Asparagus staging question

[larc9783]

Hi, i've recently started trying to use the asparagus method but i'm having a big issue. Namely, the crossfeed is working the opposite direction from what it should. What am I doing wrong? The inner tank is feeding the other boosters and by the end of it, only the outer boosters have any fuel. Any help?

[LethalDose]

When connecting fuel lines, Make sure you start with 'outer' tank, and attach to the 'inner'. The order you "draw" the fuel lines in will determine the direction of the flow. the lines also have arrows on them that indicate flow direction so you can check:

"Source" tank >>> "Target" tank

[xcorps]

Yep. When I first started to make asparagus staging, I found it helps to mark the last set of tanks with a tail fin or something like that. Then draw the fuel lines from the last drop tanks to the center tank, then from the first drop tanks to the second, second to the third, then the third to the last. Set up the staging first.

Also, Welcome to the forums.

[Bilfr3d]

I can get tricky if you don't keep an eye on things... especially if you are me... making 20 stage asparagus launchers.. I mean, what??

[Kasuha]

There are little black arrows on pipes after you place them, they tell you the direction the fuel is drawn through them.

Of course, it is also possible you're making some other mistake but without screenshots, craft file, or at least detailed description it's hard to tell.

You may also be interested in how fuel drawing actually works.

[SRV Ron]

When building asparagus staging rockets, it is less confusing to do the following;

1. Assemble the core stage.

2. Place one pair of vertical decouplers on the core stage using 2x symmetry.

3. Build the booster stage in 2X.

4. Attach the fuel line pair from the booster to the core stage. Do that at the bottom fuel can to avoid fuel flow issues.

5. Copy the assembly by selecting one of the boosters at its decoupler using Alt left mouse click.

6. Paste to the core stage.

7. Put that pair of decouplers into its own staging location and under the original pair.

8. Rearrange the fuel line so that it goes to the adjacent original pair instead of the core stage.

9. Copy the assembly as before using Alt left mouse click and paste in place. Note, the fuel lines will be placed correctly this time.

10. Arrange the staging for that pair as normal.

This is so much simpler then placing a 6x symmetry and trying to rearrange everything after the fact.

Here is an example of what that would look like using NovaPunch parts for simplicity of setup.

[SRV Ron]

I can get tricky if you don't keep an eye on things... especially if you are me... making 20 stage asparagus launchers.. I mean, what??

Better to do them in tri, quad or just onion stage those more complex Wackjob designs. It makes flying them a lot easier without affecting performance.