How do I spaceplane

[Legendary Emu]

I can't land mah planes at KSC, because either I overshoot it by infinite or nearly crash into the mountains. plz halp.

[Vanamonde]

KSP planes have weird glide ratios. It just takes practice. Have you tried landing on open ground? The runway is a rather small target for an inexperienced pilot.

[Taki117]

Assuming you can get to space to begin with...

[capi3101]

Myself, I've got an ILS set up - that does take time to do but it pays off in the long run, especially if you intend to spaceplane a lot. Here's what you do: you want to set out a series of ground beacons, one at the ocean end of the runway, one at the other end (the starting end), then further west from that one you put beacons at 1 km, then 5 km from that one, then moar beacons at 5 km intervals to as far out as you're comfortable doing. My own ILS goes out to 30 kilometers. The beacons don't have to be much; a powered probe core will suffice, and rover delivery works well.

Then when you want to land, you can use the beacons as a guide. First of all, if you set them up with little variation in north/south, you can use them to help guide your runway alignment. Second, the beacons act as a slope indicator - your distance to the beacon plus its distance to the end of the runway will give you the altitude you want to be at - one hundred times that sum. For example, if you're 20.2 kilometers to the ten kilometer beacon, you want your altimeter to read somewhere around 3,020 meters. (20.2 + 20 = 30.2, 30.2*100 = 3,020). That doesn't work all the way to the ground since the elevation of the runway is at about seventy meters, but it should give you a good feel for whether you're high or low at least, and should get close to a reasonable glideslope.

As for getting to the runway itself, from Kerbin orbit you want to set a maneuver node that will put your periapsis onto the ground over on the next continent (not the dinky little peninsula on the same continent, but on the other continent), roughly seventy degrees downrange of KSC. Eyeball it; you'll be okay as long as you've still got gas in the tank. If you find yourself short, you can still fly to KSC if you've got a little gas in the tank (5-10k's when the jets have that 2000+ Isp). If you overshoot, you can double back; your ILS will still be able to help you set up your alignment at least, though you'll just have the ocean beacon to help you with glide slope.

[wasmic]

As for getting to the runway itself, from Kerbin orbit you want to set a maneuver node that will put your periapsis onto the ground over on the next continent (not the dinky little peninsula on the same continent, but on the other continent), roughly seventy degrees downrange of KSC. Eyeball it; you'll be okay as long as you've still got gas in the tank. If you find yourself short, you can still fly to KSC if you've got a little gas in the tank (5-10k's when the jets have that 2000+ Isp). If you overshoot, you can double back; your ILS will still be able to help you set up your alignment at least, though you'll just have the ocean beacon to help you with glide slope.

Of course this is dependent on how steeply you are going to reenter. If you have lots of gas, you can wait until you are over the desert and aim for just below the large island north-east of KSC. Takes ~200 m/s of dV for such a steep reentry, but it's easier to hit.

[_jack]

Look at this video:

It is really helpful.

[roblamb98]

the flat area all around ksc is a haven for new pilots, just keep your engines below 50% and glide down, land AND THEN turn on brakes, bad things can happen when you land with brakes on.

[Dentarg]

BTW what is Jool "lower atmosphere" border? Is it possible to make a spaceplane for mining science from there with returning back? Without efficient jet engines and with thick dense atmosphere it's nearly impossible

[Othuyeg]

Where on KSC are you trying to land?

http://www.twitch.tv/othuyeg/c/3868521

[Hodo]

BTW what is Jool "lower atmosphere" border? Is it possible to make a spaceplane for mining science from there with returning back? Without efficient jet engines and with thick dense atmosphere it's nearly impossible

Jet engines will not work on Jool, no air to breath for them to operate. But yes it is possible to make a spaceplane that works with rockets and dip down into the atmosphere and fly back out of Jool for science.