Add arresting gear to land-based airfields (Repost from old forum)

[Blue_Canadian]

Should arrestor gear be added to land-based airfields in War Thunder??

• Yes, to all airfields in all gamemodes
• Yes, to only some airfields in some gamemodes (leave suggesstions below)
• No, I do not want arrestor gear added to any land-based airfields

Today I would like to suggest an addition to the game that would both be useful, and engaging for players in all game modes.

Land Based Arrestor Gear

My suggestion is that at both ends (or at regular intervals) of the airfields in all modes, an addition of 1-3 arrestor wires.

Historically these systems have existed on many different forms on military airfields. While not used for regular landings during peace-times, these systems are kept in place in case of an emergency landing where stopping is either hindered (brake malfunctions, inactive steering) or the aircraft has to be brought to a stop as soon as possible.

All modern U.S. military airfields, as well as many other military’s around the world, have permanent systems in place. Many military’s also have systems that can be deployed on permanent runways, or mobile systems that can be set up on temporary airfields, such as dirt strips or highways.

For this reason, many military air-forces will have naval aircraft that keep their arresting gear despite the military having no active aircraft carriers. Additionally, many non-naval aircraft have been modified or produced to have an arrestor hook for the purpose of shortening the landing distance during an emergency or war times.

Republic of Singapore mobile arresting Gear:

U.S. military Mobile Aircraft Arresting System (MAAS):

Why introduce Land-Based Arrestor Systems in War Thunder?

As many players have previously noticed and stated, there are many aircraft in the game that have arrestor gear modelled and functional, but rarely, if ever, get to use it.

This doesn’t just include the hundreds of naval aircraft, but more modern land-based aircraft, such as the F-16 (pictured below), F-104, Tornado, and others, also have arrestor gear.

I feel this change would be beneficial as it would encourage players to land with their landing gear, thereby reducing the amount of belly crash landings, yet still helping the players get back into the fight as soon as possible.

It also gives players who play naval aircraft a chance to use a stoppage mechanism that they don’t get to use often, as many maps lack aircraft carriers to land on. Naval aircraft also tend not to have great brakes, brake parachutes, or reverse thrusters, as they rely on the arresting gear when landing on carriers.

(A small model of a pulley or mobile arresting system to the side of the airfield would be welcome as well, but as so many systems are designed to be discrete, the addition of only the wires would be just as welcome!)

To Conclude:

I believe the the addition of Arresting wires to land based airfields would be a simple yet welcome QoL change that would benefit all players in all gamemodes.

Video of a German Eurofighter Typhoon using its arrestor gear during an emergency landing at the SIAF (Slovak International Air Fest) in 2016:
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxOAaYVyVi7U4bOertlwz772mnAj_ho7ov

Additional photos of land-based systems:

[Talshere]

Genuinely a great idea for two reasons.

1. Some naval aircraft, especially in lower teirs where airports can be extremely short, cant actually stop in the space of the airport. They just aren’t designed to land at such a low speed and you end up landing the length of the runway short in order to actually stop on the runway. Although on some maps this just isn’t an option due to the terrain making the belly landing the only way to actually stop in a half reasonable time.

2. The tutorial for CV wire landings is pretty bad tbh. And so having normal airfields have wires would provide a venue to actually practice wire landing.

[danredda]

@Blue_Canadian

I feel this change would be beneficial as it would encourage players to land with their landing gear, thereby reducing the amount of belly crash landings, yet still helping the players get back into the fight as soon as possible.

This is the biggest thing I see. Right now, there is no reason to land on your gear - you just stop slower so get back into battle slower. I would love to see something like this (plus perhaps an SL reward for landing wheels down too) to provide a benefit for:
a) not ripping gear on takeoff, and
b) not ripping/breaking on landing.

Sick of seeing every single plane belly land in Air RB, because you are at a disadvantage if you land properly.

[Lady_Etaski]

@danredda

This is the biggest thing I see. Right now, there is no reason to land on your gear - you just stop slower so get back into battle slower. I would love to see something like this (plus perhaps an SL reward for landing wheels down too) to provide a benefit for:
a) not ripping gear on takeoff, and
b) not ripping/breaking on landing.

Sick of seeing every single plane belly land in Air RB, because you are at a disadvantage if you land properly.

Yes! This! I fully agree! I try to wheel lands when the runway allows - for the SAKE of it!

[FlyingDoctor]

Not used for regular function, and sure, this will get a lot of support as people are wanting to be turned around faster, but that shouldn’t forgo the truths of it.

[AlvisWisla]

Depends on the aircraft, but with aircraft like F-16 it’s definitely faster to land without gear.
Tornado & F-104 are faster with landing gear, but arresting wire would make things better overall.

[Talshere]

In Simulation damage to your aircraft can significantly increase repair time. In one SB I had a 6 minute repair due to the damage Id sustained. In conjunction with a reward for landing, you could add a disproportionate repair time to each item that is typically damaged in a belly landing. So for example, a bent prop basically only happens in a bad landing. So you could whack a 1 min penalty to repair it. Players who genuinely limped home wont care. A landing is a landing when you’re struggling that much. And it should disincentivse players who could land normally but just cba. Similarly damaged landing gear basically only happens if you deliberately ripped it off. It almost never is lost due to battle damaged. So you could whack a 2 min penalty on that. Again. If you are so badly damaged you genuinely take a hard landing, youll just be pleased you landed. But the incurred 3 min penalty for both a damaged prop and damaged landing gear should stop people abusing it over what is a frankly piss each mechanic to master.

[Blue_Canadian]

I want to avoid penalizing players too hard, as I obviously don’t want to keep them from playing, but I agree that some sort of incentive to actually land properly is required

[Talshere]

There needs to be a penalty because losing landing gear actually confers an advantage through weight loss. So the penalty needs to outweigh the gain. Unless you were to actually take a speed loss due to vastly increased drag.

[CokeSpray]

Suggestion passed to the developers for consideration.