Flight Model

General

TBD

Transition Between Vertical/Horizontal Flight

1. Engine power and damage -- A 75% throttle setting in vertical flight and a 75% throttle setting in horizontal flight do not put out the same amount of thrust. When you transition to horizontal flight, the engines FIRE UP! Okay, cool.... but why are they not exploding? If I ran the engines at that speed in vertical flight, they would fail. Horizontal flight is faster and more fuel efficient than vertical flight not because the engines put out more thrust, but because the wing is providing lift which allows all the engine thrust to be used for forward motion

Vertical Flight Only

1. Vertical speed -- The VTOL flight model/instrumentation makes no sense. Applying thrust to match the "hover level" should, according to our understanding and the docs, mean the ship will stabilize at 0 vertical speed. However:
   1. There are 2 points of altitude where the ship seems to mysteriously gain/lose weight. (NO this is not a fuel thing. I tested it all in the same place.) Climbing vertically, at about 10 meters, the vertical speed decreases, sometimes even allowing the ship to sink back. This is to be expected because of ground effect. But then at around 50 meters, the vertical speed INCREASES. Nonsensical.
   2. Descending is similar, and also nonsense. Descending to about 50 meters, sink rate (negative VSI) slows down. Presumably due to ground effect. Reducing the throttle further causes the ship to begin losing altitude again... until about 10 meters when the ship SUDDENLY sinks to the ground.
2. Translation in VTOL mode:
   1. Using translation-only controls[1], the engines do not tilt as far forward as they do back. Using only these controls you can achieve a faster BACKWARD speed than forward.
   2. Using translation-only controls does NOT affect the vertical speed of the ship, despite the fact that the thrust vector is moving off the vertical. If you pitch/roll the ship [2] to translate around, the lift vector correctly moves off the vertical and you must either add power or expect a loss of altitude.  This doesn't happen with the translation-only controls. [1] translation-only controls = "forward/backward without pitch for VTOL" and "translate left/right in VTOL mode" [2] pitch/roll = "VTOL and airplane pitch" and "Roll for VTOL and airplane"
3. Momentum. This is related to the Vertical Speed issue...
   1. From a VTOL hover at any altitude, reducing thrust below the "hover line" causes the ship to sink; increasing thrust above the hover line causes the ship to rise. (This is correct behavior). However, if the aircraft is sinking and you restore the throttle to the hover setting, it takes a VERY long time for the downward motion to cease. Far, far longer than the aircraft's climb rate would suggest. The ship almost behaves as if "thrust above the line causes a positive increase in vertical speed, thrust below the line causes a negative increase in vertical speed, and thrust on the line causes no change to vertical speed" which is, again, not helpful for piloting.

Horizontal Flight Only

1. In horizontal flight ("airplane mode"), the Scarab and Ox LOSE SPEED IN A DIVE with the engine off. Does this planet have a gaseous atmosphere, or is it actually water we are flying through?