats the usual "tons of heatshield and airbrakes" technique.

I hope it doesn't get broken in 1.1