Flight Question Wideawake to the Moon

[TachyonDriver]

So. I decided to get a little ferry mission going, whilst (trying!) to get used to IMFD and the XL5 Vanguard - she is quite the nice big bird to fly incidentally! :thumbup:

Before taking off I've called up surface launch on IMFD, target moon, higher orbit program (no data from course) to give me the heading I should fly to minimise plane alignment. This "seems" to work, but after getting to LEO I cannot seem to get a good solution to get to the moon delta-v around 4k !! no matter what variables I altered. In addition, if I altered the Tej then the blue hypothetical orbit & associated delta-v began jumping around the place. Is this because I'm on the surface and have non-spherical gravity ticked?

I'll have to go back and watch blixel & dgatsoulis' tutorial vids again - I thought I was doing OK before, but my previous lunar trip involved the Clydesdale; the Vanguard is a different beastie

Thinking about it whilst typing this post - would I still have to wait for the moon to be in a favourable position in its orbit to give me a 3-4 day trip and have the course program give me a better solution, despite IMFD's ability to handle off plane burns?

Please can anyone help before I go and kill the Vanguard's crew (again... repeatedly.. ) :facepalm: :shrug: :beathead:

Thanks!

 

[Delta glider]

TEJ needs to be 0 or over 6000 I think, set it to 0. Then switch the realtime item to off-axis and set TLN to around 4 days (you can write 4D) and you should get a good plan.
Engage autoburn, and after it finishes switch off axis to realtime and click auto burn. Then you are on your way to the moon!

 

[Cras]

Use Lunar Transfer MFD (LTMFD), it is the best way to plan a flight from Earth to the Moon and back again. If you are somewhat comfortable with IMFD then LTMFD should appear pretty straightforward.

 

[Delta glider]

Yeah LTMFD is very easy but I find it is too easy.

 

[TMac3000]

- she is quite the nice big bird to fly incidentally!

The Vangaurd is about the size of an An-22 IIRC.

And yes, she's a lovely bird indeed. A fitting futuristic replacement for the Shuttle:thumbup:

 

[Delta glider]

And yes, she's a lovely bird indeed. A fitting futuristic replacement for the Shuttle:thumbup:

Except for dead-stick landings.

---------- Post added at 06:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:49 PM ----------

In fact, an XR-5 dead stick is one of my personal orbiter challenges right now.:dry:

 

[TMac3000]

In fact, an XR-5 dead stick is one of my personal orbiter challenges right now:dry:

I used to have them down pretty well. It's a matter of coming down in the right place. Use Aerobrake MFD--it's almost impossible without it

 

[Cras]

Aerobrake MFD is a marvelous MFD. So is Glideslope 2 MFD, if you are really interested in dead stick landings, I highly recommend those two MFDs.

 

[Tommy]

Surface launch should be set to "lunar off plane", not "higher orbit". You won't be using target intercept until after you achieve orbit. Set the source to "self" and then adjust the TEj and TIn to achieve the trajectory you want. TEj will probably be alright with the default time. Reducing the TIn to shorten the time of flight, coupled with target offsetting can be used to set up a free return trajectory.