Can't figure out the high inclination planets (Eeloo, Dres, Moho)

[cerulean kelp]

I like to believe my craft designs are adequate (SSTOs with upwards of 4.5k m/s dV in orbit) and my maneuvering skills are decent (I can pull off the occasional gravity assist) but I cannot for the life of me figure out transfers to planets with very different inclinations (Eeloo, Dres, and Moho). Burning at the transfer window often leaves my inclination far out, and with a mid course inclination correction I end up missing the planet anyways. Burning at the intersection of the orbital planes of the two planets and correcting my inclination during the transfer burn often means that I miss the planet as well. What are some good tips for performing these transfers? I would like to avoid third-party tools if possible, they kind of take the fun out of it for me. Thanks.

[gusty relic]

I would add a second maneuver node for the inclination correction before executing the transfer maneuver. then play around with the first transfer maneuver until I get an encounter

[charred geode]

it's called Mechjeb

[cerulean kelp]

That makes a lot of sense actually. I haven't messed around with maneuvers on maneuvers, will adjusting the first node move the second node accordingly? if so, then that does seem like a good way to do it.

[gusty relic]

yes

[cerulean kelp]

I'll give it a shot then. Thanks for the tip

[cerulean kelp]

I figured out my issue: Turns out, the in-built alarm clock for transfer windows gives straight up incorrect windows sometimes (most times, it seems). Once I resorted to the classic phase angle based method everything fell into place pretty quick.

[gusty relic]

yeah. the automatic maneuver tool isn't very trustworthy for the high inclination planets.

[lusty junco]

I never trusted that thing.
Can I instead recommend the mod 'Transfer Window planner'? Not only does it give You good data on deltaV needed, it can show you the parking orbit and burn point (at least the fork can) and calculated desirable inclination for departure.

[wintry cloak]

you can also just use mechjeb if you dont want to add yet more mods

for moho specifically there's a nice trick to getting good encounters since it orbits so fast:

https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/The_annual_and_reliable_Moho_Transfer_Opportunity

[cerulean kelp]

I have used Mechjeb in the past, but honestly it feels a little cheap to get a perfect transfer in like 5 clicks. I prefer to do it all manually, with some helpful information from KER. The Moho trick seems simple enough, so I'll give it a shot if I can make a more capable SSTO.

[wintry cloak]

mechjeb isnt that good at a perfect transfer though end of day do whats fun for you

I typically spend a bit tuning mechjeb's nodes since they like to do idiotic crap like get an intercept with a Pe of 1,000,000 km

it's great for getting the right time however

[lavish path]

use astrogator instead of transfer window planner