Marking out an artificial runway

[RocketPilot573]

So, I have this Laythe Base which includes some planes. But as your probably know, even the slightest bump during takeoff/landing could be catastrophic for many aircraft. So I though that it would be a good idea to mark out a "safe" landing strip, but how? Should I just put some lights marking the beginning and end of the runway, or is there a more interesting way? Pics would be appreciated.

Here's what I'm looking for:

-Not an absurd part count

-Not too many lights (they make lag)

-Not too hard to place

[Mmmmyum]

Why not just put a flag at the start and end of the runway?

[RocketPilot573]

Why not just put a flag at the start and end of the runway?

That would be a bit impossible to see, and I'd rather not use the HUD markers (there would be too much clutter).

[Motokid600]

Hud markers are your best bet. Just place three probe core in a straight line a few hundred yards apart. But finding a safe, flat landing zone will be the hard part. Lights wont be nearly bright enough and well.. what if its day time?

[Smidge204]

Here's what a single Mk1 Illuminator looks like from 2.0km:

Of course, that would be completely invisible during the day.

I'd recommend having two or four very simple probes (Probe body + RTG) marking the ends/corners of your runway. Giving them appropriate names so you can instantly know which direction you're coming from. Anything else would be nearly useless.

=Smidge=

[astropapi1]

Yep. Two flags on both ends of the runway is the most efficent way to mark it. You can even name them however you want.

[Taki117]

B9 has some really powerful lights if you really want to use lights, but honestly, using Flags is going to be your best bet.

[capi3101]

Might I suggest you build a rover with drop probes? Land it on Laythe, find a suitable piece of dirt and have it drop probes to a) demark the boundaries of the strip and mark out the approach path - a probe at the end of the runway, the next at 1 k, the next at 5 k and then one every five k after that until the rover runs out of probes (then park the rover itself another 5 k downrange). Then re-designate each one as a base; those will be visible from orbit. Label the ones on the approach path with the distance from the edge of the runway and you even have an ILS for your runway strip (line up the beacons to guide you in on a straight course and have your altitude above ground 100 meters for each kilometer from the edge of the runway). I've got a setup like this for the KSC runway and it works very well.

[Geschosskopf]

Use seaplanes. This makes like 90% of Laythe into perfectly flat runways . Get the pontoons from Firespitter mod

[zxczxczbfg]

I think it might be possible to copy the Mk1 illuminator, change the name of the copy to Beacon Light or something, and edit the .cfg to make it WAY brighter. Make sure to add a probe core, and an RTG or batt/panel combo so it doesn't just get marked as debris.

[Zephram Kerman]

I hope this doesn't sound contrarian. My backwards solution was to make planes that land at very slow speed, so that any flat-ish surface was safe-ish to land on. You can either use lots of wings, a VTOL engine, parachutes, or some combination. The VTOL was my favorite, because it could compensate for varying air density at different altitudes.

But to answer your question more directly, if you can find a safe flat runway site, I agree about the flag / hud markers. They don't cause any lag, and are not substantial if you happen to hit one. If you are brave, you could even hack the persistent.sfs file to arrange them perfectly. I don't prefer lights anymore, because the lights at the far end of the runway won't be visible until you have already crossed the near end, due to the 2.3 km physics range limit.