Getting an upgrade!

[thescientist]

Well, it's time for me to do something harder than before, so I have some questions

1. How can I land at the KSC runway with my plane?

2. I often lose control of my SSTO and the ASAS doesn't help me (as usual ). What I MUST do to evitate that? (note: it usually happens if I activate ASAS, controlling it manually this situation is quite more manageable)

3. It's time to get another planet! Please, can someone say to me some tips for the rocket? It's better to download mechjeb? Finally, there is a good launch windows calendar?

4. spatial shooting gallery...can someone write down some tips to hit the target (an equatorial orbit on one other planet) using less fuel possible?

Thanks for the answers!

[rryy]

Check the position of the center of lift and the center of mass on your SSTO. You never want the CoL to be in front of the CoM, but if the CoL is too far behind the CoM, it will tend to pitch down a lot making it difficult to control.

When you go to another planet, try to use the LV-N engine because it is most efficient. If you are having trouble, you may want MechJeb, but the Kerbal Engineer Redux is also good if you are just looking for data. To figure out the launch windoews, use this calculator to get the phase angles.

Edited July 3, 2013 by rryy

[thescientist]

Check the position of the center of lift and the center of mass on your SSTO. You never want the CoL to be in front of the CoM, but if the CoL is too far behind the CoM, it will tend to pitch down a lot making it difficult to control.

When you go to another planet, try to use the LV-N engine because it is most efficient. If you are having trouble, you may want MechJeb, but the Kerbal Engineer Redux is also good if you are just looking for data. To figure out the launch windoews, use this calculator to get the phase angles.

Thanks for the mod, it looks so complete. I tried to use the autopilot of Mechjeb and I discovered that the Human mind is quite better in a lot of things!

I'll also check the CoL and the CoM position, but I think they are in the right place, because I've downloaded the craft files (my planes are quite horrible )

[thescientist]

Well, no one that is reading that post has an answer for the first question?

[Kimberly]

1. How can I land at the KSC runway with my plane?

There's no special trick to it, it just takes practice.

Line up with the runway as soon as you can see it, and dethrottle your engines, so you glide towards the runway. You might get get too much vertical speed with the engines cut off; in this case, turn on a low throttle and tilt so the thrust is largely upwards. Keep turning your engine off whenever you see the opportunity, and turning it on to make corrections. You basically want to slow down as much as possible, without prematurely dropping out of the sky. If you have too much speed while approaching the runway, you can engage spoilers (if you have any on the craft) to give you drag. Lower the landing gear on your approach, and try to touch down with as little vertical speed as possible. Active the brakes to slow down to a stop, hopefully before you reach the end of the runway.