A few questions

[Dambuster]

Ok, so here goes - I have a couple of questions, on sort of related topics (I think):

1) What (good) does increasing your angle of bank do during re-entry?

2) If my hull begins to overheat during re-entry, what should I do?

3) I'd quite like to become 'good' at Orbiter (as in know how to operate one of the spacecraft from take-off to landing). Where should I start? I have several years of experience in flights sims (I bought MSFS 2000 around 5 years ago, I'm 16 now and have a pretty good grasp (in my opinion at least ) of atmospheric flight).

4) So far I've been working almost exclusively on reentrys, but I always seem to wind up being over Cape Canaveral at around an altitude of 60K. I'm using Aerobrake and BaseSync MFDs (although I really don't know how to use Aerobrake MFD, or what to use it for). Also, I'm not sure at all about the various steps necessary to reenter.

Thanks for any help,
Dambuster

 

[GregBurch]

Ok, so here goes - I have a couple of questions, on sort of related topics (I think):

Since every ship performs differently, specific responses aren't possible. But there are some general principles.

1) What (good) does increasing your angle of bank do during re-entry?

Basically, banking back and forth is a way to bleed off speed and altitude while covering less distance on your ground track.

2) If my hull begins to overheat during re-entry, what should I do?

Put your head between your legs and kiss your butt goodbye.

Seriously, about the only thing you can do is get less air passing over your skin, which means getting higher -- but that probably also means missing your target -- thus, see #1 above.

3) I'd quite like to become 'good' at Orbiter (as in know how to operate one of the spacecraft from take-off to landing). Where should I start? I have several years of experience in flights sims (I bought MSFS 2000 around 5 years ago, I'm 16 now and have a pretty good grasp (in my opinion at least ) of atmospheric flight).

4) So far I've been working almost exclusively on reentrys, but I always seem to wind up being over Cape Canaveral at around an altitude of 60K. I'm using Aerobrake and BaseSync MFDs (although I really don't know how to use Aerobrake MFD, or what to use it for). Also, I'm not sure at all about the various steps necessary to reenter.

Thanks for any help,
Dambuster

Well, I'm a complete seat-of-the-pants space pilot, and learned all the basics with almost no MFDs other than Orbit, so it can be done. I would suggest picking one ship -- probably the stock DG, since it's very forgiving, and do reentries without worrying about hitting a target on the ground. This will give you a feel for how much of a "lead" you need for your reentry burn, and let you experiment with different angles of reentry and angles of attack at various stages of the atmospheric part of the process. Once you've got a feel for those things, you can start shooting for actually trying to get from orbit to a runway somewhere. That's how I did it.

 

[Whatu]

Im going to use this thread to ask a little question not worth of a thread..

When you re-enter with DG IV / XR* its easy to tell if your burning or not..

But using the Shuttle (in shuttle fleet) How can I tell if im too hot? how can I know the moment the ship would have broken up?

 

[Urwumpe]

But using the Shuttle (in shuttle fleet) How can I tell if im too hot? how can I know the moment the ship would have broken up?

When you exceed 50 m/s² acceleration, you sure have. Otherwise, you should rely on the lines in GPCMFD. The region between the lines paint energy to range, if your shuttle icon drops too fast downwards in such a plot, instead of flying roughly parallel to the lines, you convert too much kinetic energy into heat.

Also: If you are above the lines, you are too fast for the distance to the base. If you are below the lines, you are too slow for the distance to the base.

 

[Ghostrider]

Wasn't there a OS MFD program that displayed the hull temperature data?

 

[PaulG]

In terms of bank, think of lift. When you are flying parallel to the ground, your lift vector is normal to the ground (straight up) for maximum lift. When you bank, you are angling the lift vector. To make it simple, if you bank 90 degrees, your lift vector is now parallel to the ground (you move sideways) and fall straight down. You angle of attack can still be the same since this is the angle in reference to your forward movement.