Drop tanks on a spaceplane?

[Ashzo]

Just wondering how to best use drop tanks on a spaceplane. Can't put em too low or they'll be on the runway and if they are too high like on my current one or it'll backflip at about 15km.

Not really a fan of SSTO's since I prefer doing having as much delta-v as possible once in orbit

Here's something I've tried making recently, the two turbos are just enough really but eventually it does spin out of control.

Another thing, can I strap kerbals on those external seats and have them survive reentry?

[hyperformer]

I don't always use drop tanks but when I do I usually add a launcher to get the plane off the runway to avoid having to do crazy landing gear pylons. As for placement of the tanks I typically put the on the center of mass and have them drain first the there is no balance changes. Finally, yes kerbals will survive in external seats, and even on ladders,during reentry

[Zephram Kerman]

I like to put drop tanks on the wing tips. You can rotate them up or down for trim purposes, and they're not likely to impact anything during release.

The thing I notice about your plane is the two small rocket fuel tanks will mess with your trim. When full, they will make it pitch up more and more as speed increases. But when empty, they will make it pitch down (or at least, less up). I think you could simply remove them, and use the reduced weight to get higher/faster before ignition.

[Ashzo]

Tried taking off the drop tanks and it's still not really getting anywhere.

If someone could have a look at it that'd be fantastic, there's 4 different versions I played around with in here