If this was really about Oxygen being used for the burning, fuel burning motors should not work on moons without atmosphere or planets without oxygen at all.ORIGINAL: Soar_Slitherine
According to this document by Vic, aircraft with non-rocket engines actually lose a lot of efficiency under very low air pressure, even if gravity is decreased by a similar ratio. It's not merely a matter of lift, most aircraft engines require air for combustion as well.
Every truckstop, buggy, truck and tank used on the Moon class tell us it is not a mater of oxygen.
I think it is a more a mater of having less air to push back, thus capping the speed way lower at the same rotation.
I think for any given specific tank, any specific engine has a specific operation duration. But if the air is denser, the speed archieved is higher. Meaning that at the same load, more distance is covered.
Still it does mean Atmosphere pressure has more of a impact then I expected. Based on those linked figures, I would say Pressure has a nearly linear impact on speed. Wich means it has a nearly linear impact on range as well.
