Whats the air intake parts air drag in Kerbal Space Program past 1.0?

[BACK]
Whats the air intake parts air drag in Kerbal Space Program past 1.0?
Posted On: April 3, 2023

I've been considering increasing efficiency of my early launch stages by adding jet engines. I found an old thread discussing the idea, and one post struck me as "make-or-break" of my idea:.


IMO, using jets as a first stage just leads to forming bad habits. It only works because the current drag model doesn't work. As soon as there is a realistic representation of drag in the game, jet engine first stages won't work. .


There's another, that explained why it worked pretty well:.


Also, try not to use any intakes except the ram intakes, but especially not the radials or double-especially the engine nacelles. They all have intakeair quantities and drag determined by the size of the intake, except that there's a cap on how high the drag will rise.and the cap's the same on all the different types of intakes. They all max out at '2'. Not sure if that's the drag coefficient or what(If it is, the Nacelle and the Radial are both far heavier as well, so that'd be EVEN WORSE!) Anyway, what happens is once you get some speed up, all the intakes end up with the drag capped, and yet they all produce less intakeair than the ram intakes. The radials don't produce much, and the engine nacelles barely produce any at all, and yet end up with massive drag anyway.


My idea is very simple, increasing the complexity only marginally: I have my Asparagus first stage with "thrust plate". I can simply strap a couple jet engines with their air intakes right to the outer side of a tank powering given stage rocket, no extra decouplers, fuel lines, tanks. .


They'd feed right off the same tank as the rocket, they'd switch off when "their" stage runs out of fuel, and they'd be discarded along with "their" stage. And for the sputter-out problem with lack of intake air, I'd simply not attach any to the stages that reach atmosphere too thin for jets. The only actual complexity-inducing change would be starting the jet engines and letting them spin up first before releasing the clamps and starting the rocket engines on the launchpad. .


But the make-or-break thing is air drag. If the jet engines (and their intakes) introduce so much drag they would hobble the rockets instead of aiding them, this won't work. And since the entire air drag model changed with 1.0, I don't know if the "2" cap is still valid. The Air intake page of KSP wiki is scarce in details.


Since I'm still quite a bit away from the ram air intake in the science tree, I'd be most interested in drag of the Circular Intake, but if you can provide a more complex analysis (other intakes, jet engines themselves etc) that would be most welcome.


Question from user SF. at gaming.stackexchange.com.


Answer:

Giving a blanket answer to "what's the drag value" for any part in KSP is difficult past 1.0 because drag does (and should) vary based on angle of attack (AoA). It used to be that drag was static based on AoA, so that "caps at 2" answer was valid. It also got changed several times after release, so that's probably why there wasn't reliable data out when you posted (late may).


According to this thread (which should be in 1.0.4), the axial intakes (one that sit at the 'end' of a stack, like the circular intake) seem to universally reduce drag, even when open, and even when compared to some nose cones. So definitely use the best intakes you have on the ends of added nacelles to reduce drag and suck in air.


The drag is going to increase as you add more radial intakes, though. I don't have a good, numerical answer for how much drag they're going to create. Even if there was, though, it would probably still be more effective to just titrate the number of radial intakes to effect, meaning keep adding them until you don't think the increase in intakes is effectively increasing the lifter's performance based on whatever parameters you want (power, duration of jet power, cost, etc).


Hope that helps.


Answer from user Orbital Vagabond at gaming.stackexchange.com.



[BACK]
Whats the air intake parts air drag in Kerbal Space Program past 1.0?
Posted On: April 3, 2023

I've been considering increasing efficiency of my early launch stages by adding jet engines. I found an old thread discussing the idea, and one post struck me as "make-or-break" of my idea:.


IMO, using jets as a first stage just leads to forming bad habits. It only works because the current drag model doesn't work. As soon as there is a realistic representation of drag in the game, jet engine first stages won't work. .


There's another, that explained why it worked pretty well:.


Also, try not to use any intakes except the ram intakes, but especially not the radials or double-especially the engine nacelles. They all have intakeair quantities and drag determined by the size of the intake, except that there's a cap on how high the drag will rise.and the cap's the same on all the different types of intakes. They all max out at '2'. Not sure if that's the drag coefficient or what(If it is, the Nacelle and the Radial are both far heavier as well, so that'd be EVEN WORSE!) Anyway, what happens is once you get some speed up, all the intakes end up with the drag capped, and yet they all produce less intakeair than the ram intakes. The radials don't produce much, and the engine nacelles barely produce any at all, and yet end up with massive drag anyway.


My idea is very simple, increasing the complexity only marginally: I have my Asparagus first stage with "thrust plate". I can simply strap a couple jet engines with their air intakes right to the outer side of a tank powering given stage rocket, no extra decouplers, fuel lines, tanks. .


