Eve hates me

[Talonsin]

For some reason, when I try to land on Eve, at the last minute my lander suddenly flips over. I even tried using Mechjeb but the same thing happens, I get to about 20 feet above the surface and then BAM, flip and explosion. I tried different landing spots and I tried using mechjeb to the last minute and then taking over manually but it continues to happen. The only thing I can think of is that I am trying to land near the water and there is some bug and the water is under me even though to me it shows the water is a long ways off. Any ideas?

Edited August 15, 2013 by Talonsin

[Stankleberry]

What kind of engines are you using? Maybe they are broken.

[Talonsin]

Can't remember the name but they are the ones that attach to the side, they are white and produce 120 thrust.

[Flixxbeatz]

One word: Parachutes. Don't even attempt to do a powered landing there.

Also, some screenshots will be appreicated.

And yea, Eve does hate everyone.

Edited August 15, 2013 by Flixxbeatz

[astropapi1]

1- Is your lander perfectly symmetric? If it isn't, it may be a consequence of the CoM shifting as fuel burns.

2- Are you using parachutes? Eve's atmosphere is very dense. Use it in your favor.

3- Try letting MJ perform the entire landing maneuver from orbit. It may get a little crazy if you don't give it enough space.

4- Please post a screenshot of the lander flying normally, an one of it mid-flip. That way, we'll be able to tell what's going on.

[Troberg]

Check your fuel lines. Chances are that the tanks are drained unevenly.

[magnemoe]

If it was an drag issue you should flip over earlier, usually under aerobraking, however if you drop stuff like an deorbit fuel tank this might change center off mass and get you to flip over.

But it sounds like an engine issue, best way to test is om launchpad, just launch it without asas and see if it flips.

[sgt_flyer]

Mmh, does the flip happen just after you deployed your landing legs ? If so, one of the legs is blocking the exhaust of one of your engines when deployed.

Also, are your engines above or near the center of mass (com which would shift under the engines when fuel tanks drains) ? The game doesn't handle correctly the engines in puller configuration. (Ideally, the gimballing should be reversed when engines are above / before the center of mass, but they do not reverse their controls, resulting in asas making correction inputs in the wrong way, and then applies more and more corrections, still in the wrong way.)

Edited August 15, 2013 by sgt_flyer

[annallia]

If it was an drag issue you should flip over earlier, usually under aerobraking, however if you drop stuff like an deorbit fuel tank this might change center off mass and get you to flip over.

But it sounds like an engine issue, best way to test is om launchpad, just launch it without asas and see if it flips.

mechjeb has issues with things like dropping a deorbit tank. Even if it centers your mass correctly for landing mechjeb has already planned its landing and tries to land as if you still had the tank hence the flipping. Work around for that is when you are fairly high up and already did your deorbit burn turn off mechjeb drop the tank and turn it back on which will make it reset its landing guidance though it may throw you off target a bit (never far).

That said when it comes to landing on eve I say chutes. Actually I say chutes, chutes, chutes, and why not? More chutes!

[ZenithRising]

Also, are your engines above or near the center of mass (com which would shift under the engines when fuel tanks drains) ? The game doesn't handle correctly the engines in puller configuration. (Ideally, the gimballing should be reversed when engines are above / before the center of mass, but they do not reverse their controls, resulting in asas making correction inputs in the wrong way, and then applies more and more corrections, still in the wrong way.)

That sounds like the answer to me.

[maccollo]

Are you using aerospikes?

[Talonsin]

It seems the issue was with my fuel distribution. I checked the side mounted fuel tanks as someone pointed out and they were uneven. I dumped all the fuel into the center tank so the side tanks were empty and that solved my problem. I have now landed on Eve. Thanks for all the help