Capsule Flipping on Re-Entry

[Octantis]

I'm a long time player that is coming back after a 6 month hiatus and I'm encountering an odd issue, my command module is flipping on re-entry. Looking at some posts and this seems to have been an issue over a year ago but not now.

I'm running the most recent version of KSP as updated by Steam. Is there some config or settings file that I need to delete and recreate to iron out some old data?  I remember needing to do something similar after another hiatus where my maneuver nodes were missing until I deleted and recreated a file.

Barring that I'm using the same old design I've always used.  Science pod with some Goo containers. A heat shield glued to the bottom and the command pod glued to the top with a droge chute and big boy chute. My re-entry is fairly shallow and nothing is burning up due to heat.  Is there a new design out there that I should be using?

Thanks!

[bewing]

I suspect that you are running into a small drag issue in 1.1. There is currently a bug that puts unreasonably high drag values on struts, fuel ducts, and radial drogue parachutes. I bet that's it the extra drag on the drogue parachutes that's flipping you. If you move the drogues to the other end of your RV, they will probably make your ship even more stable.

[Streetwind]

If the drogues caused unreasonably high drag, it should stabilize the craft, not flip it in this case. At least if I understand Octanis' description right. I rather think he has too little drag at the top and too little weight down below - the service bay is so light that the center of mass (dominated by the pod) is moved away from the heatshield too much for the vessel to be aerodynamically stable.

[icedown]

If the drogues are below his CoG, that would cause him to flip.  I'm wondering if he didn't put them on the sides of the service bay.

[Warzouz]

When you reenter on Kerbin, try to ditch everything. You should only have the pod with chutes and a heatshield (if interplanetary). Nearly all science experiment are cheap, don't bother bringing them back. Just EVA and collect all the data then ditch everything.

For example, a MK1-2 pod need only 3 radial chutes (or 1 big nose one) for reentry. Even returning from Duna you don't need heatshield. Dump every thing after setting your PE around 30/32km. That won't flip. The internal battery is enough to keep the pod steady at high altitude and is not needed at middle/low altitude.

Eve or Laythe reentry is a totally different story as you need to land a complete/complex ship. Multiple testing is mandatory, especially for Eve...

[wumpus]

I started a new career playthrough in 1.1 and noticed a "structural fuselage*" (.1ton empty mk1 cylinder) on the list.  It has been critical in adding additional aerodynamic "length" to a craft so the center of mass can be lower.  Other than that I'd just say put the drogue chutes higher (they unlock earlier, so are hard to pass up) and hope the bugs don't bite too hard.

* comes in "general construction".  You probably want struts, mk1 passenger cabin, and launch clamps.  The structural fuselage is thrown in as a package deal.

[RizzoTheRat]

As Warzouz says, the easiest way is to dump everything except the capsule, the conical capsules are then very stable and robust.

In the early game I tend to not to try and land anything other than a capsule, but once I start wanting to take passengers up one thing I found worked well was to put a service bay on the top of the stack, they're light but cylindrical so move the aerodynamic centre up more than they move the centre of mass.  I'm not 100% sure if drag of the doors is calculated correctly but in theory leaving the doors open should increase drag at the top of the stack and improve stability even further.  Parachutes work fine from inside the service bay.