Jump to content

Basic Aircraft Design - Explained Simply, With Pictures

keptin

By keptin
in KSP1 Tutorials

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Pondafarr

Pondafarr

Posted
Posted

I just have to say..I just retired from the USAF, and I worked at Barksdale AFB, LA (note the tail flash on that B-52) for about 15 years loading bombs and missiles on the BUFF.

The first time I saw one land (nose down) I thought it was crashing...(****, first day here and i'm gonna be picking up parts? FML) Fortunately, that just how that beast flies!

In extreme cases, such as a B-52, so much lift is produced relative to its unladen weight, it will fly level nose-down...even takeoff nose-down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
Locko1997

Locko1997

Posted
Posted

What about reentry, im having issues with it... Deadly reentry + FAR is kinda difficult for my plane, i reached 2200 m/s at 32000m, then i went a like at 20000 before the Air pressure and my aircraft wobbling made the wings to rip off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Taki117

Taki117

Posted
Posted (edited)
What about reentry, im having issues with it... Deadly reentry + FAR is kinda difficult for my plane, i reached 2200 m/s at 32000m, then i went a like at 20000 before the Air pressure and my aircraft wobbling made the wings to rip off.

Take it slow and easy. I also use DRE + FAR. Also, make sure youre reentry angle is decently shallow or you will burn up. With FAR don't make any large corrections low in the atmosphere or when moving greater than Mach 1. Another thing to consider is ensuring the CoM and CoL are in the proper orientation (you may need to move fuel forwards). Depending on Altitude you may need to make a couple of passes through the atmosphere. With FAR, despite it not looking like you are slowing down (Below 69km) your Apoapsis will be dropping.

Edited by Taki117
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
DaJay42

DaJay42

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yup I done did it :) It's sailing through the air majestically. Like an eagle. Piloting a blimp.

Surprisingly, flying it is the easy part. CoM/CoL are reasonably aligned, there's sufficient lift & control, etc.

Getting it off the runway in one piece is a nightmare tho.

Will post some more pics when I get the chance to.

Edit: Here they are!

Javascript is disabled. View full album
Edited by DaJay42
PICS!
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pecan

Pecan

Posted
Posted
Help, if I install FAR, then I suck at flying rockets, but if I don't I cannot get a plane off the ground, what should I do?

a. Uninstall FAR and get a flight-simulator for when you want to fly planes.

b. Uninstall FAR and learn to build planes that work in stock KSP.

c. Uninstall FAR and try NEAR.

d. Leave FAR installed and learn to fly rockets with it.

75% of your options say uninstall FAR if it's not meeting your needs. 50% of your options say practice more. ;-0

Link to comment
Share on other sites
KerbMav

KerbMav

Posted
Posted

For rockets:

- make sure the center of mass stays way up and ahead of the center of lift/drag

- do not accelerate to fast, keep your TWR at 1.2 to 1.6

- turn over gradually beginning at about 100m/s vertical velocity reaching 45 degrees at about 20km, do not tilt to 45 degrees at 15km like in stock KSP

- use fairings/nose cones as well as fins at the bottom stage

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Smurfalot

Smurfalot

Posted
Posted (edited)
a. Uninstall FAR and get a flight-simulator for when you want to fly planes.

b. Uninstall FAR and learn to build planes that work in stock KSP.

c. Uninstall FAR and try NEAR.

d. Leave FAR installed and learn to fly rockets with it.

75% of your options say uninstall FAR if it's not meeting your needs. 50% of your options say practice more. ;-0

For rockets:

- make sure the center of mass stays way up and ahead of the center of lift/drag

- do not accelerate to fast, keep your TWR at 1.2 to 1.6

- turn over gradually beginning at about 100m/s vertical velocity reaching 45 degrees at about 20km, do not tilt to 45 degrees at 15km like in stock KSP

- use fairings/nose cones as well as fins at the bottom stage

Thank you both for the advice. I will just need to practice more with these unruly physics.

Edit: @Keptin This is an incredible tutorial that has opened up a whole new aspect of the game for me (i.e., added one more thing for me to suck at)

I managed to try out your EZ Trainer Mk7, after a few minor adjustments to account for parts available in my tech tree, the thing flys like a dream...actually it almost flies too well....I had trouble getting it back on the ground, but that is mostly a matter of practice.

I know you are aiming for coverage basic design, but can you cover the mechanics and basics of banking and turning and lining up with the runway to help land? Or is that a separate tutorial?

Edited by Smurfalot
Link to comment
Share on other sites
keptin

keptin

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks folks!

I know you are aiming for coverage basic design, but can you cover the mechanics and basics of banking and turning and lining up with the runway to help land? Or is that a separate tutorial?

I've received a lot of requests to do a flight tutorial, but for all the time it would take to put something like that together, players could learn better through practice and trial & error. Understandably, it can be difficult to learn on certain designs of aircraft, which I why I supplied the EZ Trainer to learn the basics on. Beyond that, any real life flight manual will cover concepts applicable to KSP.

An additional note: I think a joystick/controller is pretty essential for aircraft since the keyboard doesn't allow for small adjustments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Wanderfound

Wanderfound

Posted
Posted
I know you are aiming for coverage basic design, but can you cover the mechanics and basics of banking and turning and lining up with the runway to help land? Or is that a separate tutorial?

Basic quick version: level planes turn horribly. To make them turn, you need to bank and then pull up. As you bank, watch the navball. If your nose starts dipping below level, either reduce your bank or yaw upwards to keep the nose up. If you have FAR installed, watch the flight condition indicator and back off if it gets beyond minor stall.

As for landing...the trick is to get lined up, slow and low as early as possible. Watch your bearing; the KSC runway is east-west, so if you're in line your bearing should be 90 or 270 degrees.

You may find it helpful to park a rover just off each end of the runway to use as navigation beacons. Set the furthest one as a target on approach, and aim for it. Occasionally flick your target to the other one; if both targets are on a heading of 90 (or 270 if you're coming from the east), then you know that you're roughly in line with the strip.

At landing, bleed off as much speed as possible, but try to avoid any vigorous manoeuvres once you're over the strip (you'll probably over-correct and make things worse). A touchdown speed of 100m/s or so is fine. Be prepared to do a bit of very gentle steering after you land, and make sure that you have the steering unlocked on your front gear.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
Smurfalot

Smurfalot

Posted
Posted
Basic quick version: level planes turn horribly. To make them turn, you need to bank and then pull up. As you bank, watch the navball. If your nose starts dipping below level, either reduce your bank or yaw upwards to keep the nose up. If you have FAR installed, watch the flight condition indicator and back off if it gets beyond minor stall.

As for landing...the trick is to get lined up, slow and low as early as possible. Watch your bearing; the KSC runway is east-west, so if you're in line your bearing should be 90 or 270 degrees.

You may find it helpful to park a rover just off each end of the runway to use as navigation beacons. Set the furthest one as a target on approach, and aim for it. Occasionally flick your target to the other one; if both targets are on a heading of 90 (or 270 if you're coming from the east), then you know that you're roughly in line with the strip.

At landing, bleed off as much speed as possible, but try to avoid any vigorous manoeuvres once you're over the strip (you'll probably over-correct and make things worse). A touchdown speed of 100m/s or so is fine. Be prepared to do a bit of very gentle steering after you land, and make sure that you have the steering unlocked on your front gear.

Thanks a bunch, I have been using this advice to good effect. I really appreciate the help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...