My first manual landing!

[Malkom K]

I'm new to the forums and I would like to say that I just suceeded in manually landing the XR2 at Wideawake International! That is to say, I almost suceeded. I actually touched down some to the right of the runway, and then steered myself onto it and braked via retro rockets.

I didn't do a re-entry before landing (I used the XR2 Final Approach scenario that came with the Wideawake International add-on.

I'm feeling pretty proud of myself, I haven't done this before.

As well, I would like to ask for some tips on how to do it better next time.

 

[Grover]

the NUMBER ONE RULE:

fly smooth, dont move the stick very fast, this goes for any flight sim (in atmosphere, orbiter is essentially a flight sim, only with spacecraft)
i know that its hard when you first start, but you need patience, especially with the XR2, its not a jet fighter, it flys like a brick, so give it time to make its turns
then, line up nice and early, watch the velocity ball (the circle with a + inside it) rather than the aimpoint, keep it on the runway threshold from as soon as you are lined up and pointing in the right direction

NUMBER TWO RULE
WATCH YOUR SPEED
as with any flight sim, you slow down too much, you stall. you stall, you crash and die, keep your speed nice and high (you know if you're going too slow if you struggle to "hold the nose up", and the craft tries to pitch downwards

NUMBER 3 RULE
VERTICAL SPEED
never hit the runway with more than 5M/s downward speed, keep the velocity ball just below the horizon once you pass the runway threshold to descend slowly

good luck, and welcome to the forum

 

[IronRain]

Congratulation and well done! :thumbup:

Welcome to the forum

 

[N_Molson]

Congrats ! Beginning your spaceflights by training on the landings can only be a good idea, your UmmU will appreciate this ! :lol:

 

[IronRain]

your UmmU will appreciate this ! :lol:

Don't forget the probe

 

[Malkom K]

Wow, what a lot of replies! Thanks everyone!

Thanks for the tips, Grover. I already knew about some of them, but the rest are new to me.

I am considering doing a "How To Land" tutorial video (once I get the hang of it myself, of course ). If you think that such a video would be useful to the community, feel free to encourage me.

I would also like to know if there is any large interplanetary vessel similar to the old Vespucci-D as seen in Go Play in Space that supports UmmU, UCGO, and can carry several DG/DGIV/XR1/XR2/<insert your smaller space ship of choice here> on its voyages. Thanks in advance.

 

[OrbiterSpore]

"-UMMU: much appreciated... i thought that i where going to... erm... a box..."
"-Probe: :ditto: "

:rofl:

anyway, congrats! and welcome to O-F!

 

[Grover]

try the Arrow Freighter, part of the UGCO pack available here

 

[Malkom K]

try the Arrow Freighter, part of the UGCO pack available here

I've tried that in the past, and while it has some of what I'm looking for it's not a full featured addon and as I remember some things were missing. I've never really used it for anything major.

I suppose I'll have to program my own add on. Even if I do decide to, I won't do it anytime soon. Don't hold your breath.

 

[Hielor]

One tip for lining up with a runway during a visual approach: make sure the runway is pointing straight up and down in your view. In a simulator it's fairly easy to spot when it's not straight, since you'll see jaggedness on the slanted lines, but the method applies to real life as well.

As long as the runway appears "straight up and down," you're lined up with it.

 

[Malkom K]

Thanks for the tip.

I was wondering if there's a add-on for Orbiter that would allow you to use the mouse as a joystick like you can in some space combat/trading sims.