UBERDOMINATOR Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 I have been building some different planes with various tank configurations and each one is suffering from a similar problem. That is the fact that the front tanks in a column of tanks drain first followed by the next and so on.... causing the front end to lighten while the back end stays the same weight. Is there a way to have ALL tanks drain simultaneously? I don't know specifically how the hoses work, but I tried them with no success...Is this possible or should I just work on a different solution to weight distribution mid flight? I saw another thread that said something about controlling which order they drain in, but not about draining all... Any help is GREATLY appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyFox Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 How about two (or any number that is small enough for you to handle) big fuel tanks. You can manually control the flow by ... uh... disabling the flow of the front one.Well it is not that convenient but at least it partially works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhnifong Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 The tanks and engines have to be isolated from eachother by things than cannot conduct fuel. then all the tanks must have lines to the engine directly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBERDOMINATOR Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 Awesome! Well, not awesome, but helpful!!! Thank you for the information! Now I can build a plane that won't destabilize mid flight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhnifong Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Since you won't be able to attach tanks directly to other tanks, you're going to have to make a pretty heavy rocket, and you may have a hard time making it symmetric with all those bits sticking out.If your rocket destabilizes mid-flight, consider simply throttling down. Your thrust increases as the rocket becomes lighter, and the specific impulse of the engines also get higher. Too much thrust can make a rocket tricky to control.Try substituting the engines you are using during the stage that destabilizes for some thrust-vectoring engines (and include one ASAS in your craft) then you can press t and the craft will stay pretty stable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sal_vager Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 You could also try separating tanks with decouplers, and running fuel lines from each, it might work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Patterson Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 You could also try separating tanks with decouplers, and running fuel lines from each, it might work The decouplers do separate the tanks from one another, but in order to get the fuel lines around the decouplers, which are slightly thicker than the tanks, I had to use the fuel crossfeed from the structural pylons in order to get some extra distance out from the fuel tanks. It introduces aerodynamic problems if not done carefully, as you might imagine. Just so you know, separating the tanks with decouplers is not a particularly effective way to separate the fuel tanks for disposal in flight. They tend not to move at all if your ship is under acceleration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbanshadow Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 (edited) The tanks and engines have to be isolated from eachother by things than cannot conduct fuel. then all the tanks must have lines to the engine directly.Wow, that's a clever module disposition right there. That setup with wings was able to manage to get a spaceplane in low orbit without tipping over by the weight at 25-30km. It's like... too easy to fly. You could use "fuel bridges" in the rcs tanks with two lines of fuel for getting easily to the engine.EDIT: And you have rcs fuel to advsas-ing the way to low orbit without doing anything! Edited September 16, 2012 by Urbanshadow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exclipse Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 (edited) Kinda on the same thought thread....Anyone tried this setup before? Edited September 16, 2012 by Exclipse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucidLemon Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 (edited) I'm pretty sure there's a ship called "The accordian" in the spacecraft exchange, I'll hunt it down....Found it!http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/showthread.php/17204-Accordion-B-A-experimental-proof-of-concept-Mun-rocket-0-16-MechJebIt's the exact same thing, minus the fins. Edited September 16, 2012 by lucidLemon Gotcha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antbin Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Anyone tried this setup before?Yes, I have - the risk is that with all the struts / engines / tanks up front, the rocket's center of drag can get ahead of the center of mass, which makes it unstable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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