VTOL Design Tips?

[kodemunkey]

Hi folks, i was wondering if anyone has clear and easy to follow tips / tutorials for designing a VTOL aircraft? mine never do well at all and would appreciate the help

[Mr Chips]

First off let me say hello,

There are several ways to make vtol aircraft some easier than others depending if your using mods.

These tips are good for stock builds.

Have all of your engine point down straight and control your aircraft with small tilts in the direction you wish to move this is the hardest but most fun option. Be warned at least 4 engines is needed for this design to be stable.

The second is again 4 engines with then angled slightly off center. So the two at the front point forwards with the engin at about a 35-45 degree angle facing the nose and the dame for the rear engines towards the tail. Stick a 5 engin on the back in the normal place to move forward.

This is the design I have used in the mox industries thread in my Sig.

The 3 is a small light craft with just 2/3 engines. 2 on the end of the wings pointing down ans one on the rear of the plane for forward momentum.

I hope this helps.

[EndlessWaves]

A tail-sitter aircraft balanced on a single engine also works.

And sufficient tilted wings will give you an almost-VTOL effect where you can take off and land over short distances and go very slowly without falling out of the sky.

[Foursh]

I find using the avionics package instead of the regular ASAS helps a lot with control. It will keep the craft stable, but still allow you to turn.

[Alias]

VTOLs are pretty easy to build but require some trial and error to get the engines perfectly centered on the craft. For vertical take off I use no more than 2 jet engines because you can disable the one or both with a single click. Also the avionics sas is best imo because it alows for slight adjustments in pitch roll and yaw which help while hovering. While testing mine I disable the horizontal engine and slowly increase speed of the vertical engines until the craft starts to lift off the ground. I'm looking for the slowest climb possible because sometimes even a balanced vtol will pitch slightly during takeoff. Then enable sas and check for balance. If it pitches foward go back to the SPH and move the engines foward. If the craft pitches back then move the engines back. Keep adjusting untill it's balanced. I included a couple .craft files for you to look at.

[kodemunkey]

You can disable engines by clicking on them? That's news to me Thanks for the craft files too, im sure i'll be able to learn a thing or two from those. My main problem is pitching forwards on all of my aircraft, so thanks for the balancing advice too

[deker13]

if u want something that does not have to waste weight and can land multiple times, use a tilting engine VTOL. they are hard to make and unstable, but worth it in the end. i suggest tilting engines on the wings or on the fuselage then the wing attaches to the engine if this makes any sense u can make a tilt engine VTOL.

[LongHairedHuman]

Two engines worked fine for me:

Takeoff and landing is always a bit hard, but just don't go crazy on engine power!

[Captain_Party]

I use structural panels in the wings to make really short engines, they look amazing If done right

[EndlessWaves]

I use structural panels in the wings to make really short engines, they look amazing If done right

That's nice, but it doesn't really apply to building VTOLs in version 0.16. Perhaps it would be better contributed to a more up to date thread for a version of the game that has them?

[bsalis]

For a VTOL aircraft, the same rules of any aircraft apply.

On top of that, the wet and dry CoM need to be in the same place. The vertical CoT needs to be right under it. Also, those vertical thrust engines are best placed along the centerline, so as not to lower the CoM too far below the horizontal CoT. Hope that makes sense... lol, well to me it does.

There's a link to a VTOL SSTO Spaceplane in my sig if you want to see an example.