Stability indicator design / idea

[DundraL]

EDIT: Read Romfarer's section of the latest dev notes to see more of what this is about.

Well I'll just cut to the chase. THIS is what I think a good stability indicator would look like for the VAB/SPH. It was put together in paint in a few minutes so don't expect anything pretty.

Its based on assets already in-game and is simple to understand compared to the amount of information you get out of it. Its literally a smaller scaled C.O.L. indicator with a stick on it, attached to the existing C.O.L. indicator.

Directions for use:

Try to keep COM indicator (yellow) between the blue spheres for controllable stable flight.

-A- (green) Good positioning: craft is stable and control surfaces can overcome this stability to maneuver. Good for Planes. (Optionally a piece of bacon should appear to let users know it will be wonderful to fly. mmmm bacon.)

-B- (blue) Very Stable positioning: Craft will be very stable, but control surfaces will have great difficulty changing direction of flight. Good for rockets.

-C- (red) Unstable: Craft will have difficulty remaining stable in flight, maintaining control becomes difficult.

That's it. While users may not know the aerodynamic implications of COL/COM positioning, this tool I believe should be enough to learn really quick (You just learned how to use it with 6-7 sentences and a picture) and informative enough to help them design a rocket/plane that can stay in the air. While doing this it can still give the intermediate user a detailed indication of how their plane will (wont?) fly.

Now for the more intricate stuff. By changing/scaling the distance between the stability marker and the COL marker based on control authority, you can see how maneuverable your craft will be. This can help newbies figure out how many control surfaces they need too. How to calculate control authority? That's up to you. Ratio of lifting surfaces to control surfaces divided by mass? Who knows, but I'm sure someone has a better formula than me.

(Well since you did say you wanted to hear about balancing ideas:) http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/92819-An-arguement-for-a-simple-intake-jet-engine-tweak

This is mostly just a thread version of a previous post buried in the devnotes. But still do you guys think this would be useable enough and simple enough to implement/ understand?

Oh and perhaps make COM can COL markers available for viewing in-flight via the F12 menu?

Edited January 15, 2015 by DundraL

[Scoundrel]

I so want to see flying bacon in KSP. It should even have its own biome.

Also I like the idea.

[CaptainKipard]

I don't get it. What's the little one?

[DundraL]

It is a marker to let users new to aircraft design know how far behind the COM their COL marker should be. What the little marker is is the point where your control surfaces can overcome the inherent stability of your craft, allowing it to maneuver instead of act like a lawn dart. Where it is relative to the COL should be based on either some arbitrary distance that works for most planes, or be based on the ratio of control surfaces to lifting surfaces or something along those lines.

[Kegereneku]

Idea :

From the spaceplane assembly you clic on a "Wind tunnel" button.

In said wing tunnel physic is not "calculated" but :

- the CoM, CoL, drag...etc are visible

- the throttle don't change engine thrust but air-speed

- flight control do work

- and you get indicator of wherever the plane go at any time.

Just got that idea reading Harv's blog

[Crimson Sunrise]

I'm pretty sure they use fluid dynamics for those kinds of tests.

But since it's KSP, the crash dummy style 'notation' is suitable.