Slim Shuttle

[kirkmyster]

Hello all.  I was just wondering is there a trick to deorbit without overheating in the Slim Shuttle.  I like the design and all but just keep blowing up on re-entry. Any ideas?

 

~Kirkmyster

[Omegagoldfish]

How low is your periapsis? If you have it at about 50 kilometers, it shouldn't explode. You will have to make multiple passes, however.

[kirkmyster]

Ah! Wow! Down to 50 kilometers. Ok that could be one reason.  I was at 70 kilometers.  I will have to give that a try.  Thanks.

 

~Kirkmyster

[Omegagoldfish]

That's inside the atmosphere, so be careful not to be going too quickly. Have a low, circular orbit, and lower the Pe to about 50 KM. You shouldn't explode if you do that.

[kirkmyster]

Must be doing something wrong. I tried 60 kilometers too.  I always seem to explode around 35 kilometers.  Should I be at a certain pitch?  It seems once you get below 70 kilometers you are coming down regardless.  Back to the drawing board.

 

~Kirkmyster

[FullMetalMachinist]

4 minutes ago, kirkmyster said:

Should I be at a certain pitch?

Yes. For spaceplane type crafts, you want to be at a very high angle of attack, at least during the early part of reentry. You should be nosed up as much as possible, presenting the belly of your craft to the air, and not nose first. 

[kirkmyster]

Would you say around 50 degrees.  I did try 30 and it is not easy that did not work.  Guess I will keep on trying.  Thanks again for the ideas and help.  I will keep you all posted on the progress.

~Kirkmyster

[Reactordrone]

You can set the direction hold to "radial out" during re-entry and it should give you a fairly safe slow down, just use the roll controls to keep the belly pointed in the right direction. And if you've never managed to fly the shuttle you might want to add a couple of advanced canards just behind the cockpit since the stock vehicle is a little nose heavy and has very little pitch authority.

Edited July 3, 2016 by Reactordrone

[Firemetal]

If it is mk1, I have had the same problems. It is annoying as heck.

[kirkmyster]

You got it Firemetal. I tried holding the nose up manually and as mentioned earlier the nose drop down to 10 - 20 degrees max and at that point you might as well say good-bye.  Guess over time I will keep on trying.

~Kirkmyster

[bewing]

Instead of holding the nose up, try tumbling. Encourage the ship to spin sideways, and get a good rotation rate going. Once you are down to 1250 m/s, click the SAS back on to stop the tumble.

[Vaporized Steel]

Never heard of the slim shuttle. Is that a stock craft. Anyway, if it has multiple fuel tanks you could try transfering fuel from one tank to another to change the center of mass directly under the center of lift.

This way it will be very easy to hold attitude during reentry in case your nose wants to go down as you get into denser air.