In races that require a standing start/takeoff has anyone tried building a plane with fall away landing gear or a launch dolly (like how the U2 takes off). I wondering if this will screw with the game's crash detector and disqualify a player if the the dolly crashes or hits the water?
Pretty sure it would count as a crash. Try detaching a part of your plane in any of the missions. Your best bet would be to just not have landing gear. My KX-3C is a good example.
It could be done, and it will most likely not count as a crash, but I highly doubt the reliability of such a system. You'd have to have the landing gear completely detached from the rest of the plane because the Group 8 button is switched off for tournaments. If you could make a sled that would reliably launch your plane and not fall into the water causing it to count as a crash, you'd have a major advantage over other competitors because of reduced drag and weight.