Regarding the Aerospike engine....

[Solusphere]

So, in the current version, the Aerospike engine is no longer the king of all atmospheric engines it once was, due to the fixed throttle bug i'm assuming.

Problem is, it's fuel consumption is so fantastically high, i'm having trouble finding a use for it. A single Aerospike engine can drain a tank of jet fuel in approximately EIGHT SECONDS. I'm guessing you shouldn't normally be firing them on full capacity, but still, it seems like the other jet engines are both far, far more fuel efficient. Am I using it wrong? Is there a set altitude in which it has much greater efficiency? The tooltips are inconsistent between the atmospheric engines, so i'm not sure how they compare, and the wiki article appears to be out of date.

Let me know what uses you guys have come up with them! Myself, i'm experimenting with using them as SRB replacements. Results pending.

[jonathan_92]

Actually, aerospikes are rockets. Don't be fooled by their jet engine-y appearance, just treat them like normal rockets! (because they are) Their fuel consumption and thrust are actually quite good....for a rocket engine. Just know that you can't use them with stack decouplers and that they can't vector thrust. They're pretty great used as main engines, and as controllable "srb" style boosters. Also know that the true SRB's give you way more thrust, albeit for a short period of time.

[Supernovy]

They are rocket engines with the same efficiency in atmosphere as well as vacuum, so good for atmospheric landers or boosters as you said.

Or spaceplanes.

[princessjane]

Honestly I still think aerospike's are king of the hill. use a 1 man pod, the largest fuel tank, and an aerospike and learn just how crazy they still are. combined with the new NERV's for once your out of atmo and... things just got real. they have been balanced a little bit I admit but personally I like it. my big problem is how hard it is to place them, things just don't want to attach to anything for me.

[Solusphere]

Oh, really? I assumed they were ramjet-style jet engines. My bad.

Well, that explains how they're able to work in space. And yeah, they have fantastically good efficiency when used in large rockets. With a trio of aerospikes under a couple of large 3m tanks and three large 1m tanks, I was able to nearly escape Kerbin orbit. Seem's i've just been using them for the wrong kind of vehicle

[QuantumFlux]

attaching the fuel tank you want it to fit on somewhere else and putting the aerospike on before putting it back, attaching the aerospike on the upside of the tank then rotating it, putting tank and aerospike back to the left and getting new ones all seem to work sometimes for me...

[4 IN 1]

I'd say if there is anything that can made orbit after landing on EVE, the aerospike is still the most capable engine that stock have offered.