Land on damaged runway?

[Galane]

At various times in history, aircraft, usually military types, have been designed with the capability to land on "unimproved" runways or ones that are paved but have some damage.

Is it possible to land on the KSC runway after it's been damaged?

[Richy teh space man]

If by aircraft you include helicopters, then yes they could land quite easily.

[sal_vager]

As this is not really a challenge, but is a gameplay question, I'll move it from challenges to gameplay questions

[Barrrrry]

In my experience, it depends on 3 factors: aircraft stability, landing speed, and wheel positioning. I have personally landed some of my more stable planes on a broken runway, but when I start to use large planes with less stability, I get explosions. Also, I think of it a lot like landing in the rockier areas of Kerbin. When I land in rocky areas, I need to land slow, so my breaks can kick in and I stop quickly. That is the same with landing on a broken runway. Also, as is true for any landing, wheel positioning is important, and wider wheels near COM really help. 

To paraphrase, I have landed on the KSP runway when it was broken, but only with a slow landing speed, and a stable plane

Hope this helps!

[Rocket In My Pocket]

Call me crazy but wouldn't it be easier to just land over in the grass?

Or are we just doing it for the sheer challenge it presents?

I've always reverted whenever I damaged the runway so I've never tried honestly.

[Barrrrry]

5 minutes ago, Rocket In My Pocket said:

Call me crazy but wouldn't it be easier to just land over in the grass?

Or are we just doing it for the sheer challenge it presents?

I've always reverted whenever I damaged the runway so I've never tried honestly.

Yeah its way easier to land on the grass, but were assuming that if we land on the grass, we will die. So we're just hypothesizing about if it is possible or not.

[Venusgate]

I think what you're asking for is really just bushwacker balloon tires, aren't you?

[Galane]

7 hours ago, Barrrrry said:

Yeah its way easier to land on the grass, but were assuming that if we land on the grass, we will die. So we're just hypothesizing about if it is possible or not.

It was raining a lot and enemy forces have busted up the runway. The ground is a muddy mess that will cause planes to flip so the only choice is to attempt to land your returning aircraft on the damaged runway.

[Venusgate]

I've thought about using the KAS anchors for eating up required dV on no-atmo landings, but i suppose the same concept could be used for very-short runway landings

[Geschosskopf]

19 hours ago, Galane said:

At various times in history, aircraft, usually military types, have been designed with the capability to land on "unimproved" runways or ones that are paved but have some damage.

Is it possible to land on the KSC runway after it's been damaged?

Land in the grass beside the runway, then taxi onto whatever part of it looks least likely to give problems.

[Galane]

Or use the Landertron mod to come to a quick stop.

[Wanderfound]

Dragchutes and retrothrusters. Design for it and you can roll to a stop within milliseconds of touchdown.