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*Slaps forehead*. For course the later Phoenixes had the LH2 tank on the bottom, the LO2 tank underneath that, and the nose is completely free for a docking port. Apologizes; what was I thinking? DC-Y, probably. The engines didn't retract; they were recessed so the end of the nozzle was flush...

Okay, then. Pity; I'd like to see an accurate Phoenix, but of course beggars can't be choosers. And please don't take anything I say as real criticism; I fully support what you're doing and look forward to seeing the result. That said: The nozzles look cool, but they realistically should...

Is that meant to be an accurate Phoenix SSTO? Because if so, I have some suggestions. If not, well and good.

Well, it was a learning experience. A proper treatment would rotate the whole mesh 90 degrees and chop off the nose so that an optional cargo fairing is possible. And use mostly SASSTO code for the entry ballistics and throttleback and ascent autopilot, with a 90-degree rotated viewpoint...

It should, yes.

Aargh. Not again. Try this, then.

Oops. I'll have to look, but I suspect there's something in the autopilot routine that expects an "Earth.cfg". I'll take a look and see if I can fix it.

There is another... Way, WAY back when, my very first attempt at coding was a VTOVL SSTO. It was based off DeltaGlider code (which wasn't a very good choice), it was for Orbiter 2003, and it hasn't been updated since. It used main and hover engines to provide two engine sets, but they...

Actually, there is one: SASSTO v1.0 I like the idea too, but what the SASSTO has persuaded me is that more VTOVL SSTO's should wait until Orbiter has some better tools for the purpose. Like good re-entry guidance or autopilot.

Yes and no. Orbiter is, at heart, a physics engine. You don't get out an estimate of delta-V used flying to orbit. You just...fly to orbit. The physics engine does indeed take into account the rotation of the earth, and gravity losses aren't calculated as such, but fall out of the physics...

Well, you should probably get familiar with the basics of Orbiter operation first, before delving into the arcana of various add-ons, including Velcro Rockets. Once you get basic operation down, you'll want to be familiar with creating your own scenario files. It's not hard; you edit them with...

Sat5_Skylab is called by NASSP, not CVEL Titans. You appear to have an incompletely installed version of NASSP.

You certainly COULD rig the external tanks to feed the core stage using Velcro Rockets, but that's not what the add-on author did. Velcro Rockets and Velcro Saturns are required to make the launchers work, but once on-orbit, the Velcro Rockets attachment system isn't used. Instead, the tanks...

Was there a version of the Shukra station that was released with source code? Because I have never seen one. I'd really like to see it, to understand how it was done.

Fixerger, Since the SECentaur in this case is a CVEL stage, it doesn't actually "exist" until the moment of staging. So there's no way to tell it to DELAYSTART in the scenario file. Fortunately, the two-pass search of Velcro Rockets gives us an out here, it's just an awkward one: the...

It'd be a great project, a good modeling exercise. I think rotation and articulation should be possible and practical. One time-saver might be Hispaorbiter's Cosmos, which is a mesh of a plastic model that was kitbashed from Pilgrim Observer parts. As such, it could possibly be...

If you can systematize and summarize your practices, please post them here. The best I've ever done was 5 km off with a SASSTO. After much practice, I could make about a 20km CEP with Re-Entry MFD. I never got good enough with Aerobrake MFD to make a difference. If the tools have...

Yes, I've always liked the VTOVL SSTO's (BETA is my favorite), but my experience with the Kankoh-Maru and SASSTO has soured me a bit on them for purposes of Orbiter. I've been meaning to try again, but not until I have a fully operable re-entry autopilot. Without that, there's no hope of...