Basic Engine Questions

[ElRageO]

Hi All,

Been messing with KSP and its the type of game I have wanted for ever!

Ive been stuck with SSTO planes. I am soo close to orbit but not there yet. Ive been doing delta wing design and I regular non delta wind. Ive go the COM and COL thing pretty much dialed in. My craft are very flyable but

I am lacking experience in on the power side.

I have just a few small engine questions that I cannot seem to find an answer to. Sorry if these are basic but I need these answers so I can get my SSTO and make it into LKO! Im determined to do this my self so I dont want do dl any craft or anything like that. Im just looking to get some more info so I can destroy some more craft on my journey to orbit!

I notice that people are putting loads of ram air intakes on jet engines. These are the most efficient and I would love to use them.

Does this significantly increase the thrust ? Ive tried to add and extra and Im not sure I see a difference. What the purpose ?

I have also seen the intakes put on an Aero Spike engines... Why is this as they run without the intakes ?

Ive been looking for some basic engine tips and tricks but have been able to locate much. Is there a good place for this other than the wiki ?

Thanks!

[numerobis]

Intakes can be anywhere, and jets use IntakeAir equally from all intakes. So that's why they wind up in odd places.

Jets need IntakeAir and LiquidFuel to run (just like rockets need Oxidizer and LiquidFuel) -- but mostly IntakeAir. They use a certain amount at full throttle; if you don't have enough intakes for them (because you're at high altitude where the air is thin), you can throttle back. Or, you can add more intakes. So they do significantly increase thrust, but only because they allow you to maintain full throttle at higher altitude.

[42undead2]

When you see people adding loads of intakes, or most likely stacking them, they try to get as much air (at the highest possible point) to the engine as possible. More air at a higher point = Longer time for the engine to run.

[ElRageO]

Thanks for the info I did not realize that more intakes would allow the engine to function at higher altitudes.

[draeath]

This gives me an idea. If you jettison jet engines while lit, I assume they will continue to run on their own like rockets...

If you jettison the intakes from the engine as well, would it flame-out instead of runaway?

[numerobis]

I have done that: separate the intake from the rest by a decoupler, and stage it so that the decoupler pops when I drop the engine. Then it goes poof right away.

But the perhaps better solution (it saves you 15 kg of mass) is to set up an action key that turns off the engine at the same time as you decouple.