Engine Plate drag?

[Jestersage]

Question: If one is trying to have a bundle of 3 or 4 1.25m parts, is it better to use the stock tri/quad adapter instead of using Engine plate? I am wondering how much the bottom attachment node of the engine plate affect the drag of the rocket.

[blakemw]

2.5m engine plates produce more drag than a tri-adapter and less than a quad-adapter assuming 3 or 4 1.25m engines are attached.

The amount of drag they cause is actually dependent on the amount of surface that doesn't have an engine attached. So if you attach 4 engines to a plate, it'll produce less drag than if only 2 engines of the same size are attached, an engine plate smothered in engines causes basically no drag at all.

Edited June 5, 2018 by blakemw

[Xd the great]

Hmm, engine plates can save up on struts or decouplers.