They'd feed right off the same tank as the rocket, they'd switch off when "their" stage runs out of fuel, and they'd be discarded along with "their" stage. And for the sputter-out problem with lack of intake air, I'd simply not attach any to the stages that reach atmosphere too thin for jets. The only actual complexity-inducing change would be starting the jet engines and letting them spin up first before releasing the clamps and starting the rocket engines on the launchpad. .


But the make-or-break thing is air drag. If the jet engines (and their intakes) introduce so much drag they would hobble the rockets instead of aiding them, this won't work. And since the entire air drag model changed with 1.0, I don't know if the "2" cap is still valid. The Air intake page of KSP wiki is scarce in details.


Since I'm still quite a bit away from the ram air intake in the science tree, I'd be most interested in drag of the Circular Intake, but if you can provide a more complex analysis (other intakes, jet engines themselves etc) that would be most welcome.


Question from user SF. at gaming.stackexchange.com.


Answer:

Giving a blanket answer to "what's the drag value" for any part in KSP is difficult past 1.0 because drag does (and should) vary based on angle of attack (AoA). It used to be that drag was static based on AoA, so that "caps at 2" answer was valid. It also got changed several times after release, so that's probably why there wasn't reliable data out when you posted (late may).


According to this thread (which should be in 1.0.4), the axial intakes (one that sit at the 'end' of a stack, like the circular intake) seem to universally reduce drag, even when open, and even when compared to some nose cones. So definitely use the best intakes you have on the ends of added nacelles to reduce drag and suck in air.


The drag is going to increase as you add more radial intakes, though. I don't have a good, numerical answer for how much drag they're going to create. Even if there was, though, it would probably still be more effective to just titrate the number of radial intakes to effect, meaning keep adding them until you don't think the increase in intakes is effectively increasing the lifter's performance based on whatever parameters you want (power, duration of jet power, cost, etc).


Hope that helps.


Answer from user Orbital Vagabond at gaming.stackexchange.com.



[BACK]

Today I learned Today I learned

Posted On: August 29, 2023
That you can simply kill a dugbog by slicing its tongue. Question from user BoosterSeat3 at HogwartsLegacyGaming at reddit. Answer: Yeah! If you keep your eye on the dueling feats, they usual...[More]


Astarion hates me? Astarion hates me?

Posted On: September 28, 2023
Help, Astarion dislikes everything i do and every decision i make. Do i need to be a bad person in order him to like me? I love helping people and speaking to animals (i'm a druid) but he seems to...[More]


How to Farm and Harvest Crops Properly How to Farm and Harvest Crops Properly

Posted On: July 8, 2021
Mom always told me to eat my vegetables. Contrary to popular belief, a diet consisting entirely of steak is unhealthy and expensive. Eating meat is for rich people, and since you’re probably not...[More]


Which visual novels are represented by the animated avatars in the 2023 Steam Visual Novel Fest? Which visual novels are represented by the animated avatars in the 2023 Steam Visual Novel Fest?

Posted On: April 16, 2024
Steam is currently running the 2023 Steam Visual Novel Fest, giving out animated avatars of what I assume to be characters from various visual novel games. Which visual novels are these characters ...[More]


I’m 100% in Hogwarts Legacy and the collectibles trophy didn’t appear! I’m 100% in Hogwarts Legacy and the collectibles trophy didn’t appear!

Posted On: April 19, 2023
what must be done from then on so that I can receive my. deserved trophy? Question from user ArtistEconomy5090 at HogwartsLegacyGaming at reddit.com. Answer: 99% of the collection appears ...[More]


First time playing Hogwarts Legacy First time playing Hogwarts Legacy

Posted On: July 28, 2023
I haven't played this game yet and I've done a fantastic job at staying away from getting pretty much anything spoiled for me. That being said, what are some things (spoiler free please) that ...[More]


Which explosive guns can cause critical hits? Which explosive guns can cause critical hits?

Posted On: January 24, 2023
When I wrote How do I use elemental effects in Borderlands 2? to the best of my knowledge Explosive guns couldn't critical; I've tested this with "grenade" Assault Rifles, Gyrojet Tourge Assault Rifle...[More]


Who exactly is Fake Crash? Who exactly is Fake Crash?

Posted On: April 8, 2024
In Crash Bandicoot: Warped and also in N. Sane Trilogy you can see this weird (and fake) version of Crash dancing outside of some levels. He even became a playable character then in Crash Team Racing....[More]


Does the royal broadsword by the training dummies at Lookout Landing respawn? Does the royal broadsword by the training dummies at Lookout Landing respawn?

Posted On: August 12, 2023
I'm looking for a reliable source of royal broadswords for building powerful flurry rush weapons. Beside the training dummies in Lookout Landing are one each of Soldier's, Knight's, and Ro...[More]


Can I check how many stamps Ive collected in Mementos? Can I check how many stamps Ive collected in Mementos?

Posted On: January 30, 2023
When navigating Mementos in Persona 5 Royal, you can collect stamps at the stamps stations for Jose's upgrades. Each time you collect a stamp, it tells you on screen how many stamps you've collected, ...[More]