So either water is OP or land is UP

[322997am]

So these days water acts more realistically which is good but think about real life now. A pilot who knows he can't make it to an airport/aircraft carrier chooses an island.Why? Because grass has less friction than water which means less of a chance of death. In Ksp a player who is flying above land and is losing control and knows he will have to make an emergency landing will try to make it to the water. Why? Because water is like a soft mattress and the ground is like a pavement that is made up of klaws that grab any part and destroy it no matter how soft the landing is. My idea: make the ground less lethal and keep the water.

[Razor235]

Not really, when I fly IRL I choose grass emergency landing areas for other reasons:

1)  I am untrained in how to do a water landing

2)  Fixed gear means I will likely flip when they get buried in the water

3)  Water has waves which can cause unpredictable bouncing

4)  Water acts as an infinite heat sink, you will succumb to hypothermia eventually even in warmer water

 

However, in KSP, none of that matters.  Kerbals don't freeze to death, things are typically too long to flip, and water acts as a perfectly smooth surface.  I still prefer hard surfaced areas.  Why?  Water still eats parts like candy if you don't do a PERFECT landing, whereas on land there is a much greater margin of error before things fall apart.

[Tatonf]

Humm... Because you often make emergency landing IRL ?

[Razor235]

No, but it's a big part of the training, and you always have one picked out in case anything goes wrong.

[Wjolcz]

9 hours ago, 322997am said:

A pilot who knows he can't make it to an airport/aircraft carrier chooses an island.Why? Because grass has less friction than water which means less of a chance of death

Or maybe that's because you can't drown in grass?

[wizzlebippi]

Personally, my plan A for a forced landing is an airport or road. Water is probably last on my list because I don't fly with an over water pack and suck at swimming. In KSP, I still prefer land, and assuming you are fortunate enough to be over a relatively level area, it's not much different than the tier 1 runway.

[Razor235]

In fact, most land in KSP is smoother than the first tier runway.  I don't think I've ever successfully landed there without something breaking or exploding.

[Vaporo]

1 hour ago, Razor235 said:

In fact, most land in KSP is smoother than the first tier runway.  I don't think I've ever successfully landed there without something breaking or exploding.

True enough... When it's safer to land next to the runway than on the runway, there's a problem.

However, in my experience, water landings only work if you have a water landing in mind when you design the plane. Otherwise, parts tend to shear off and break even with the most careful water landing.

And IRL a water landing is typically preferable, if you can design a mission and air/spacecraft to accommodate it.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Vaporo

[322997am]

I mean I ditched a plane that was tumbling out of control. If I had chosen land then I would probably have died.

[FungusForge]

4 hours ago, Razor235 said:

In fact, most land in KSP is smoother than the first tier runway.  I don't think I've ever successfully landed there without something breaking or exploding.

I find its easier to take off by rolling to the left of the runway then actually taking off.

 

My experience with Better Buoyancy before the water update, and stock water after has been that you don't actually want a water landing with heavier craft (say, a 90 ton shuttle). If you go in too steep on land, there's a chance that at least the command pod will survive, since the exploding parts of the craft don't instantly explode, and will slow down the rest of the craft a bit. If you go too steep in water, the parts evaporate with minimal effect on velocity of the craft, so a >50m/s steep landing will consume your craft, no matter what angle you slam down at.

Granted that is all from my experience with my lagbeast fleet of shuttles and SS/DS-TO. Results may vary as tonnage (and part count) decreases.

[Superfluous J]

2 hours ago, FungusForge said:

I find its easier to take off by rolling to the left of the runway then actually taking off.

I prefer flipping my planes around 180 degrees in the SPH before takeoff.

Actually I prefer upgrading the runway before ever touching a plane, but that's not always possible