Drag from the cargo

[seaces]

Does somebody know how KSP sees the drag from the cargo that clips thorugh cargo bay doors on SSTOs? How much I can make things go trhough the doors before the KSP registers them and puts one them drag or even if just a tinny bit goes thoruh the doors you get drag from that part?

[Snark]

Stock KSP pretty much ignores actual geometry when deciding what has drag and what doesn't:  it relies on topography instead (how parts are linked together).  Once the game has decided "this part contributes to drag", then it uses that part's geometry to decide how much.  But the "drag or not" is purely based on its link relationship with other parts.

I'm pretty sure that anything inside a closed cargo bay is immune from drag.  Whether it's "inside" or "outside" is determined by its attachment location, not whether it protrudes or not.  So if you have a part that's "inside" a cargo bay, but happens to protrude through the walls and visibly stick outside, then I think it will have zero drag as long as the cargo bay is closed.

So the answer to your question is:  you're fine, there's no drag, you can stick out as much as you want.

(At least as far as drag is concerned.  Whether you may attract the kraken is another matter entirely.)

[seaces]

Aha thnx Snark that is what I asked for bcs those Mk2 cargo bays are really tight and sometimes some parts of cargo stick out a little bit so I had to ask will that bother the performance of the craft.

[GluttonyReaper]

Might be slightly outdated, but here's an old(er) devblog on how cargo bays handle drag:

(I could have sworn there we pictures, but I guess they got lost in the Great Forum Transition.)

[seaces]

5 hours ago, GluttonyReaper said:

Might be slightly outdated, but here's an old(er) devblog on how cargo bays handle drag:

(I could have sworn there we pictures, but I guess they got lost in the Great Forum Transition.)

So if I have understood well if the part just by little sticks out and is detected to be so it will get full drag applied to it? 

[Foxster]

You can always check this using the debug menu, accessed with ALT-F12. On the Physics tab check the option for Display Aero Data in Action Menus.

When your craft is airborne, right click the part and see if it has any drag displayed. 

Edited April 9, 2016 by Foxster

[max_creative]

Short answer: aero is funny.