What is the least useful non-structural part?

[Dispatcher]

What Part in KSP is the worst or the most useless? I feel like the most common answer would be a structural part, like the Radial Engine Body or most of the adapters. But what I want to hear is what non-structural part do you think is the most pointless? I personally think that it's either the Place-Anywhere 7 Linear RCS port or the Rockomax Mark 55 Radial Mount Liquid Engine

Necro thread is back from the dead. As to the Mark 55 Radial engines, take a look at the graphs linked in my sig line. They are from a chart which is based on engine testing I did. You can see that 3 Radial 55s are capable of lifting a total mass of nearly 39 tons to an altitude of over 7200 meters at Kerbin; with half the mass being non-fuel. They lift over half the mass in the same tests as did the Skipper. They carry more mass than the Poodle, to the same altitude. The thrust for 3 of these radials is 360 kn. They really are good not only for launching stages, but for landers. A minimum set up of 3 Radial 55s can act as landing legs too, so the mass and drag and part count of legs is eliminated. Plus the radials do not add to the length of a craft as do inline engines.

If you want more thrust on the same stage, just add more engine(s).

[Pockrtplanesairways]

I would rather use 909s or a poodle. They're only good for large rockets that need better TWR and gimbal.

I believe you at the first part but I ike to use them for landing though. I do prefer the LV-N though.

I vote SQUADâ„¢ should up the Isp on the Mark 55 and make it more acceptible to picky people.

Edited February 13, 2014 by Vanamonde

[CaptainGiblets]

This. Is. Useless, But look at it's crash tolerance! It's a structural pylon if you forgot Edited February 13, 2014 by CaptainGiblets

[m4rt14n]

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/w/images/0/0e/Structural_Pylon.png This. Is. Useless, But look at it's crash tolerance! It's a structural pylon if you forgot

I think you can make some good weapons delivery with that underneath wings.

[Rakaydos]

The aircraft parts that have the black heat shielding are useful as jet fuel tanks on Laythe, the small one weighs less than a standard jet fuel tank.

If you drain the oxidiser, the regular fuel tank weighs less.

[SSSPutnik]

If you drain the oxidiser, the regular fuel tank weighs less.

*facepalm*

[UmbralRaptor]

If you drain the oxidiser, the regular fuel tank weighs less.

In terms of mass ratios, Mk2,3, etc fuselages > rocket tanks with drained oxidizer > Mk 1 fuselage

[roblamb98]

i think the most useless part in the game is Lv-1 engine, you know, the one for ants. i have only ever seen it used onece and poorly mind you my the Z-map satellite launch kit.

[BadRocketsCo.]

I voted for Ion engines because I am too lazy to usethem . But sure, for peoplepeople, who can wait for longer period of times, it can be useful. So on second thought, I will choose the winglets, which have no control surfaces.

[astropapi1]

"If you drain the oxidiser, the regular fuel tank weighs less."

Words to live by.

[CalculusWarrior]

The ion engines and LV-1 might get some more use, as they're being tweaked for the upcoming update.

[nerdboy64]

This is a tough one, and everyone's making a good case for the things they think are useless. But for me, it has to be the ion engine. Even though KSP's version is much more powerful than real-life equivalents, it's still too weak to be practical on anything. Even if the main body of the craft were literally an ion engine, a xenon tank, and a probe, it would need so many generator parts that it would still be too heavy for the engine. In fact, the only use I've found for it was making rovers before rover wheels were added (and even then it couldn't climb the smallest hill). I've also tried making solar aircraft with them, but I find that most of the power comes from the infiniglide bug to the point where the engine may as well not exist. Other engines, even the horrendously inefficient ones, have SOME use. I've even found a use for the tiny grey one:

Escape pods!

But never have I found a situation in which the ion engine is even somewhat practical.

[Clockwork13]

the LV1 liquid fuel engine has about enough fuel to get you 3 meters off the ground.

[Nemrav]

white radial engine : when you need thrust on a rover carrying landing (rover underslung) and you don't want your staging hidden from the shear amount of rockomaxes...

well my uterly useless part has to be..... the clamp-o-tron jr. I have clicked on it to see how it looks and thats it, if you're building a spacecraft so big it needs them, why are you doing it probe sized multi-launches....

donut tank, I use it, it combined with oscar-b s take such a tiny space !

[cantab]

The Jr docking port has plenty of uses. If you want to detach a small probe and have it return, or simply want your craft to be refuellable, it's the lightest option. It's also the right size to go on the small end of the Mk 1 command pod.

[makinyashikino]

It's not designed for inter planetary travel! it is a landing engine! Use It correctly!

I didn't say inter-planetary, I made a parallel to using a mainsail as something that is not it's intended purpose, I realise that it is a landing engine, but there are much better ones to use than that.

[karolus10]

I like the Linear RCS ports for keeping rovers on the ground, and the rockomax 55 for my bigger landers.

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/w/images/4/47/LV-1_Liquid_Fuel_Engine_HD.png this useless piece of ...tech... has never been used by my space agency. The much hated LV-1 Liguid fuel engine. 1.5 thrust almost no thrust and a pain in the ass to mount non radial.

Alacrity Fitzhugh

Actually I found this part quite useful as rendezvous thrusters for small and medium orbiters, but I believe that this engine should be using mono-propellant (better specific impulse than linear RCS), probe's using small bipropellant tanks (oscar) is bit ridiculous and some compact engines that could share fuel with RCS would be great for probes and light spacecraft service modules or space-plane OMS.

[WaveFunctionP]

Actually I found this part quite useful as rendezvous thrusters for small and medium orbiters, but I believe that this engine should be using mono-propellant (better specific impulse than linear RCS), probe's using small bipropellant tanks (oscar) is bit ridiculous and some compact engines that could share fuel with RCS would be great for probes and light spacecraft service modules or space-plane OMS.

You'll love this mod, I bet.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/24593-WIP-RLA-Stockalike-0-9-4-released-27th-November

[Jouni]

Let's see which parts I haven't used for anything succesful and can't figure out any real use for.

All Mk3 aircraft parts. They are ugly and hard to use with other parts.

LV-1 and LV-1R engines and ROUND-8 fuel tank. You can get much more delta-v with ion propulsion, much more power with 48-7S and 24-77 engines, and much more flexibility with RCS. The fuel tank just feels pointless.

Inline Advanced Stabilizer. You get the same functionality with the Inline Reaction Wheel and a probe core for less mass.

[TheDarkStar]

Probably the big radial engine. It actually used to be useful, back when there were fewer parts, but there is not really a point to using it anymore. There's always a better engine for whenever you want to use it.

[Jouni]

I use the big radial engines in launcher cores, when a Mainsail doesn't have enough thrust alone. Clusters of LV-T30s and LV-T45s would be a bit more efficient, at the price of higher part count. Sometimes I also put radial engines to the top of a launcher stage, as it helps to balance tall rockets with heavy payloads.

[magnemoe]

I like the Linear RCS ports for keeping rovers on the ground, and the rockomax 55 for my bigger landers.

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/w/images/4/47/LV-1_Liquid_Fuel_Engine_HD.png this useless piece of ...tech... has never been used by my space agency. The much hated LV-1 Liguid fuel engine. 1.5 thrust almost no thrust and a pain in the ass to mount non radial.

Alacrity Fitzhugh

The LV-1 is a bit obsolete, has a use for position satellites, you carry an small mapper as secondary payload and put it in an polar orbit.

You can just as well use two radial ants for better trust, an 48-7S has better ISP so its better for anything who need more than two oscar tanks.