Planes Will Not Stay on Runway

[gpetruzz]

No matter what I do I can not get a plane to stay on the runway during takeoff.  Lift, COG, and thrust are all aligned.  Wheels are also aligned.  As soon as I get up over 50 mps or so, the planes veer hard left or right.  Is this a bug in KSP2 or am I missing something?  Thanks.

[Periple]

Set the friction on your nose gear to 0 in advanced controls. 

I hope they do this automatically in an update some time!

[whatsEJstandfor]

2 minutes ago, Periple said:

Set the friction on your nose gear to 0 in advanced controls. 

I hope they do this automatically in an update some time!

I know this is a workaround but I still don't really understand why it works. What is this actually working around? And why do the wheels have friction controls at all? What is that analogous to in real life? How much you ride your brakes?

[Meecrob]

56 minutes ago, whatsEJstandfor said:

I know this is a workaround but I still don't really understand why it works. What is this actually working around? And why do the wheels have friction controls at all? What is that analogous to in real life? How much you ride your brakes?

In real life, nose gear does not have brakes. They are also designed to have a caster which naturally returns to "straight ahead." I doubt this is programmed into the nosewheels in KSP2

Edited March 3, 2023 by Meecrob

[whatsEJstandfor]

3 minutes ago, Meecrob said:

In real life, nose gear does not have brakes. They are also designed to have a caster which naturally returns to "straight ahead." I doubt this is programmed into the nosewheels in KSP2

So is the frictional control setting just defining the wheel's tendency to slow down on its own? So a high setting is like giving it a crunchy rusted bearing, and setting it to 0 turns it into something like a really high quality and lubed up bearing? I just wasn't sure where the friction was being applied, be it between the wheel and the axel, or the tire and the surface, or what.

[Kroven]

Yeah, friction is more like making the tires out of plastic at 0, or softer rubber the higher you go. It adjust the ability to steer, brake, and accelerate if the tire has a motor.

Even at zero I still get some pull here or there. And I have to set friction at every flight launch. I basically have a pre-flight checklist I run through.

[Meecrob]

I don't think the friction setting controls the tendency to slow down as much as its tendency to initiate a turn. So with zero friction, the nosewheel loses its ability to ruin your takeoff run by turning you off the runway. I suspect the wheel in its current state is modelled as a vertical peg with the wheel attached dead centre. There is no natural tendency for the wheel to return to a "straight ahead" condition if modelled this way.

 

Edit for the plane nerds: Yes, usually aircraft achieve caster by different means than a typical shopping cart wheel, usually the big metal uses dampers, etc to achieve the same effect.

Edited March 3, 2023 by Meecrob