<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">I reckon that maybe the gear hitting first absorbs some of the initial impact but also keeps the aircraft in a straight line and a little more stable than if one wing touches down first. Gear breaks off, engines break off, fuselage by now probably very little forward movement</font>
There is no doubt at all that the slower the cabin & fuselage hit, the less damage will occur to the occupants. You want to slow down as slowly as possible.
I suppose the issue is how controllable the machine is after the gear digs in. If there is a large nose down moment at that time, would the impact of the nose cause the fuselage to break up and how easy is it to hold the nose off. With regard to lateral stability, how easy is it to keep wings level while the pods get pulled off.
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