Can I disable switching from Surface to Orbit to Target modes?

[Gordon Fecyk]

I was doing some atmospheric pressure tests from the launch pad, and I wanted to keep my test craft pointing prograde so it stayed on a ballistic trajectory. At certain altitudes and speeds the game switches the nav ball from Surface to Orbit modes and thus 'prograde' changes direction. Yes I could switch it back, but how quickly I switch it back introduces an extra variable in my tests.

Is there a UI setting I missed that could turn this feature off? Or maybe there's an add-on for that?

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[Speadge]

13 minutes ago, Gordon Fecyk said:

I was doing some atmospheric pressure tests from the launch pad, and I wanted to keep my test craft pointing prograde so it stayed on a ballistic trajectory. At certain altitudes and speeds the game switches the nav ball from Surface to Orbit modes and thus 'prograde' changes direction. Yes I could switch it back, but how quickly I switch it back introduces an extra variable in my tests.

Is there a UI setting I missed that could turn this feature off? Or maybe there's an add-on for that?

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u can use Mechjeb - SAS where u can chose between surface or orbit prograde.

Donno another option than that

[Sharpy]

I definitely wish for a setting like this. My Minmus rover recently had a near-fatal tumble because of this.

I always set SAS to prograde on my rovers, so that if it flips, it will point itself right and level itself, and I just need to roll it wheels down. Well, I was driving up a very tall mountain, pretty fast, and when I crossed 3km altitude, SAS switched to 'orbit', with Prograde somewhere far off. The rover immediately turned to the new direction, and rapid turns at that speed are definitely not advisable. Never mind it fought me when I wanted to turn it so that it doesn't land sideways. Took me a while to notice what happened; I switched to Surface manually literally at the last possible moment, barely managing to save it.