Can't fly

[nerdyastronaut]

Just got 1.6, (have upgraded from demo) and have set out to make a spaceplane. However, It seems I can\'t even build something that can get off the ground. have tried very small (2 jet fuel tanks = fuselage) with the wings connected to the engines which are connected to the fuselage. None of the stock wings can get this thing off the ground (eg delta and swept wings) so I tried making my own (wing connectors then delta at the end.) I can fly, but once I\'m over the water it will start to pitch down and eventually nosedive (within 1 min of takeoff) the wings themselves flop all over the space though I have reinforced them with struts on the top and bottom. Landing gear is always retracted. Engines are constructed with nacelle, intake and engine. I know this is cheating, but can anyone give me some plane designs that will work? Heads up I usually take off at about 100 m/s and maintain 160 once in the air. This is using the more powerful thrust vector version and the better intake. 2 engines.

[Dizzle]

Try placing standard canards at the nose, and control surfaces on the backs of the wings (drag them over to the back and press A, then attach them). An avionics package helps too, it\'s like an SAS module specifically for planes.

[flaillomanz]

There are three possible problems with your craft (I\'m guessing this without screenshots as evidence.)

1 - You might have forgotten to put ailerons (control surfaces) on the craft.

2 - Not enough thrust.

3 - Not enough wings.

If you give up now, you might regret it later! Keep experimenting!

[Vanamonde]

At the risk of being self-serving, check out my Yeahletstrythatdyne thread in the spacecraft exchange. I like making planes that are easy to fly, and if you would like to try somebpdy else\'s designs as examples, I just added 2 new ones for .16.

Also, there are some really good tips, including some from HarvesteR, in this thread.

[colmo]

Give some of my birds a go (link in sig).

A few key things to get right first - put the heavy stuff (fuel tanks) in the middle of the plane, if the plane pitches forward, move the wings forward (and vice versa). Use the standard winglet at the back of the plane, or the standard canard if the plane wants to go nose up, because it generates more lift. Put control surfaces on the back of the main wings. Use a tailfin with small control surface to give yaw control.

Deltawings are the easiest to fly, but they require a canard at the front, and I find you need to angle either that canard and/or the control surfaces on the back of the big wing. Angled surfaces mean that the plane pitches up depending on speed and atmospheric pressure, so lift balance is not the same at all velocities.

My biplanes take the opposite approach - low-speed planes just use lots of wings to generate lift.

[nerdyastronaut]

Okay, I think I can answer 2 posts here as well as my own question. I did use control surfaces however I was making my planes too big. So, I went onto Yeahletstrythatdyne and found out that I couldn\'t use your planes. Now that I can I\'ll get hold of the entire 1.6 line! Also looking to tring yours out colmo! Hopefully they will nock some sense into me and I\'ll be able to come up with a desgn of my own soon! Long way to go for that though due to the fact I can\'t get used to pulling the joystick left to turn right (inverted it but didn\'t work) so I haven\'t actually landed yet :

[Vanamonde]

Did you have problems with the first 3 of my planes? Sorry, I forgot to note that they were made in 15.2 and might have problems now. But the other pair were made in .16 and should be good.

pulling the joystick left to turn right

Are you talking about yaw or roll? Both will cause a plane to turn in atmo, so are you sure you inverted they the one you meant to?

[nerdyastronaut]

Roll I think. Hopefully I\'ll figure it out Going to your thread right now!