Panther compared to Whiplash test:

[maculator]

Well appears its super effective:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1350332883
17407495m with 600u of Lf.
29012.5m/u

Edit:
Whiplash
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1350488178



They both do pretty equal km/fuel, and I guess under perfect conditions they're the same.
However if you plan on doing multiple landings to say observe stuff you're better off with the panther, the whiplash consumes a ridiculus ammount of fuel to get to its trave laltitude!

[maculator]

I might add:
- no use of after burner
- went up to 10km, stayed there until plane got lighter and raised travel hight every now and then until I cruised at 14500m altitude.
- had an "incident" when I accidently turned on SAS and it fought KOS leading to a spin and loss of altitude and speed effectivly reseting my climb back to 8km height after on circulation of kerbin.

[AoD_lexandro]

Just illustrates what I said in the sticky, panthers are great engines for atmo flight. On the plus side also, once you lighten the load you can "super cruise" right up to mach 2 on dry mode easily.

[maculator]

Originally posted by AoD_lexandro:

Just illustrates what I said in the sticky, panthers are great engines for atmo flight. On the plus side also, once you lighten the load you can "super cruise" right up to mach 2 on dry mode easily.

I guess I did ~mach 2, 620m/s @14km should've been the average I was doing.
But yes, panthers are like the only option for planes, in my opinion.

[Chibbity]

Interesting stuff!

I usually use Whiplashes for long range flying, or sub orbital "hops" rather. I most likely still will, considering how much faster it is from a player perspective.

I always considered the Panther as a performance over endurance engine, but it seems if you don't mind the relatively slow speed, it can actually do pretty well long range. Nice work Mac! I'll definitely be making an effort to use the Panther for more than just fighter jet re-creations in the future.

[maculator]

Testing the whiplash right now. But I can only run at 50% thrust, that thing has waaay to much power for my small plane.

[Chibbity]

Originally posted by maculator:

Testing the whiplash right now. But I can only run at 50% thrust, that thing has waaay to much power for my small plane.

Yeah, I tend to either throttle down and do a nice "super-cruise" at like 10-13k or go full throttle and do a series of sub orbital "hops" where you just drift through space then burn again when you get back down, like a rock skipping across a pond. The second option tends to be faster for the player as you can time warp without concern in sub orbit.

[maculator]

I went for 24km and 1200-1300m/s cruise:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1350488178

[maculator]

They seem pretty identical and I bet under perfect conditions they both would give the same milage if operated at their prefered altitude!
This kind of sucks. And I bet you the smaller ones will also do the same.

[SpaceKraken]

If you need agility, you use Panther. You also get thrust vectoring and 2 engine modes.
If you need speed, you use Rapier. You also get rocket mode that is good for SSTO's.
If you need a tiny engine, you use Juno. Not very powerful... but cheap and tiny.
If you need a cheap engine for subsonic plane, you use Wheesley. You also get thrust reverse.
If you need a HUGE engine, you use Goliath. You get thrust reverse, too.

What is Whiplash for?

[Cookie Heavy]

Originally posted by SpaceKraken:

If you need agility, you use Panther. You also get thrust vectoring and 2 engine modes.
If you need speed, you use Rapier. You also get rocket mode that is good for SSTO's.
If you need a tiny engine, you use Juno. Not very powerful... but cheap and tiny.
If you need a cheap engine for subsonic plane, you use Wheesley. You also get thrust reverse.
If you need a HUGE engine, you use Goliath. You get thrust reverse, too.

What is Whiplash for?

This is the strongest engine in high atmosphere (stronger than rapier), before rapier it was almost
in every SSTO, it also drinks lot of fuel and its weak in low atmosphere

EDIT:
in most effective situation:
-rapier (atmo mode) - 105kN
-whiplash - 130kN

[Chibbity]

Some of my Whiplash planes actually use another engine entirely for getting up to height, especially if they plan on landing/taking-off several times.

As stated above, Whiplash is really your first serious SSTO engine, although it's outclassed by the Rapier in late Career.

Panther does have some of the best Gimbal of any jet engine, makes it pretty good for VTOL's if nothing else.

[maculator]

Lol.

Originally posted by Chibbity:

it's outclassed by the Rapier in late Career.

Rapiers are like one node later...

[maculator]

Originally posted by RoofCat:

can confirm this one, Panthers are great for far atmospheric flights due to Isp 9ooo in dry mode. It's twice as good as Juno and much faster. Once you get past sound barrier (may need wet mode shortly) on a decent plane with not too much drag you can reach stable 640..650m/s cruise velocity at roughly 3ooo m altitude. They can also perform short "jumps" for "above" contracts rather easily. Not great for speed records or anything going space though.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1188142955

If I see that I need the afterburner to get past the sound barrier I rather put one more engine on the craft.I'd like to have a cheaper version that has no wet mode^^ The fuel it uses in wet mode is just insane. So its worthless for endurance and if you land a few times and have to use it each time to speed up you're running out of fuel in no time.

On a side not I also tested external droptanks and came to the conclusion that the drag is just not worth the fuel you're carrying :D

[Chibbity]

Originally posted by maculator:

Lol.

Originally posted by Chibbity:

it's outclassed by the Rapier in late Career.

Rapiers are like one node later...

The Rapier is literally the last Jet Engine you unlock, it's also the most expensive in terms of science points. 1000 science for one jet engine is pretty steep, especially when the Whiplash makes for a perfectly decent SSTO powerplant.

Unless you are really focused on SSTO's it's likely the Rapier will be one of the last things you unlock in your Career, I know I certainly never rush to it.

Although I guess, "late tech tree" would have been more fitting than "late career" depending on how you play your Career lol.