How to bail out of a plane (or rocket) with personal parachute?

[jinnes]

Hi, noob question, just started KSP as of 1.11, PC, no mods. Early in career mode. I've been playing around with planes -- finally managed to take off!  Now I'd like my kerbonaut to be able to bail out of the plane and use his personal parachute (rather than landing the plane, which is haaaaard). But although my kerbal is a pilot, and has a chute, I can't figure out how to bail out. The EVA button seemed sensible, but it won't let me EVA in the air without upgrading the astronaut complex.  Do I really have to upgrade the  complex to jump out of a plane? Or am I missing a bail out button? Thanks!!

[adsii1970]

Not a problem! CL cl on your Kerbal's picture and click the EVA button. That spawns your Kerbal either hanging on the hatch or canopy. Hit the space bar to release...

[jinnes]

Thank you, adsii1970. So, to confirm, I do need to upgrade the Astronaut Complex first? Seems like it won't let me EVA in midair otherwise.

[adsii1970]

Just now, jinnes said:

Thank you, adsii1970. So, to confirm, I do need to upgrade the Astronaut Complex first? Seems like it won't let me EVA in midair otherwise.

Um, sure...

TO be honest, I always play sandbox mode since back when I started playing KSP in .18, that's the only mode we had for KSP. I'm not sure that it works in career or science mode, but it should still work. You also can achieve the same thing by right clicking on the cockpit/command module in flight, then using the PAW to select the Kerbal for EVA from there... Same things apply. It should cause your Kerbal to spawn outside the hatch/canopy and just tap the space bar to let go.

I am sorry I cannot be any other help than that...

[jinnes]

Thanks for confirming that EVA is the way to do it.  I'll bet you're right, I'm just hitting an early career mode restriction. I'll upgrade my astronaut complex and try again. 

Edited December 29, 2020 by jinnes

[Serenity]

27 minutes ago, jinnes said:

Thank you, adsii1970. So, to confirm, I do need to upgrade the Astronaut Complex first? Seems like it won't let me EVA in midair otherwise.

In case you allow yourself to cheat a bit you can Alt+F12 and upgrade it from there or give yourself a tiny bit of moneys.

[bewing]

Yes, you do have to upgrade the Astronaut Complex first.

With a level 1 astronaut complex, you can only EVA when landed.

 

[jimmymcgoochie]

I would suggest that you attach a few parachutes to the plane and use those to bring the entire plane down rather than jumping out of a perfectly good plane and letting it smash itself to pieces on the ground. Or, take the time to learn how to land a plane:

1. Find your landing site- the whole area around the KSC is flat and makes a better landing site than the runway for a novice pilot;
2. Slow down, using landing gear and any air brakes you have (or elevons etc. set up as air brakes) to reduce your air speed, while you’re still at several km altitude- this will give you a rough idea of how slow the plane can go without losing lift and falling out of the sky;
3. Drop your altitude and line up with the landing site, keeping the speed well above the minimum speed you just found- a good approach speed is about 100m/s for a Juno/Wheesley powered jet or a propeller-driven plane as this gives you enough control while staying slow enough to land;
4. Descend to around 20m above the surface, then level off with your throttle at 0% to slow down;
5. As the plane slows, it will naturally start to descend- keep the vertical speed below -3m/s (check the VS indicator beside the altimeter) and gently descend the last few metres to the ground;
6. Only after you have all the wheels on the ground, apply the brakes. You may need to reduce the brake force on the front wheels to prevent the plane digging its nose in and flipping, rolling or otherwise crashing itself into the ground; keeping the brakes off on touchdown will stop the plane bouncing nose down and having a rough and potentially crashy landing.

Landing a plane is difficult, there’s a reason pilots have to do a lot of training- and why it’s automated as much as possible on commercial jets- so practice a lot in sandbox with the stock planes to get a feel for how different types and sizes of planes handle when you’re landing. Parachutes are the easy way to get a plane back on the ground reasonably intact, but it isn’t really a solution for something the size of the Dynawing as the extra mass eats into your payload capacity.

[jinnes]

22 hours ago, jimmymcgoochie said:

Or, take the time to learn how to land a plane:...

Thank you for this great tutorial, jimmymcgoochie! I did manage to land once, on an approach at 90 degrees perpendicular to the runway (just like they taught in Kerbal Flight School). 

[Spricigo]

23 hours ago, jimmymcgoochie said:

Parachutes are the easy way to get a plane back on the ground reasonably intact, but it isn’t really a solution for something the size of the Dynawing as the extra mass eats into your payload capacity.

I think your example it's not ideal. The Dynawing don't need wheels to take off, the fuselage have 50m/s impact tolerance,  engines 20m/s, wings 15m/s. Most of it  can survive a rough parachute landing.

  NO, it's not the most elegant way to face a problem but it get the job done. Kinda like the Moar Booster/Fuel some people often add to not bother with efficiency.