My two cents

[PaperAviator]

I'm currently away on vacation and experiencing computer problems, so I'm typing from an IPad...

However, after I had pondered a few ideas for a while, I decided to put them here...

 

Many runways have an elevated section at the end, or a "ramp". So why not have one at the end of the kerbal runway? I see two problems with this: 1- beginners leaning to depend on it and 2- an excessively angled ramp shearing planes apart. However, after reading the dev-blog "who needs a level runway anyway" by @JPLRepo , I saw a few people comment how they used the bumps on the dirt runway to launch their aircraft in the air and was more or less assured.

 

This one is something I would love to see added to the game. Why not add the ability to delete stock vehicles? They would still be there for newcomers, but not clogging up the craft lists of more advanced players. It still eludes me why there is no option to delete them.

 

Also, Maybe add an option to the menu that, when turned on, doesn't check if there is a craft on the runway/launchpad when launching a craft, but instead, checks whether there is a craft clipping inside the one being launched.

 

Well that's it... what does everyone else think?

[Jas0n]

3 hours ago, PaperAviator said:

Many runways have an elevated section at the end, or a "ramp". So why not have one at the end of the kerbal runway? I see two problems with this: 1- beginners leaning to depend on it and 2- an excessively angled ramp shearing planes apart. However, after reading the dev-blog "who needs a level runway anyway" by @JPLRepo , I saw a few people comment how they used the bumps on the dirt runway to launch their aircraft in the air and was more or less assured.

This would only be good as a toggleable feature, maybe adjustable. 

3 hours ago, PaperAviator said:

This one is something I would love to see added to the game. Why not add the ability to delete stock vehicles? They would still be there for newcomers, but not clogging up the craft lists of more advanced players. It still eludes me why there is no option to delete them.

This can already be done, either through difficulty settings or by deleting the .craft files from ships.

3 hours ago, PaperAviator said:

Also, Maybe add an option to the menu that, when turned on, doesn't check if there is a craft on the runway/launchpad when launching a craft, but instead, checks whether there is a craft clipping inside the one being launched.

I would not trust KSP to tell me things aren't going to clip.

[Tex_NL]

3 hours ago, PaperAviator said:

Many runways have an elevated section at the end, or a "ramp". So why not have one at the end of the kerbal runway?

To a certain degree we already have this. Since the runway is a perfectly flat object placed on a convex globe both the start and end are significantly higher above the surface than the middle.
Besides that the runway is plenty long and only really big and heavy need the full length. If a n00bs plane can not lift off from the regular runway neither the shape or length of it are to blame. Then the plane is just WRONG and it is not supposed to take off or fly.

3 hours ago, PaperAviator said:

Why not add the ability to delete stock vehicles?

@Jas0n already said it all.

3 hours ago, PaperAviator said:

Also, Maybe add an option to the menu that, when turned on, doesn't check if there is a craft on the runway/launchpad when launching a craft, but instead, checks whether there is a craft clipping inside the one being launched.

I would rather been given the option to either clear the runway or to continue with the object in place.
If things do go boom .... 'Revert flight'

[natsirt721]

On 8/4/2017 at 10:17 AM, Jas0n said:

I would not trust KSP to tell me things aren't going to clip.

I don't think it does any sort of clipping asserting, it just check if there's anything too close by a very generous margin.  I've had stuff significantly further away than clipping range from the runway spawn point and still had it prompt me to remove or abort.  I think this is just something that has to left as-is, as it would be far more effort than it is worth to change for a few niche cases.

[Red Iron Crown]

My understanding is runway ramps slope downward, not upward. Outside of a few edge cases like STOL carriers and airstrips meant to train for them.

[Gargamel]

22 hours ago, Red Iron Crown said:

My understanding is runway ramps slope downward, not upward. Outside of a few edge cases like STOL carriers and airstrips meant to train for them.

Yes, in the case there is an upward slop of a runway, it is usually due to terrain, and not design per se.   If at all possible, the elevated ends of a runway end in a downward sloping ramp, to allow the ground to drop away from the plane, not force it upwards. Check out videos of plane watchers at either Gatwick or Heathrow (I'm not sure which it is, I've only been there at night), it looks like the runway is set in a bowl, but the very ends of the runways seem to drop away some. 

Ramped runways, like RIC mentioned, are designed for a specific type of plane, under specific take off conditions.  If a plane doesn't meet those conditions, then bad things happen. 

If a plane is unable to rotate upwards and lift off (usually due to poor wheel placement in KSP), then dropping the ground away allows the tail to drop and the nose to point upwards.  If a plane is thrown into the air by a ramp, this would have a similar effect, but only if the plane is above stall speed.  If the plane is not at flying speed yet, and the ground drops away, well, in KSP, let's hope you have good brakes and the ocean is feeling forgiving today.  But if the plane is thrown upwards, not only are you out of runway to try to slow down, but now you're ballistically airborne below stall speed, which will usually result in a far worse crash than never leaving the ground altogether.