Why does brake release take 8 (ish) seconds?

[Zatie12]

I've been wondering this for a long time....

Why does it take approximately 8 to 9 seconds after commanding brake release for the brakes to actually release?

[Javster]

Does it? B is a toggle.

[Zatie12]

Probably I am doing something wrong.. I have the brakes set and release them by pressing B. It takes roughly 8 seconds before the aircraft starts moving.

[Alshain]

I've seen that too. Doesn't happen every time, but it does happen often. I have no idea why.

You won't see it if you don't power the engines prior to releasing the brakes.

[RocketPilot573]

OP is talking about the landing gear brakes, yea, they take about 5 hours to shut off. I have found that taking them off the ground can sometimes immediately release, for example if you mash the awsdqe keys on a plane.

[OrbitusII]

From my understanding of it, KSP handles wheels in a really trashy manner and an occasional result is wheels getting stuck on things. can't explain why the brakes don't release immediately, but I am all too familiar with wheel colliders getting stuck on things in a fashion similar to fly traps.

In short, the landing gear and wheel systems need an overhaul and until then we have to deal with sticky brakes.

[TimberWolffe]

Why does it take approximately 8 to 9 seconds after commanding brake release for the brakes to actually release?

For me, it's because when I brake the front wheel clips through the runway, and I have to pull back hard to release it

[Kasuha]

To me it works this way:

Pressing B activates brakes temporarily, brakes are on as long as I hold the B key.

Clicking on the brakes symbol right to the altimeter toggles brakes ON and they then stay locked some 5 second after they're released, either clicking on the symbol again, or by pressing and releasing the B key.

I have no idea why is that. I guess it was added as a workaround to some undesired behavior of the toggle some time ago and just stayed there.

[Technical Ben]

Possibly to do with the way unity/KSP physics works.

[Yakky]

It's because Bob and Jeb sometimes forget where the parking brake lever is. Sometimes it's a foot pedal, sometimes a hand brake. And when it's a foot pedal they can never remember if you stomp it to release it or have to fumble under the dash for a brake release lever.

[Technical Ben]

Or because in KSP the break is applied to Kerbin, and the rover is taken as the centre on the universe for it to hold on to... Reapplying the hand break to the universe takes a little while to activate you see...

[Wanderfound]

All of the above: no.

If you're using air-breathing engines, the game defaults to keeping the landing gear brakes on until the engines have finished spooling up. It's intended as a feature; it's to maximise effective runway length.

It does occasionally glitch out and fail to release when it should, though.

[RexKramer]

I've seen that too. Doesn't happen every time, but it does happen often. I have no idea why.

You won't see it if you don't power the engines prior to releasing the brakes.

Yup, works this way for me also- if I don't power up with the brakes engaged, they release fine.

[Kasuha]

If you're using air-breathing engines, the game defaults to keeping the landing gear brakes on until the engines have finished spooling up. It's intended as a feature; it's to maximise effective runway length.

It might have been intended as such some time ago but it definitely does not depend on spooling jets. You can have the engine all spooled up and brakes will still take 5 seconds to release. Besides, it does the same for rovers which have no engines at all.

[cantab]

All of the above: no.

If you're using air-breathing engines, the game defaults to keeping the landing gear brakes on until the engines have finished spooling up. It's intended as a feature; it's to maximise effective runway length.

It does occasionally glitch out and fail to release when it should, though.

Confirmation it's intentional? (Ie post by a dev saying so?) It always felt more like a bug with me.

My guess is it's related to code that allows slow enough movement to be treated as zero, in order to go to the space centre when your ship is landed. Especially important for watercraft that in theory would never truly stop, but even a craft on land might wobble and take a while to fully settle down.

[Technical Ben]

All of the above: no.

If you're using air-breathing engines, the game defaults to keeping the landing gear brakes on until the engines have finished spooling up. It's intended as a feature; it's to maximise effective runway length.

It does occasionally glitch out and fail to release when it should, though.

Happens on craft without air breathing engines...

[Wanderfound]

Happens on craft without air breathing engines...

Yup, I think the braking thing is linked to the landing gear. Looks like they never considered rocket-powered takeoffs when they introduced them.

I ain't saying it's not buggy, I'm just saying there's a reason for it.

[Kasuha]

Yup, I think the braking thing is linked to the landing gear. Looks like they never considered rocket-powered takeoffs when they introduced them.

I ain't saying it's not buggy, I'm just saying there's a reason for it.

Not related to landing gear, it does the same on rover wheels.

Yes it was probably intentional. But at present it is more annoying than useful.

[Technical Ben]

Yup, I think the braking thing is linked to the landing gear. Looks like they never considered rocket-powered takeoffs when they introduced them.

I ain't saying it's not buggy, I'm just saying there's a reason for it.

Happens with non-landing gears (all wheels for me)...

[Wanderfound]

I may be incorrect (oh, the horror...).

If it isn't a spool-up thing though, it does seem awfully coincidental that the brakes (usually) release at just about the time that the jets hit full power.

[ThirdHorseman]

I've found that raising-and-lowering the gear very quickly is enough to unstick the brakes, at least when using the Small Gear Bay. Not sure how to do it really with the other gear...very annoying issue.

[Wanderfound]

I've found that raising-and-lowering the gear very quickly is enough to unstick the brakes, at least when using the Small Gear Bay. Not sure how to do it really with the other gear...very annoying issue.

On the rare occasions when it glitches and refuses to release no matter how long you wait, I've found that sometimes just bouncing the nose a bit (engine gimballing is generally enough) can make them disengage.

[Technical Ben]

The game technically cheats (AFAIK) for breaks. It glues you into position, without actually adding the additional friction on the ground. So it takes a while to unhook and reintegrate into the physics engine, I guess.

... which is to say probably the Kracken!

[Samniss Arandeen]

It's because Bob and Jeb sometimes forget where the parking brake lever is. Sometimes it's a foot pedal, sometimes a hand brake. And when it's a foot pedal they can never remember if you stomp it to release it or have to fumble under the dash for a brake release lever.

And Bill keeps kicking the damn pedal halfway down the runway thinking it's the clutch.

On-topic: yes, I've experienced that too. Sometimes the brakes disengage unevenly, causing a wheel to drag and my whole plane to flip out of control.

Edited September 10, 2014 by Samniss Arandeen

[KerbMav]

My engines usually overpower the brakes very quickly - now that I think of it ... can this be another reason for planes veering of the runway?