Nice to see some discussion going on!
Thanks for the research, wondered about this but i took a break from ED.
It just doesn't make sense, i can see why there is a minimum limit for the thrusters to be able to land on all planets.
But why do the side and bow thrusters perform worse than normal?
I can get 10,2m/s² acceleration backward in 0G, but when the nose is pointed towards the planet i can't accelerate backwards when the planet has >0,28G(2,74m/s²)?
I should be accelerating backwards @8,95m/s².
Also, why the different speed limits?I just can't see why they did it this way.
My idea would be (it would like it to be realistic, but that's not gonna happen):
-Let the thrusters overcharge, give you a minimum of 5m/s², regardsless of gravitation
-The higher the planets gravity, more heat will be generated
-Every thruster should behave the same way (min 5m/s² for all thrusters, not those weird differences we see in SvennoJ's data)
If someone wants my data/excelspreadsheet, pm me.
Regards Cmdr Eirene
There are reports of people overheating while flying straight down, nose pointed down. I've seen the heat climb once myself but haven't been able to reproduce it.
Having to stay level gives it all a bit more realism and makes it a bit more dangerous. Flying sideways on a 6g planet wouldn't feel right. Flying like a hover craft is slightly better.
The maximum speeds I reported while nose down are not hard limits, the speed levels out when the engines reach some kind of equilibrium. The 500 m/s downwards speed is a hard limit however.
Since it's all nicely predictable I tested how much so by trying out the ultimate FA off / FA on landing technique.
The idea is simple, turn FA off, build up speed in free fall, turn FA on at the right time and touch the ground at 0 m/s.
Working that out with classic physics I got to t1 = root( d / [a*a/10 + a/2] )
For a given height d, and gravity a (9.8 x G), t1 is the time to turn FA off and stop again at 0 height.
Easier to judge is multiplying that again by a to give you the velocity at which to turn FA back on
V = a * root( d / [a*a/10 + a/2] )
For example, you're 5.21km high full stop (and level) after completing the glide phase on a 1.06g world. a = 9.8 * 1.06
V = a * root( 5210 / [a*a/10 + a/2] ) = 187.5 m/s
Thus if you turn FA off until you reach 187.5 m/s, you will land perfectly.
First I expected this not the work as it should require an additional transition period while acceleration changes from 9.8 * 1.06 downwards to 5 m/s2 upwards. Luckily it's a game and turning FA back on immediately gives you 5 m/s2 deceleration. After quite a few tests, if you hit FA back on at the exact right speed, it works out beautifully. Of course I tested with some margins before committing to a drop all the way to ground level! Margins are always good to keep, missing FA on by a few m/s can make a big difference over large distances. (Also I don't know when the exact ground height is determined by the procedural generation, hilly terrain might still be refined below you)
The above assumes your bottom thrusters are already maxed out. If not the formula is a bit more complicated:
V = a * root( 2*d / [((a2*a*a)/(a2*a2)) + a] )
a2 is the thrust your bottom thrusters provide, which is maximum vertical thrust - (9.8 * G).
(You'll just stop sooner otherwise)
Useful when you fly over a blue area and want to go straight down quickly on a high g planet. Or if you're an adrenaline junky that likes to let a 270 million credit ship fall at 250 m/s, hoping it will stop just in time
