I am new to modding, so, as suggested by others, I have read the Wiki tutorials and am altering variables to experiment.
For my first go, I am erasing the right thruster from a dropship and raising its health, gib-impulse, and gib-wound limits so that it tailspins and crushes everything.
However, the dropship still continues to self destruct after a short amount of time.

I don't know what the problem is, so.......
Could someone please instruct me of the variable, or whatever, I must change in order to prevent this self destruction?

Thank you.

You mean it's health goes down to zero or below? You need to edit the wound. Try changing it to "Dent Metal No Spark" instead of whatever fuel fire thing they have now.

That didn't work.
Here's a copy of the wound part code (with your change):

CrashSound = Sound
CopyOf = Metal Body Blunt Hit Large
CanLand = 0
GibImpulseLimit = 150000000000
GibWoundLimit = 200000000
GibSound = Sound
CopyOf = Ship Explosion
AddGib = Gib
GibParticle = AEmitter
CopyOf = Dent Metal No Spark
PresetName = Ship Explosion
LifeTime = 75
Count = 8
Spread = 2.25
MaxVelocity = 20
MinVelocity = 5
LifeVariation = 0.25
Maybe that will help.

oh and I tryed adding zeros to the LifeTime, didn't seem to do anything

edit: didn't think it would get rid of tabs, so ignore

You need to replace the wounds in these lines:

Change the "Gas Leak" ones to the "Dent Metal No Spark".

well that didn't work either.
and because Im new could you please briefly explain why that would have helped. (ok if you don't feel like it, just asking)

It always seems to explode after a certain time limit, so I don't think its wound oriented, but what do I know?

Oh, I misread your OP. Right now, dropships are hard coded to self-destruct after a small amount of time after being inverted. So, you can't do anything about it until Data un-hardcodes it. Sorry

oh, thanks anyway

guess I'll have to mod a new vehicle that does what I want it to do.

Impossible, sorry. Heeeyyy, I know you. You made the Biodome! I'm still trying to work out how you did that background...

what do you mean?

all I did was use the more precise click and drag method of placing blocks, then I counted pixels to curve the line.
it took time but I was bored

It's perfectly possible to make a ship last longer when inverted. I am not sure if this technic works with dropships, but it's guaranteed to make a rocket last for as long as you want.
It's very simple: create a TDExplosive with null sprites, no weight and lifetime of 1. Use the addinventory command to put a bunch of those in the craft. And you're done.

It works like this: a ship, when turned upside down, will eject all the items inside it, and only then self-destruct. By adjusting the number of items and the ExitInterval variable, you can define how long the ship will wait before exploding. Just note that, while ejecting the items, you will be unable to control the craft, what reduces this technic's utility. But whatever, at least it works, doesn't it?