Do closing intakes do anything?

[DaElite101]

I'm just wondering, is there any benefit to closing an intake during flight? Does it reduce drag or anything? I'm building an SSTO and I want to know if this helps when ascending and if I should assign an action group to the intakes.

[Leftotian]

Nope, no benefit, no difference in drag or anything, just kills your engine.

[DaElite101]

Oh, okay then. Thanks anyway.

[DDE]

False, @Leftotian, a closed intake creates less drag. Hence once your airbreathers die the standard drill is to close ALL intakes as you go to rocket thrust.

[GoSlash27]

1 hour ago, DDE said:

False, @Leftotian, a closed intake creates less drag. Hence once your airbreathers die the standard drill is to close ALL intakes as you go to rocket thrust.

Actually, DDE, this is false.
 Closing intakes is *supposed* to reduce drag, but it doesn't in the current implementation.

Best,
-Slashy

[FyunchClick]

For that reason, with SSTOs, I usually bind the toggling of intakes and toggling the rockets/airbreathing engines (or mode for rapier) to a single key, so you can do it with one press of a button. With rapiers, don't forget to disable autoswitching in that case.

[Mystique]

4 hours ago, DDE said:

False, @Leftotian, a closed intake creates less drag. Hence once your airbreathers die the standard drill is to close ALL intakes as you go to rocket thrust.

Is it worth doing when atmo pressure is so low that jets aren't working?

[DDE]

1 hour ago, Mystique said:

Is it worth doing when atmo pressure is so low that jets aren't working?

Apparently, at least it used to be.

[DaElite101]

Oh, okay then.

[foamyesque]

5 hours ago, Mystique said:

Is it worth doing when atmo pressure is so low that jets aren't working?

 

It doesn't hurt; as @FyunchClick says, I just bind it to the same action group that toggles my airbreathers on and off (or mode-switches, in the case of RAPIERs). It doesn't hurt anything, so why not?

[GoSlash27]

7 hours ago, Mystique said:

Is it worth doing when atmo pressure is so low that jets aren't working?

No, but as @foamyesque points out, it doesn't hurt either.

Best,
-Slashy

6 hours ago, DDE said:

Apparently, at least it used to be.

I think that was back in KSP .90. Possibly even earlier than that. These days, it makes no difference.

Best,
-Slashy