Aerodynamic landing strut housing

[Kelderek]

Landing gear for spaceplanes have a nice housing that encloses the struts and wheels when not in use and makes for a more streamlined look. It would be cool if there was a similar housing built in for some of the landing struts that we use for non-wheeled landing craft. Some kind of shell that opens and allows the strut to extend for landing and then could retract and hide the strut for an aerodynamic ascent. Here's a crude idea of what I mean using the LV-50 Medium Landing Gear as an example (ignore the wheels in the second picture):

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Another option would be to have 1.25m and 2.5m inline parts that could contain a set of 4 landing legs that could be hidden inside which would extend out through holes in the side and drop down. Here's my crude idea (using a 2.5m reaction wheel to show a simple inline part for size comparison):

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Are there any mods that already do this?

Regardless of any existing mods that may have parts like this, I think it would be a worthwhile feature for the stock game.

EDIT: oh and one more suggestion for landing struts: small lights that point in the direction of the extended struts!

Edited October 13, 2015 by Kelderek

[Alshain]

I approve.

Another third idea would be to have them eject out like the ladders currently do.

[Kelderek]

Another third idea would be to have them eject out like the ladders currently do.

Well that is basically what the inline part would be like. The struts would pop out through holes in the side and then extend down. But I guess you probably mean a housing that would usually be clipped into other parts the way ladder housing usually are and not necessarily in the shape of an inline cylindrical piece.

[Alshain]

Well that is basically what the inline part would be like. The struts would pop out through holes in the side and then extend down. But I guess you probably mean a housing that would usually be clipped into other parts the way ladder housing usually are and not necessarily in the shape of an inline cylindrical piece.

Oh, I thought you were saying it would a piece where the legs folded out like plane landing gear. A piece like that would be only be usable on the bottom of the craft, which means radial engines only. But I guess I just misunderstood.

[Kelderek]

Yeah sorry, I guess my attempt at using Paint to alter the image failed, lol. I drew some red circles to indicate mini hatches that would open so the legs slide out in the direction of the yellow arrows. Once they got all the way out then they could angle down. The idea is that you could mount an engine below the part and it would not interfere with the legs going in or out. Presumably you could do this for the 1.25m size and fit a terrier engine there and have the legs reach the ground, and for a 2.5m size a poodle engine would fit and the legs would likewise have the length and room to reach the ground below.

[Alshain]

Well, as I already said, I like it. I like both ideas. Bigger landing gear, in my mind, would have a hard time fitting in a system like that, so have aerodynamic pods for the larger ones would be good while having the in-line style for the smaller ones would be great. Though I wouldn't make it 1.25m and 2.5m, that just adds un-necessary limitations (on landers with multiple stacks in symmetry, you don't need 4 legs per stack). I would make it placeable like the 2 telescoping ladder pieces, only without as much 'bulge'.

Edited October 13, 2015 by Alshain

[Kelderek]

Well from a size point of view you can see that it works for the struts and reaction wheel I used for the demonstration. Those 4 struts fit inside the 2.5m reaction wheel perfectly. The struts that are one size larger - I forget the name of them, the ones that start upside down and fold down about 135 degrees - might not work for an inline part. But that is where the other suggestion of aerodynamic strut housing pods would shine.

I would add one more suggestion idea for landing struts: small lights. If the wheeled landing gears have them, why not wheel-less landing struts too?

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I would make it placeable like the 2 telescoping ladder pieces, only without as much 'bulge'.

That would work too, as long as it is still an aerodynamic improvement. I've had a lot of ladders overheat and explode so they clearly bulge out a little too much.

[BudgetHedgehog]

Are there any mods that already do this?

Near Future Spacecraft has some aerodynamic landing legs.

[Pthigrivi]

Yaaaahh def man. I think instead of built-in landing lights a set of retracting aerodynamic lights would be more versatile.

[Kelderek]

Yaaaahh def man. I think instead of built-in landing lights a set of retracting aerodynamic lights would be more versatile.

Well I figure the wheeled landing gears all have lights, why not the non-wheel landing struts too?

And @ObsessedWithKSP, that looks to be pretty much what I envisioned -- it would be great to have something like that in the stock game.

[Rath]

Yes please, with integrated lights

[pandaman]

I'm going to echo Rath here...

Yes I like it, with integrated lights like the landing gear it would be even better.