Landing difficulty increases with gravity, usually requiring small vertical rockets or tail-mounted landing legs. In a vertical landing, normally placed landing gear face 90 degrees off retrograde burn vector, so they cannot be used unless there's time to pitch the plane down to a level orientation after vertical speed is within safe tolerances. Regardless, the plane's wings' mass increase inertia and they're also vulnerable to breakage − drawbacks not faced with a typical rocket lander. A backwards landing can allow using engines to shorten the braking distance but likely complicates visibility and control. Landing a spaceplane without an atmosphere is more difficult than within one.įor a standard horizontal landing, finding a suitable strip of flat terrain can be a significant challenge, and there will be no aerodynamics to smooth the approach. Smaller bodies' terrain, especially Mun's, is usually rougher than larger ones', so it may require more time scouting before deorbiting. Most celestial bodies have some level areas among occasional mountain ranges, cliffs, or craters. The second runway, at the Island Airfield, is a dirt landing strip that is both shorter and narrower than the KSC runway, impeding landing.Īny sufficiently flat terrain can be landed on. If an approach fails, landing is still possible on the flat surrounding area. The first is at KSC, where most spaceplanes are also launched. Kerbin has two runways whereupon spaceplanes can land. During emergencies or beyond good landing spots, separating the command module and landing it with parachutes can save the crew in dense atmospheres. Parachutes, rocket engines, and the gear's built-in brakes can slow the craft. Landing is most often done with only landing gear, which was also used during takeoff. Since the center of mass usually moves during flight due to fuel consumption, the craft can be trimmed using Mod+ W A S D, essentially setting the 'default' position of the steering systems.
SAS is commonly maintains attitude while in atmosphere lest the spaceplane tilt if its center of mass is not at its center of lift. Winglets, control surfaces, or reaction wheels enable atmospheric maneuvering, with RCS sometimes used in extreme situations. Raising the periapsis out of the atmosphere requires non-airbreathing engines. Such airbreathing engines are rarely capable of raising apoapsis out of Kerbin's atmosphere, and can never raise periapsis above their maximum operational height.
A plane with only jet engines cannot reach a stable orbit because its engines will shut down before leaving the atmosphere.
Reaction engines sometimes replace jet engines to simplify construction without restricting the craft to oxygenated atmosphere, but reducing the efficiency even more. In space or oxygen-free atmospheres, less efficient reaction engines must be used. Jet engines can efficiently propel craft in Kerbin and Laythe's atmospheres. 3 are like the Space Shuttle to varying degrees the Dynawing, the Learstar A1 and the Slim Shuttle. The latter especially shows how simple a small spaceplane can be with the CR-7 R.A.P.I.E.R. Various pre-built stock spaceplanes are available, 2 of which are SSTO spaceplanes the Aeris 4A and the Dove. Spaceplanes are usually built in the Spaceplane Hangar and launched from the Runway, and some are launched from the Launch pad - often with a rocket reaching space.
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