Skipper Engine Stinks

[The Jedi Master]

Maybe I've just been using it wrong, but every time I use the Skipper engine by Rockomax, I crash. Is it because I'm using it as a side booster engine? Also, even as a 'mid-stage booster', it isn't nearly as useful as the nuke or even the poodle. Anyone else have these complaints?

Edited August 8, 2013 by The Jedi Master
Wrong part name

[Johnno]

Maybe I've just been using it wrong, but every time I use the Splitter engine by Rockomax, I crash. Is it because I'm using it as a side booster engine? Also, even as a 'mid-stage booster', it isn't nearly as useful as the nuke or even the poodle. Anyone else have these complaints?

Splitter engine? What's a Splitter engine? Do you mean Skipper? Skipper's awesome.

All engines have their uses, none of them 'stink', it's your usage of them that stinks.

[GusTurbo]

I'm a big fan of the Skipper. It works well in clusters for huge rockets.

[stupid_chris]

The Skipper is a very good tradeoff between high thrust and reasonable efficiency. It fills the thrust gap between the Mainsail and it's closest competitor the LV-T30 pretty well. I often use it on side booster or to tug relatively heavy things around within Kerbin'S SOI. I don't really have any complaints on it

[Themohawkninja]

Skipper + 720 units of liquid fuel make an excellent orbital insertion stage for anything <= 20 Tonnes.

[Guest]

Another endorsement for the Skipper here. It's a very useful engine and I'm glad they added it to the stock choices.

[The Jedi Master]

So... not only am I using it wrong... but I also had the wrong name?! *facepalms self*

Oh, well, we all make mistakes...

[regex]

If you're talking about the Skipper, I use it for booster stages and sometimes for interplanetary transfer vehicles. It's a great compromise engine.

My only wish for stock (I've already modded one in, works like a charm) is an engine between the Skipper and the Mainsail, because sometimes the Mainsail is way too much for a central engine where the Skipper is too small. Since I use a laptop I prefer to keep my part counts reasonable; having a ton of LVT-30s isn't always an option.

[MockKnizzle]

If every time you use the Skipper you crash, then your flying is the problem

[GusTurbo]

9 Skippers, working in perfect harmony.

[The Jedi Master]

-snip-

9 Skippers, working in perfect harmony.

On the launch stage, no less! What am I doing wrong?!

[Whackjob]

4 skippers for this lander.

[Sof]

Its useful for the orbital insertion stage. That last kick needed to get into orbit after dropping the first mainsail stage. Poodles and nukes are too weak to achieve orbit before falling back into the atmosphere, and another mainsail would just be too heavy/eat all the fuel.

[SRV Ron]

As others have said, the Skipper is a good mid range engine either in Asparagus boosters, or as the second stage. The alternative in between a Skipper and Mainsail using stock parts is mounting an LV-45 in the center of a Rockomax fuel tank followed by four LV-30 mounted near the edge on small cube connectors.

If part count is an issue, the Nova Punch mods offer some good mid range multiple engines that count as one part.

[Sof]

If part count is an issue, the Nova Punch mods offer some good mid range multiple engines that count as one part.

They are all overpowered though. One of them is 1400KN thrust (100 less than the mainsail) and weighs half as much with better ISP at all altitudes. All the fueltanks are lighter for the amount of fuel they contain too.

[regex]

They are all overpowered though. One of them is 1400KN thrust (100 less than the mainsail) and weighs half as much with better ISP at all altitudes.

This is exactly why I modded my own, gave it stats exactly halfway between both engines.

[Captain Sierra]

I find it great on my Nova launchers. Rather than a 7th mainsail on the center stage, use a skipper and I can make much better use of the fuel it usually has left (about 80-80% full with the skipper). Makes it much more efficient for doing transfers, which it usually ends up helping with since it always has so much fuel left.

[NASI Director]

I used it as a mid-stage engine for my almost-look-alike Saturn. It lifts my 4.5 tonne payload pretty darn well if you ask me.

[softweir]

So... not only am I using it wrong... but I also had the wrong name?! *facepalms self*

Oh, well, we all make mistakes...

We need more detail! Maybe you could post a couple pics of your rockets, better still a video of a launch attempt.

[DrJonez]

The Skipper is pretty great. I use it a fair bit. Like others have said, it fills the gap between the Mainsail and the smaller engines perfectly.

[Aqua667]

Skipper is amazing! Great for heavyish payload's final circulazation burn (as stated before), or as a booster engine when I don't need the brutal mainsail. I like how the engine nozzle looks, dark carbon fiber/tungsten carbine colored. Before the skipper it was from 220 Kn on the poodle to 1500 on the mainsail.

[Merinsan]

I have to say, since it's introduction, it's one of my favorites. I frequently use it to do transfers from LKO to the Mun.

As to why you are crashing...maybe you are just using it inappropriately.

[justadude]

Please, please change the title. I almost cried when I saw it. How can anyone not love the Skipper.

[acealeam]

The only useless one I can think of is the aerospike, but it atleast looks really cool!

[UmbralRaptor]

The Skipper is useful in that it fills in a thrust gap between the the LV-T30 (or *shudder* Poodle) and the Mainsail, as well as providing niceties like electricity and TVC. That said, its actual performance is utterly meh. 3x LV-T30s get you essentially the same thrust and better Isp for less mass.

Edited August 9, 2013 by UmbralRaptor