Plane/ru

A Черное копье Mk1 взлетает с ВПП .

Аэроплан - это летательный аппарат, который взлетает горизонтально в атмосфере с использованием подъемной силы, создаваемой крыльями или винглетами. Аэропланы обычно используют кислородные реактивные двигатели, отказавшиеся от дополнительного веса окислителя требующийся ракетным двигателям. Поэтому, в атмосфере могут легко преодолятся большие расстояния, но с другой стороны атмосфера вызывает возмущения все время, предотвращая возможность стабильной орбиты, пока аэроплан не в состоянии покинуть атмосферу.

Planes are build in the Ангар and start from the ВПП. It is possible to build planes in the ЦВС but from there planes would start on the Стартовый стол, whose small size makes a horizontal takeoff difficult. There are various stock planes available in the Space Plane Hangar.

The fastest known plane moved at about 2377 m/s relative to the ground a bit short of Mach 7 in 0.23. At this speed it is possible to circumnavigate Кербин in about 29 minutes at an altitude of 40 km. For comparison the speed required to orbit Kerbin at 70 km (outside the atmosphere) is only 2296 m/s.

Another hazard to planes are flameouts, which occur when not enough intake air/ru is available, especially when there are engines generating thrust off the центр масс. This could lead to an unstable flight, when only engines on one side fail and engines on the other side continue to generate thrust applying torque.

Виды

It is possible to build planes which can leave the atmosphere and achieve orbit. Those planes are called spaceplanes and require another source of thrust besides jets to ascend out of the upper atmosphere, most commonly rocket engines.

Another form of plane is a glider. Those don't use any fuel to propel them and simply exchange height with velocity. As there is no weather, no updrafts exist, so gliders can't ascend without losing speed. Launching gliders can also be problematic. However, the aerodynamics system can also be exploited to produce infinite gliders, which accelerate without the use of engines.

Воздушный запуск на орбиту

→ Смотрите также: Air launch to orbit on Wikipedia

Rockets could be carried higher into the atmosphere by planes to use the more efficient jet engines for part of the way. Because the rocket then starts higher up, the drag by the atmosphere is lower and the engines do work more efficient. A plane also imparts momentum on the rocket prior to the rocket launching. The plane must also carry the rocket which limits it size and mass. Also releasing the rocket is tricky, although Sepratrons I can assist in pushing the rocket from the plane.

Airplanes should reach altitudes between 15 and 20 kilometers to be effective and reach speeds up to 1000 m/s at release to reduce the speed which is required by the rocket. To keep the rocket's mass and size low only one or two stages are recommended.