How are cargo bays meant to work?

[ninjawafflesofdoom]

I haven't played in a while and I noticed that there's these Mk2 Cargo Bay CRG-08 parts now. I'm not sure how those are supposed to work though.

How do I get things to clip inside in the first place, and later how do I release them? Docking ports?

If you have any clever tricks and tips, I'd love to see some pics.

Edited October 17, 2014 by ninjawafflesofdoom

[Franklin]

A hotkey (hold ALT) disables radial snapping now, and it came with the .25 update that gave us cargo bays. You'll need to use that to get things to snap to the nodes inside the cargo bays, and it's helpful in a number of other cases, too.

And you're right, typically people use docking ports to connect things in there, but I've seen pretty much anything at this point.

The only real "tips" are that you can hide the ugly, radial parts in there (batteries, radial mono containers, science stuff) for a sleeker profile, and you can flip it upside down for a "bomb bay" style part.

Also, because stock aero is so bad, you can stack air intakes in there and they still work normally, and be able to hide those, too.

[Alshain]

Decouplers, separators, and docking ports are really your only options, however you may need struts for longer things as well. Having a "mating" docking port in the bay is not required as long as you don't plan on putting the cargo back in you can still decouple a single port from whatever it is attached to. As Franklin said, hold the MOD key to disable radial attachment.

Edited October 17, 2014 by Alshain

[LABHOUSE]

You don't even really need anything like a docking port just use the recs on the payload to get out.

[Alshain]

You don't even really need anything like a docking port just use the recs on the payload to get out.

Huh? You have to attach it to the ship or the moment you time warp it will fly right through the craft. The only way to attach it and still be able to get it out is either a decoupler, a separator, or a docking port. That's assuming you could even launch it, which you can't if you don't attach it to the ship. Of course not all payloads are meant to be removed.

Edited October 17, 2014 by Alshain

[Wanderfound]

Huh? You have to attach it to the ship or the moment you time warp it will fly right through the craft. The only way to attach it and still be able to get it out is either a decoupler, a separator, or a docking port. That's assuming you could even launch it, which you can't if you don't attach it to the ship. Of course not all payloads are meant to be removed.

Sometimes accidentally. I just had to abort a satellite deployment mission when I realised that I'd forgotten to put a decoupler between the payload and the end of the bay.

I also experimented earlier with using cargo bays for unsecured passengers (no command seat). Not recommended.

[Laie]

I also experimented earlier with using cargo bays for unsecured passengers (no command seat). Not recommended.

Works well as long as you don't go on timewarp (physics warp is OK, though).

[Alshain]

Yeah Scott Manley did that once to rescue a rag dolled Kerbal successfully. He just couldn't time warp. I've retrieved a faulty payload that was carrying expensive solar arrays not long ago the same way. That was with B9 cargo bays though. (I too forgot the decouplers and they were stuck attached to the Quad Coupler).