Plane

A Ravenspear Mk1 taking off from the Runway.

A plane is any craft which flies horizontally in an atmosphere utilizing lift generated from wings, winglets, or control surfaces. Such flight involves lift-induced drag; to sustain flight, planes overcome drag using a reaction engine.

Along with rockets, planes are one of KSP's most commonly referenced kinds of vessel though it is not explicitly a vessel type.

Usage

In atmosphere, planes cover lateral distances with lower thrust than rockets, thus less fuel and less weight. Planes are great for traversing Kerbin and, after an interplanetary journey, other celestial bodies with an atmosphere.

Planes usually take advantage of jet engines, which require air intakes to breathe in atmospheric oxygen, allowing them to forego carrying the weight of oxidizer needed by rocket engines. Jet engines are fuel-efficient, thus great distances can easily be covered within atmosphere. However, drag at low altitudes reduces both efficiency and top speed. On Kerbin, the altitude with an optimal balance for minimizing drag and availability of intake air occurs between approximately 20 km & 24 km.

A hazard to jets, especially at high altitudes, is engine flameouts caused by lack of intake air. Planes often have jet engines paired in bilateral symmetry, but it's rare both engines flameout simultaneously. Thrust then becomes asymmetrical about the plane's center of mass, applying turning torque that can easily cause a “flat spin” like a frisbee. Planes often have difficulty regaining control and thus may land in multiple pieces, if any. The higher the altitude, the higher the speed required for an intake to collect a given amount of intake air. On Kerbin, the highest that even supersonic jets can meet minimum intake requirements is around 40&nbps;km.

Planes operating above the range of jets require secondary propulsion, typically rocket engines. Such planes are “spaceplanes” as in the name of the “Spaceplane Hangar”. Atmospheric drag still prevents achieving orbit unless and until the plane is able to fully clear the atmosphere. On Kerbin this is around 70 km.

Outside of an atmosphere, planes are disadvantaged by the extra weight of their wings. Landings are also more complex without an aerodynamic glide path to smooth final approach. This may result in wing breakage. Flight is otherwise identical at this point with traditional spacecraft.

Construction

As a rule, planes are built in the Spaceplane Hangar and takeoff horizontally (STOL) from the Runway. Planes can be built in the Vehicle Assembly Building, but construction with radial rather than bilateral symmetry severely hampers balanced placement of aerodynamic parts, and the Launch pad is inferior for horizontal takeoff. Various stock planes available in the Spaceplane Hangar in Sandbox game are working examples of different kinds of planes.

Center of lift and its position relative to center of mass is crucial to aerodynamics. Positioning and angling of the wings and other aerodynamic parts can be a complex process. Also, fuel consumption during flight tends to shift the center of mass. Care must be taken during construction to ensure proper fuel flow so the relation between lift and mass don't become undesirable. Keeping the total amount of fuel

Also, keeping the center of thrust at least roughly co-planar with the center of mass is vital. Otherwise, attitude control (pitch, yaw, or roll) and SAS have to compensate to maintain level flight.

Categories

Airplanes are powered by jets and designed to remain within an atmosphere.

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.

Air launch to orbit

→ See also: 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 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.

Flight characteristics

The fastest known plane demonstrated, in version 0.23, a top speed of about 2377 m/s relative to Kerbin's surface — just short of Mach 7. At this speed it is possible to circumnavigate Kerbin in about 29 minutes at an altitude of 40 km. For comparison the speed of a stable Low Kerbin Orbit at 70 km (outside the atmosphere) is only 2296 m/s.