I've been wondering how you evaluate the stability of asymmetric designs at the design stage. Airplane-ish designs seem to be the most likely subjects, with larger vertical stabilizers on the top side than the bottom. Or some might have pods below and not above, or all sorts of variations to that effect. I'm trying to get an idea how, before you start building, you gain some confidence that the asymmetry will not cause problems. Are there rules of thumb to follow here? OR is not much help in this area, since many of the design elements that would result in asymmetry are not modeled.
I've sort of convinced myself (although John Boren hasn't specifically confirmed) that the four booster pods on the underside of the new Estes Shuttle are there at least partially to offset the drag of the orbiter on the top side. But I would have no idea how to plan this sort of thing in advance, and I won't be doing a bunch of iterations to perfect a design; just want to put together a scratcher and have some confidence it'll fly straight.
Any thoughts here?
I've sort of convinced myself (although John Boren hasn't specifically confirmed) that the four booster pods on the underside of the new Estes Shuttle are there at least partially to offset the drag of the orbiter on the top side. But I would have no idea how to plan this sort of thing in advance, and I won't be doing a bunch of iterations to perfect a design; just want to put together a scratcher and have some confidence it'll fly straight.
Any thoughts here?