Every part in the Aero category: what it does to the airflow around your ship, and its figures from the info card.
Aero parts shape how your rocket meets the air: a fin steers you in it, a wing lifts on it, a cone or a shield turns it aside. Read Air, heat and speed for why drag, heat and lift behave the way they do, and Building a rocket for how any part joins the stack.
Fin
Part · Aero · sold by Rocketry
A control surface: it deflects with your turn input and steers you in the air, with more authority than a reaction wheel once you are moving fast. Bolt two or more around a stack, near its base, for a stable ride.
Figure
Value
MASS
80 kg
COST
15 cr
DRAG NOSE-ON
0.55×
HEAT EXPOSURE
0.55×
MAX TEMP
2000 K
MAX G
20 g
IMPACT
12 m/s
BLAST
8 kN
NODES
1
CONTROL AREA
1.2 m²
DEFLECTION
±18°
SURFACE CL
1.6
It bolts to the flank of a tank or booster with one radial point. Mirror a pair, or four around the stack, so the steering it gives is even on every side.
Its Size slider, in the hangar only, scales the whole fin from half size up to two and a half times: bigger means more control area and more mass together. It has no in-flight actions of its own.
Pairs with any pod for steering low in the air. Instead of a fin, put a Wing where you want lift as well as control.
Wing
Part · Aero · sold by Wings
An airfoil seen edge-on: it lies flat over a tank, span toward you, and lifts on that curve. Trim the nose a few degrees up and it carries the ship's weight, which is what turns a rocket flown on its side into an aeroplane.
Figure
Value
MASS
360 kg
COST
150 cr
DRAG NOSE-ON
0.3×
HEAT EXPOSURE
0.3×
MAX TEMP
345 K
MAX G
20 g
IMPACT
12 m/s
BLAST
8 kN
NODES
1
STAGEABLE
YES
WING AREA
12 m²
MAX LIFT CL
2.4
STALL
22°
FLAPS
1.5× lift, 3× drag
ELEVON
±30°, trim held
Its root is a stud, not a rail: drop it anywhere on a tank's face and it joins right where you let go, lying over the tank rather than beside it.
Note
A wing's 345 K temperature limit is low: it is set by what the sim's heating reaches at Mach 1 at sea level, so a wing that goes supersonic low in the air is a wing lost, and one flown up where the air is thin is fine.
Tap the wing, or its part sheet in flight, for Extend flaps or Retract flaps. Flaps raise its lift and its drag together for a slower approach. Pull pitch in the air to wind the elevon trim, or use Centre elevon to zero it: the ship holds whatever angle you last set, hands-off. The properties sheet carries a Size slider (hangar only), a Flaps toggle and an Elevon trim slider, both usable in flight too, and flaps can also be staged as Flaps out / Flaps in.
Pairs with its own elevon and flaps for a glide you can land on a runway. Instead of a fin when you want lift, not just steering.
Aerocone
Part · Aero · sold by Aerodynamics
A shaped nose cone: it caps a stack for less drag going up and less heat coming down, and shields whatever rides directly behind it from the airflow.
Figure
Value
MASS
120 kg
COST
25 cr
DRAG NOSE-ON
0.12×
HEAT EXPOSURE
0.12×
BODY LIFT CL
0.3
MAX TEMP
2600 K
MAX G
35 g
IMPACT
18 m/s
BLAST
10 kN
NODES
1
Its one attachment point is on its base, so it caps whatever sits at the top of a stack: a tank, a pod, or a payload bay.
Its Size slider, in the hangar only, scales it from half size up to one and a half times, to match the stack it caps. It has no in-flight actions.
Pairs with the tank or pod it caps. Instead of the Slim Aerocone when the stack underneath is wider.
Slim Aerocone
Part · Aero · sold by Solid Boosters
A narrower nose cone for a narrower stack: the same job as the Aerocone, lighter and cheaper, sized for a booster rather than a full tank.
Figure
Value
MASS
70 kg
COST
20 cr
DRAG NOSE-ON
0.08×
HEAT EXPOSURE
0.08×
BODY LIFT CL
0.3
MAX TEMP
2600 K
MAX G
35 g
IMPACT
18 m/s
BLAST
8 kN
NODES
1
Its one attachment point is on its base, capping whatever sits at the top of the stack it tops, usually a Solid Booster.
Its Size slider, in the hangar only, scales it from half size up to one and a half times. It has no in-flight actions.
Pairs with a Solid Booster it tops. Instead of the Aerocone on a wider stack.
Heat Shield
Part · Aero · sold by Thermal Protection
An ablative disc for the base of a capsule: it burns away to carry re-entry heat off, riding out heat that cooks any other part. Fly the vessel base-first, dish into the wind, and it holds itself there while ablator remains.
Figure
Value
DRY MASS
140 kg
FULL MASS
380 kg
COST
220 cr
STORES ABLATION
240 u · 240 kg
DRAG NOSE-ON
1.0× (blunt)
HEAT EXPOSURE
1.35×
BODY LIFT CL
0.1
MAX TEMP
3600 K
MAX G
20 g
IMPACT
28 m/s
BLAST
20 kN
ABLATOR START
900 K
ABLATOR RATE
6 u/s
ABLATOR HEAT CD
0.22
NODES
2
SHIELD
Ablator burns away to carry the heat off; spent, the disc cooks
MOUNTING
Bolts under the capsule, stacked above the service section
FACING
Works base-first only: the dish must meet the air
TRIM
The dish turns itself into the wind and holds the vessel there
It stacks between a capsule and whatever sits below it: a top node takes the capsule, a bottom node takes the service section it rides on.
Careful
Once the ablator burns out, the same disc is a blunt plate again, worse than flat, and heats like any other part. Watch Check ablator on the way down.
Tap it in flight for Check ablator, which reports the percentage of char left. It has no properties to set.
Pairs with a Parachute for the descent after re-entry. Instead of flying home with no protection, which cooks the capsule.
