[THR][STAT] mode doesn't reduce the turning rate. The upside of this mode is virtually zero sway; the downside is that the system will not use engines on other sides of the ship when flying straight in this mode due to the way static analysis works.

I'm noticing that the [STAT] only mode sometimes has a drift issue. While hovering it will slowly roll one direction or the other after you have come to a stop after maneuvering.

Seems to me that currently, for close to balanced ships, [THR] mode is the best option as it offers maximum maneuverability with little sway since the design is very balanced and the other thrusters fire to correct uncommanded movement. I has a slitght amount of sway but really any flying vehicle would.

With unbalanced ships, [THR][STAT] works the best as you have said their is little to no sway at all.

I currently see no need for the [STAT] only mode in the situations I have tested in.

Originally posted by KC Pilot:

I currently see no need for the [STAT] only mode in the situations I have tested in.

It is intended for 2 purposes:
* main engines -- they typically reside very close to CoM and the rotation gained by throttling them is pretty small while you lose one half of your primary thrust,
* hover engines on bigger and heavier ships with relatively low TWR -- for pretty much the same reason: you don't want to lose half of your hover thrust when maneuvreing in gravity.

That makes sense. I haven't tried doing different thrusters in different modes. I have only done them all at the same time. So if I heavily load my ship so that my TWR goes way down and I try to pitch up or down in THR mode, it will cut the appropriate thrusters to do that manuever and I will loos altitude? I'll have to try that. I would have thought it would just reduce the amount of thruster torque I got so that altitude would maintain but pitch rate would be greatly reduced.