Smaller fins and rollerons.

[Galane]

There's a distinct lack of smaller fins for smaller rockets in the KSP parts bin. A small, steerable fin would be useful for rockets launching the Mark 1 pod or similar sized payloads.

A method of "free" stability enhancement, long used on air to air missiles (AIM 9 Sidewinder, 1956 to present), is the rolleron. It uses no electricity, requires no computer or any sort of active control. How they work is a finned wheel is mounted inside a freely hinged, angled flap on each fin. As the missile flies, the airflow sets the wheels spinning very fast. The flap hinge angles are set so that gyroscopic precession moves the flaps to counteract any roll around the axis and also help damp oscillations induced by maneuvers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolleron

The rollers and flaps wouldn't need to be modeled and animated in KSP, just the effect of them.

[pa1983]

I do agree that smaller once would be nice at times even when I build big stuff. And talking about big stuff, with more aerospace part like wings I hope we get bigger control surfaces to so one can use fewer parts on big crafts.

[Anton P. Nym]

An idea, yet untried; have you put just a "small control surface" on your rockets oriented like fins? That might work the way you want, depending upon the aero model in KSP.

-- Steve

[Themohawkninja]

The small control surface makes for quite nice pseudo-control surfaces, but some actual tiny control surfaces (like .5, or .25 sized canards or "that delta wing piece with a control surface in it") would be quite nice.

[Galane]

I tried using four small hardpoints on a rocket made of stacked Oscar B tanks. They sorta worked like fins but of course gave no additional control. Controllable fins a bit larger than those would be ideal, an active version and a passive rolleron version.

[RocketPilot573]

I support this, a probe sized fin would be nice.

[Fifi]

Btw. How do you think a kerbal in such a rolling rocked would feel? D:

[Anton P. Nym]

An idea, yet untried; have you put just a "small control surface" on your rockets oriented like fins? That might work the way you want, depending upon the aero model in KSP.

For what it's worth, I tested this last night; 4 small control surfaces mounted on a small SRB with an OKTO-2 probe brain for control. At first I thought it was working brilliantly, but then realised I hadn't shut off the reaction wheel in the probe core; after I did that, the surfaces had no effect on course. So back to the drawing board on that idea...

-- Steve