Space Plane Powered re-entry?

[fowlplaychiken]

Is powered re-entry beneficial at all when it comes to space planes or is gliding the only way to go? Obviously powered re-entry is a boon when landing anything else but I am pretty sure its useless for spaceplanes. I just wanted to confirm.

Thank you gentlemen! Bawk!

-FPC

[Kosmo-not]

How is it useless for space planes? If you mess up and come in too far away from your landing site to glide there, then having power saves you.

[Tim_Barrett]

Sometimes power is used to change the angle of re-entry. Shuttles don\'t enter the atmosphere at a 90 degree angle and are fine with it!

[RedDwarfIV]

Sometimes power is used to change the angle of re-entry. Shuttles don\'t enter the atmosphere at a 90 degree angle and are fine with it!

Shuttles have reentry heat to deal with.

[Tim_Barrett]

Shuttles have reentry heat to deal with.

Exactly, so if you flight downward smack into the planet, guess what happens to your poor shuttle?

[fowlplaychiken]

Thanks guys. I just tested it when trying to correct my course only 40k up on re-entry. I spotted something that I suspect may be the other KSP (Have yet to see it!) and tried to correct; but it required a speedy burnoff of over 2km/s due to the angle, and I went bingo fuel and was in a flat stall. I was unable to get any lift by diving, oddly, and ended up falling more or less straight down.

Still, being able to attempt a correction (next time at higher altitude, if the need arises) is always nice.

[E. F. Kranz]

I\'ve never been able to glide in. Period. So for me, powered is the only way to go.

[VincentMcConnell]

I\'ve never been able to glide in. Period. So for me, powered is the only way to go.

That\'s because KSP just isn\'t made for spaceplanes yet. Gliders don\'t work very well in the Kerbin atmosphere.

[Maxed-Rockets]

That\'s because KSP just isn\'t made for spaceplanes yet. Gliders don\'t work very well in the Kerbin atmosphere.

I have had great success with gliding the empty Fun-1A, the landing flare especially feels like it could last forever.

[White Owl]

If a spaceplane is too heavy to glide to a survivable landing, sometimes adding power will gain you enough airspeed to control the descent. It\'s a little tricky, but occasionally useful.

[UmbralRaptor]

Having spare fuel for getting the landing right/getting closer to KSC after misjudged reentry is helpful. That said, my spaceplanes tend not to have much margin there. :-[

That\'s because KSP just isn\'t made for spaceplanes yet. Gliders don\'t work very well in the Kerbin atmosphere.

It\'s enormously dependent on the glider. (see: infiniglide bug)

[fowlplaychiken]

Makes sense. Thanks guys! Hopefully one of these days we will see working lifting-body spaceplanes that can glide to a landing in Kerbal.

[Markus Reese]

I have done successful glide in landings. Surprizingly one was with fuel in it when a jettisoned set of boosters during a spin out clipped my main pair of engines. Kept my speed up and pulled up near ground to stall drop speed and came in to a safe landing on kerbal.

[Endeavour]

I find it is much easier to control my planes when I do powered re-entries, and gliding seems to always be a challenge.