Help with flying the Delta-Glider IV

[VincentMcConnell]

I checked out the DG IV and I'm really interested in learning how to fly it, knowing what each system does and just checking the whole thing over like a pilot and understanding it.
I am very interested in how reentry works and what each thing on the panels means and does, primarily. If possible, could someone experience with this break it all down for me and act as kind of an instructor with the systems? Is there a manual I can read, too?

 

[Ripley]

If you have the DGIV-2 on your HD, you already have its documentation and manual.
Look in your doc folder:

\Doc\DeltaGliderIV\

and

\Doc\DeltaGliderIV\res

 

[VincentMcConnell]

I think I just unzipped it. I will redownload it or something.

 

[Rtyh-12]

On the flight computer, press Display -> 6. Afterwards, you get a list of checklists. Select one (with the proper number) and it automatically tells you whether you missed something. For reentry, this mostly means closing all doors, putting the control button on atmospheric auto (so it automatically switches to aerodynamic control surfaces when needed, at 8 km/s this will happen at higher altitudes than you probably expect ) and setting hover/retro doors from auto to closed (believe me, it's really easy to hit them on accident, and even opening and closing them immediately afterwards is fatal).

The DGIV has a manual, IIRC it's in the Doc folder (otherwise, check Addon Docs, Documentation or something similar). But I found it more helpful to check the ingame checklist display: on the bottom panel, it's the strange screen with green text and arrows on the bottom.

Edit: Don't bother redownloading it as it doesn't come in a .zip file but rather in a .exe, so you won't be able to find the manual in it (though I remember there was an 'Extract files manually' option... that might help). I'd check my Orbiter installation.

 

[VincentMcConnell]

I'm on the reentry checklist and it tells me to start burning retro after selecting Cape Canaveral as my target at a certain distance. It tells me to cut off the engine with a specific reentry angle. How do I know what my reentry angle is so I know when to cut the engine off?

---------- Post added at 08:41 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:02 AM ----------

Does anyone know how to land the DG-IV? I used the reentry autopilot but for some reason, right at final descent for landing, I simply cannot control the craft. If anyone know how to land this thing, please help me. What is a nice profile? How exactly should I do landing and why can't I control the ship on any control setting? (atm AUT, RCS rot etc.)

 

[Rtyh-12]

How do I know what my reentry angle is so I know when to cut the engine off?

Display 2 on the flight computer tells you everything you need to know about your (future) reentry. You should switch to display 3 during reentry as it tells you stuff like temperatures, G levels vertical and total, and max G level during your flight.

How exactly should I do landing and why can't I control the ship on any control setting? (atm AUT, RCS rot etc.)

I think you're coming in too slow (you're stalling). You're supposed to turn the autopilot off for final approach and landing.

 

[Scav]

for some reason, right at final descent for landing, I simply cannot control the craft.

I think you're coming in too slow (you're stalling). You're supposed to turn the autopilot off for final approach and landing.

An alternative, based on my own experiences with this bird, which I think I'm not far off the level from what you're experiencing:

Try turning the ship controller from ATM AUTO to 'ELEVON AND GEAR' when you're ready to land. That way you lock out the RCS control system, and control the ship directly by the aerodynamic control surfaces.

It took me a while to figure out, while I was fighting a slow roll-pitch rate on final approach, that it was the ATM AUTO mode that kept swapping control of the craft from RCS-only to elevons and back. In ATM AUTO mode, the system hunts for the right system to control the craft with, and in my case, the RCS jets kept firing during critical control moments, instead of the bigger, more effective elevons doing the work. Sort of a vernier/Chuck Norris difference in movement quality, if you take my meaning.

 

[Ripley]

Me thinks this should be stickied somewhere:
Grover's Re-entry for Dummies

 

[VincentMcConnell]

I'm going to try the landing with a setting of Elevon and Gear.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Yeah... I can't count how many times the DGIV killed me by switching to RCS while I was on short final. Enough to drive me to drink, of fly me to drink I suppose...

 

[VincentMcConnell]

Just made a really rough landing, but at least I was down. I don't see why this keeps happening. I am on Elevon and gear but I still have a nasty pitch down. So I took Rty-H12's comment to mind and figured I was coming in too slow. To fix it, whenever the plane started to pitch down, I burned my engine to add more velocity and it allowed me to pitch up. I came in with a pitch of +06 (what is a good number for future reference?) and my gear was destroyed on landing. That was about the extent of the damage.
And Grover's guide didn't work. I did everything he showed and I overshot Wideawake by almost an entire continent.
I just don't see why this isn't working for me no matter what I do.

