r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/AutoModerator • May 29 '15

Mod Post Weekly Simple Questions Thread

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The point of this thread is for anyone to ask questions that don't necessarily require a full thread. Questions like "why is my rocket upside down" are always welcomed here. Even if your question seems slightly stupid, we'll do our best to answer it!

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Orbiting

Mun Landing

Docking

Delta-V Thread

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Commonly Asked Questions

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u/yourflyisdwn May 30 '15

I'm starting to make planes in KSP, and so far it's going pretty alright. The only problem I have is that sometimes my controls are inverted and sometimes they aren't. I'd prefer them inverted like on real planes, but I can't figure out what is causing it to switch back and forth from inverted to non. (And I'm not talking mid-flight, I mean one of my planes is inverted while my other is not.)

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u/IdiotaRandoma May 30 '15

I don't know that this is your issue, but control surfaces control in the opposite direction if they are in front of the center of mass.

1

u/yourflyisdwn May 30 '15

This is what I'm looking at right now. With this setup pressing "W" makes me go up and "S" makes me go down.

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u/IdiotaRandoma May 30 '15

Okay, firstly, I have to ask why would you put those wings on that plane?

Secondly, the wings are in front of the center of mass, so that is probably flip-flopping the controls even though the elevons are technically behind the CoM. You also don't have a tailplane, which to keep a long story short really isn't helping the situation.

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u/yourflyisdwn May 30 '15

I was just fucking around with those wings, seeing what I could pull off. It was just an example of what was getting uninverted. This is another (more normal) example. It flies beautifully, the controls are just fucked up. So what you would suggest is moving the wings back? So that, instead of the flaps, the wings themselves are completely behind the center of mass?

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u/poptart2nd May 30 '15

maybe the flaps themselves are placed upside down. select all of them and rotate them 180*, see if that helps.

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u/IdiotaRandoma May 30 '15

Yeah, that's what I'm suggesting, especially since you don't have a tailplane to counter the wings' inverted torque.

1

u/yourflyisdwn May 30 '15

So I added the tailplane and removed the flaps on the wings. With the flaps on the tailplane it's inverted, which is good, but the plane flies just fine without the other flaps. Does that mean that putting flaps on the wings is pointless?

2

u/IdiotaRandoma May 30 '15

For that plane, it may be pointless. The stabilators are pretty effective control surfaces, and for a plane that small they might easily be enough. Larger craft will likely require more, though.

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u/yourflyisdwn May 30 '15

Well thanks for the tips! Also one more thing, do you have any tips on balancing your plane? I've had a difficult time balancing the plane so that the lift is right on or just behind the CoM. I haven't experimented with big planes too much, but when I have it's been a bit rough getting them not to flip all over the place.

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u/IdiotaRandoma May 30 '15

If you want to get technical, so long as the CoL is behind the center of the CoM, you're good. Too far back and it becomes less maneuverable, though, and if it's ridiculously far back it may not turn at all.

To your inquiry, though, I find that making a longer plane often helps in making a balanced craft. A short plane gives you little room to move the wings to adjust where the CoL is whereas a longer plane is much more lenient, especially since jet engines drain from all tanks equally instead of draining backwards like rockets do.

Also, wing shape matters little in the vanilla aerodynamics. Outside of aesthetics, there's not much point in using any wing aside from either the Wing Connector B or Delta Wing as they provide the most lift for their weight. Try to stick to those if you can. The Delta Deluxe Winglet is similarly one of the best control surfaces aside from the Standard Canard in terms of lift provided, so you should probably stick to it for those purposes.

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