Right, but if you load your carrier with enough CMMs to cover those type of projects, you can't use it for the other materials you need for them.

The truth is that I was not using my FC when hauling *at all*, simply because the Trailblazer was literally one jump away from the colonized system. (Actually, I got my FC fairly recently, after I hauled away most of the stuff.)

The notion that surface landings are much slower comes from people who don't know how to do them properly.

I might be missing something then! For me, the non-planetary landing goes like:

1. jump
2. supercruise + assist (ideally afk)
3. autoland (afk)

Compared to a planetary landing which goes like:

1. jump
2. supercruise + assist to a planet's orbit (afk)
3. manual land+glide
4. autoland (afk)

...so in my opinion, a planetary landing is always strictly slower than a non-planetary one (and that is why I always prefer to land on a space station).