mode switching for steerable landing gear--taxiing and takeoff

[Klapaucius]

It would be great to have an addition to the landing gear where, during taxi you can take tight turns but during takeoff the wheels do not turn so far or so fast.  I realize a good design should just sail down the runway in a gloriously straight line, but sometimes things need a little correction. Or sometimes you are taking off from some uneven ground and need to make adjustments. At speed, the steering can be too abrupt.  Changing the friction control can help with this, but that is a mixed bag since it also affects your braking ability.  Perhaps there is a way to do this I don't know about?

 

Also, it would be nice to have some taller steerable gear that would match up better size-wise with the larger fixed gear.

Edited October 10, 2018 by Klapaucius

[Rocket In My Pocket]

Really, what we need is differential braking; which is what real airplanes use to steer when taxiing. (Sure you can hotkey it but it's far from comfortable to use.)

Edited October 10, 2018 by Rocket In My Pocket

[Aeroboi]

23 hours ago, Klapaucius said:

Also, it would be nice to have some taller steerable gear that would match up better size-wise with the larger fixed gear.

Absolutely agree on that one. There are many aircraft that have steerable main gear. Main gear is often the bigger gear so it makes no sense why there isn't a steering option on the heavy landing gears in this game. Since it's a modular game one would expect such a option should be available. For now I have to use structural elements to raise the medium landing gear to use it for steering larger aircraft. It can be done but I shouldn't have to workaround to do so.

20 hours ago, Rocket In My Pocket said:

Really, what we need is differential braking; which is what real airplanes use to steer when taxiing. (Sure you can hotkey it but it's far from comfortable to use.)

That's a very good idea. It should be on by default at I,J,K,L or < - >.
Many people including myself have rudder pedals used in flight sims so such functionality can really complement the game. IIRC most of the people posting crafts are plane and spaceplane builders so who wouldn't want this?

[pincushionman]

Try setting the “turn wheels” controls to something different from the yaw (they are the same by default). Wheel steering is usually fine for taxiing (when rudder is next to useless), but once you’re at speed it’s dangerous for even the best analog steering setups. You should be relying on rudder at that point.

This, of course, is easier said than done, especially on keyboard setups, so a feature where wheel authority is cut off or ramps down at a certain speed (selectable in the tweakables?) would be welcome.

In the meantime, though, you can also try using Docking Mode to use the steering keys for wheels only, while removing the wheel steering from Staging Mode entirely. If you want to get really fancy, you could use the two Docking Mode sub-modes as a sort of “plane mode” where you switch between rudder and wheels with the spacebar. But that’s kind of playing with fire if there’s no indication of which sub-mode you’re actually in.

[Atlessa]

1 hour ago, pincushionman said:

a feature where wheel authority is cut off or ramps down at a certain speed (selectable in the tweakables?) would be welcome.

 

I would be happy if I could adjust steering authority AT ALL.  OP has a point for sure.