---------- Post added at 09:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:30 PM ----------

So here's another question for everyone:
Say I want to launch to the moon in the DG-IV. What is a good launch heading to hit?

 

[garyw]

What is your landing mass? You may well be making an overweight landing - it is important to dump fuel before the deorbit burn.

 

[VincentMcConnell]

Oh. I didn't dump fuel. I'll give that a shot.

 

[SolarLiner]

You need a mass of less than 21 tons to re-enter and land. Your mass is actually displayed in the right-hand small HUD viewer. Switch to the 2nd or the 3rd mode, and in big is how heavy you are.
For my own experience, I land with a mass of 19 tons, and the "gear-faliure" vertical speed limit at this weight is about -6 m/s.

As your reentry experience increases, you will want to reenter manually, witch gives you more satisfaying results (in fuel-comsumption and happines ). You should even now install Aerobrake MFD and use it to see what is your future path though the atmosphere. It can be useful to the aerodynamics understanding and will helps you a lot while trying to manually do the trick.
For that, I intentionally overshoot a bit the base that I arrive over the base at Mach 4. That gives you a power margin witch can be used if any problems or path errors. I so arrive with a weight of 19 tons and land greater than -6 m/s.

 

[VincentMcConnell]

I am going to try a mission using everything everyone has said here.

I don't think anybody saw my post because it's too far up, but I wanted to know what a good launch heading to go to the Moon was on the DG-IV landed KCS departure to ISS scenario is.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

"Good" launch heading is dependent on a skill-set. Once you are in orbit, you can do an off-plane transfer to the moon regardless of what your takeoff heading happened to be.

"Go Play In Space" explains the way I managed to do it the first time, basically make your heading close to 90 after take-off. Or, watch the playback video... But keep in mind that the pilot is very, very good with the stock DG.

Also, there is Lunar Transfer MFD. It's based on IMFD and is really good, plus there is a checklist/walkthrough that you can either print out of write down the high points that will get you to the moon as well.

http://www.amcsorley.dsl.pipex.com/play_in_space.htm
http://koti.mbnet.fi/jarmonik/Orbiter.html

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

"Good" launch heading is dependent on a skill-set. Once you are in orbit, you can do an off-plane transfer to the moon regardless of what your takeoff heading happened to be.

"Go Play In Space" explains the way I managed to do it the first time, basically make your heading close to 90 after take-off. Or, watch the playback video... But keep in mind that the pilot is very, very good with the stock DG.

Also, there is Lunar Transfer MFD. It's based on IMFD and is really good, plus there is a checklist/walkthrough that you can either print out of write down the high points that will get you to the moon as well.

http://www.amcsorley.dsl.pipex.com/play_in_space.htm
http://koti.mbnet.fi/jarmonik/Orbiter.html

Well, bearing in mind that some orbits are pretty much hopeless for TLI's, unless you have about 2 weeks to a month on your hands, may not be that much life support in the DGIV. If youre more of a visual learner than a manual reader, you might find it helpfull to use this orbit drawing tool for Orbiter

[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=4864"]http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=4864[/ame]

Not the most stable thing Ive ever seen, but still very usefull. A bit nicer looking, more stable version of this would be a terrific addition to Planetarium mode in the next Orbiter Version, IMO :tiphat:

 

[Rtyh-12]

There's a playback tutorial that comes with Orbiter, a full trip to the Moon. It explains the issue of launch heading. You don't have to watch it all, you can exit after the pilot launches. But do read the annotations.

 

[Ripley]

...And Grover's guide didn't work. I did everything he showed and I overshot Wideawake...

Oh. I didn't dump fuel. I'll give that a shot.

I don't want to nitpick, but these two statements you made just don't match together, IF you really "did everything Grover showed".

He explains perfectly how and why one should dump fuel before reentry, and that the DGIV-2 needs to be under 19 tons.
There is the reentry checklist (press d65 on your keyboard) which alerts you with beeps and tells you what still needs to be done...

In the beginning Orbiter and some of its add-ons are indeed overwhelming, and one can easily oversee/forget/misunderstand something and be overloaded with new infos.
It's a (for me it was, and still is) slow read/apply/rinse/repeat process, where every single time you always learn and understand something new, and the "big picture" slowly takes shape.

There's a lot to read.

 

[Ripley]

...If youre more of a visual learner than a manual reader, you might find it helpfull to use this orbit drawing tool for Orbiter...

The amazing Videnie add-on only works in DirectX7 (with inline graphics, that is).

If you use the D3D9 engine instead, try this one...
[ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3992"]Map 3D MFD v0.7a[/ame]