WE NEED AIRSPEED.....

[Buzz313th]

Hey Devs.  KSP1 needed and certainly KSP2 needs a way to show the player calibrated airspeed when in atmospheric flight.  It would give the player a good indication of potential aerodynamic force and where the aircrafts state is  during atmospheric flight.  The simple fact that this wasn't in KSP1 is beyond me.  The most important instrument for a pilot is an airspeed indicator.

 

Cheers 

 

Bz

 

Afterthought Edit.....

Actually, after pondering this for a few, maybe adding calibrated airspeed is a bad idea.   It is only relevant on Kerbin, since at Sea Level pressure is one Bar.  Kerbin would be the only planet with that pressure datum. Maybe just a pressure indicator would be needed.     Hmm.  Gonna think about this for a bit.

Edited February 28, 2023 by Buzz313th

[Guest]

Since there isn’t any wind, the surface speed indicator does this. Click on the speed to cycle between orbit, target, and surface.

[Cailean_556]

I'd like to see at least a Mach indicator - whether it be a display that is constantly in the UI (like the Apo/Peri read out) or a speed indicator mode likeSurface/Orbit/Target.

[Buzz313th]

7 hours ago, Periple said:

Since there isn’t any wind, the surface speed indicator does this. Click on the speed to cycle between orbit, target, and surface.

You are correct if you were talking about "True Airspeed", but I am talking about calibrated airspeed.  Your calibrated airspeed is based on air density.  Ground speed and calibrated airspeed values diverge as you climb and as the air gets thinner.  At forty thousand feet, with no wind, your calibrated airspeed could be 220 knots, while your ground speed 550 knots.  In a vacuum, where there is no air pressure such as space, you could be traveling at orbital velocity, but your indicated airspeed equals zero. 

Edited February 28, 2023 by Buzz313th

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Buzz313th said:

You are unfortunately wrong.  Your indicated airspeed is based on air density.  Ground speed and indicated airspeed values diverge as you climb and as the air gets thinner.  At forty thousand feet, with no wind, your indicated airspeed could be 220 knots, while your ground speed 550 knots.  In a vacuum, where there is no air pressure such as space, you could be traveling at orbital velocity, but your indicated airspeed equals zero. 

Live and learn! Thanks. And yes now I see that it would make sense to have an IAS indicator.

[Buzz313th]

3 minutes ago, Periple said:

Live and learn! Thanks. And yes now I see that it would make sense to have an IAS indicator.

I corrected my statement, you were right if we were talking about true airspeed.  But I meant Calibrated airspeed and notated that in both of my posts here.   Sorry, I wasn't specific enough.

[Razor235]

I do agree that TAS and/or a Mach meter would be more intuitive for jet engines and aero performance in general.  

[MarcAbaddon]

Question, what would I use that indicator for? I readily believe it's useful for real pilots, but how does it help me in KSP?

[Buzz313th]

Just now, MarcAbaddon said:

Question, what would I use that indicator for? I readily believe it's useful for real pilots, but how does it help me in KSP?

Indicated airspeed or to be overly specific, calibrated airspeed informs the pilot of the current aerodynamic performance regardless of surface speed.  Example..   If you have defined your stall speed at sea level at 50mps for a given aircraft state, then when at altitude and air density is a fraction of what it is at sea level, ground speed, or surface speed would be much higher, like 500mps, but indicated airspeed might show you are at stall speed.   But I digress, and I believe IAS would be confusing since it’s relative to only flight on Kerbin since kerbin is the only planet that would have an atmospheric pressure of one bar at sea level. A more robust way, might simply be to indicate static atmospheric pressure in Bar.  Although the player would have to multiply pressure to current surface speed multiplied by gravity to get a usable Indicated airspeed in reference to aerodynamic performance at kerbin sea level.   That was a mouthful.   Maybe a “Arrodynamic factor” that multiplies pressure by gravity would give us one number.   Or maybe go back to a value called “Standard IAS” which is always displaying in reference to Kerbin at Sea Level.

[Razor235]

Or... just use a Mach number display?  That way it auto-corrects for density (well temperature really, but you get the idea).  Have it auto-calibrate for other atmospheres like KER's anyway since there's no other performance metric that requires active calibration by the player per body except TWR.

No reason to overcomplicate something that doesn't impact most of the game, spaceflight in vacuum.

Edited February 28, 2023 by Razor235

[Buzz313th]

14 minutes ago, Razor235 said:

Or... just use a Mach number display?  That way it auto-corrects for density (well temperature really, but you get the idea).  Have it auto-calibrate for other atmospheres like KER's anyway since there's no other performance metric that requires active calibration by the player per body except TWR.

No reason to overcomplicate something that doesn't impact most of the game, spaceflight in vacuum.

I agree, that it shouldn’t be over complicated.  Although, considering that the devs seem to be taking the aerodynamic flight model to new level, it would be nice to see an aerodynamic performance metric while in flight.   Any such number would also have to be corrected for gravity as well, since as you increase gravity, wing loading increases in the vertical lift vector.   

[The Aziz]

Has any of you tried opening the Aerogui? There's plenty of information, some perhaps irrelevant, but mach speed is among them if I remember correctly.

[Buzz313th]

4 minutes ago, The Aziz said:

Has any of you tried opening the Aerogui? There's plenty of information, some perhaps irrelevant, but mach speed is among them if I remember correctly.

Not sure a Mach number would work versus IAS.  I’ll have to research it, but I don’t believe Mach percentage increases relatively with IAS.  Plus, having this metric on the speed tape would be more intuitive that having a window open while your flying.

[Cailean_556]

16 hours ago, The Aziz said:

Has any of you tried opening the Aerogui? There's plenty of information, some perhaps irrelevant, but mach speed is among them if I remember correctly.

The issue with that, at least for me, is that opens yet another window - which is not in the same aesthetic as the rest of the "HUD", I might add - in a UI that already has a lot of real estate taken up by information elements. Having it as selectable mode on the speed indicator - whether it be in Mach strictly, or whether it switches to Mach from CAS over Mach 1 - means it's not invasive and "feels organic".

Besides if the game is already tracking a craft's Mach speed it won't take much to add another speed display, as the game already knows where to look for that information and what it does/means (to the game engine).

Edited March 1, 2023 by Cailean_556