Does anybody else put escape systems on air/space planes?

[quietsamurai98]

I always try to put multiple escape systems in place. Take my newest airplane as an example:

Not only does this plane have an SRB powered ejection plane, but it also has a smaller escape plane coupled to the main body. A double fail safe, if you will.

Does anybody else put escape/abort systems on planes?

[GamerMitch]

I don't,I like to see explosions(not that I don't care about Jeb)

[Tank Buddy]

I don't always have catastrophic failures, but when I do, I revert the flight. My life threatening failures almost always occur within the first 30 seconds of flight, so in that case I just revert the flight and fix the problem. No Fuss, No Muss.

[Sapphire]

I stick Vanguard Parachute ejectors on every craft, so no worries!

[katateochi]

Absolutely. Planes have an even higher deathtrap rating than rockets I find, so yes, they all come equipped with escape systems. Not just a decoupler and a pair of chutes either because sometimes the force of the plane keeps the pod in place so I have a set of septrons buried inside the back of the cockpit.

This is now my standard plane cockpit;

Two septonns push the cockpit forward and away form the main craft and another three push it up. It works even when doing a powered nose dive. During take off failures it throws the cockpit up and clear of the crashing craft. I don't bind the parachutes to abort cos that can cause problems, they are bound to action group 0 so I can deploy them shortly later.

With the parachutes positioned as they are in the first pic the cockpit is held level during descent even without SAS on.

With this system I've not lost a pilot but I've still been able to enjoy some spectacular crashes!

The other thing I've started having on my spaceplane cockpits is an RCS tank and two thrusters. I recently got stranded on my way back from Mun and I was able to disconnect the cockpit and use the septrons to help push my orbit in the right direction but then Jeb had to get out and manually push the pod with his jetpack. Since then they are all equipped with RCS too.

[Markus Reese]

I run a system similar to Katateochi there with sepatrons to blast out and slightly curve up and away. The cockpit and parachute is hotkeyed for deployment once cleared. It is capable of a successful escape during high speed runway failure.

[RocketPilot573]

I always put an abort system on! Well, if I remember... if...

[shoveycat]

Ive gotten really good at "Strategic Landing", i've even saved kerbals from accidental reentries with no chutes or retrorockets, so i tend not to need an abort system

[DisarmingBaton5]

Only on rockets, not planes. Almost every rocket has one, though.

I tend to put parachutes on planes regardless due to my ineptitude at landing. Takeoffs can derp.

[rpayne88]

My pods are reusable. Each pod has an escape system and an ejection module should something like the chutes fail.

[csiler2]

-=snip=-

Katateochi, that is an awesome escape pod. It's very F-111.

[Moar Boosters]

On smaller planes I do. Most of my larger designs use the mk3 cockpit and fuselage, and due to the lack of a mk3 decoupler most of those planes don't have an escape system.

[Jim DiGriz]

I had a refueling rescue mission end horribly with the rescuer winding up out of fuel and going into a spin over the ocean, and since then have included decouplers and parachutes. I did a return trip from a space station using a two-seater and when that went into a spin I ejected and the parachutes deploying ripped the capsules apart and had another fatality, so now that configuration gets parachutes on both capsules.

[Dooz]

I do i find them important to me

[czokletmuss]

NASA didn't, so why should we?

[celem]

I always put an escape on my spaceplanes, since they have a tendancy to flat-spin on re-entry. Seperatrons on the cockpit throw it upward, since as mentioned, my aborts are generally of a downward uncontrolled-rot fashion.

I tend to flyout my rocket failures, if something goes badly wrong at the backend of the rocket i tend to try and reland the payload independantly where possible. Conflagrations on the pad lead to revert

[Starwhip]

My spaceplanes AND rockets have escape systems. When I use that inline cockpit, I have 4 sepatrons and 2 radial-mount parachutes, along with 2 decouplers on the ends. The wings are also attached to decouplers, and have their own sepatron motors. So when I hit abort, the wings come flying off, the body goes flying back, the nose shoots forward, and my cockpit goes up.

[Danish_Savage]

NASA didn't, so why should we?

Seen the death-count of your Grand Tour

[Spyritdragon]

Generally just a decoupler and chutes, with possibly any canards attached to the cockpit. This works for most of my designs when working together with control surfaces, and it has saved my pilots pretty much on any occasion where control was lost more than 30 metres above ground. I have yet to invent an escape system for runway failures.

[czokletmuss]

Seen the death-count of your Grand Tour

It was a joke! Plus, there are no spaceplanes in GT

[Whatshtisthis]

Just a bunch of parachutes placed around the plane.

[Danish_Savage]

It was a joke! Plus, there are no spaceplanes in GT

Oh the irony, mine was a joke too!!!

That said. I expect planes when the babbling baboons land on Laythe. Nuff said

[blackout11c]

I put escape modules on everything, APART from probes.