Newbie to orbiter and forum

[Jazza11]

Hello i recently downloaded orbiter 2006 and have enjoyed it but its really hard i dont know how to even steer the thing takeing off is easy but how do i actually get up into an orbit of about 250 - 350 km in the delta glider 4 i have only gotten to a high of 160km in a normal delta glider so can anyone here help me with the controls and how to steer and any other advice would be great

 

[Lazers]

Okay, take off at full throttle, and aim upwards at about fifty degrees, retract the landing gear once you're off the ground, and open the Orbit MFD. Hit the PRJ button once, so the line and very thin ovoid on the display becomes, uhm, longer and thinner. Open the surfaceMFD in the other display window. Once you hit 40k in altitude, turn prograde and continue burning, until you see a line inside a not-so-thin ovoid. once the line no longer touches the small circle at the top of this ovoid, kill thrust with *.
Time accelerate using T(To go faster) or R(Slower), until the line, which represents your obit, is over the small circle, at which point engage thrust until the green circle no longer intersects the grey circle.
Good luck, it may take a few shots!

 

[tblaxland]

Also, check out the tutorials page: http://www.orbiter-forum.com/tutorials.php, especially Go Play In Space.

Welcome to a fellow Aussie

 

[ar81]

[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3074"]Tutorial: DG to ISS[/ame]

If you are unfamiliar with airplane piloting
http://www.4p8.com/eric.brasseur/flight_simulator_tutorial.html

If you are worried about turning (steering?) see this
http://www.4p8.com/eric.brasseur/flight_simulator_tutorial.html#turning
Be aware that due to spacecraft limited aerodynamics, you may need not only to bank, but to pitch the nose up.

 

[Tommy]

It may help to download the DG-IV from Dan's Orbiter Page (the same place you get Orbitsound and UMMU if you don't have it. All three are kind of "must have", especially OrbitSound and UMMU.

The DG-IV has an automatic ascent autopilot (check the DG-IV manual for intructions) that will launch to a circular orbit on a heading you choose. Watching how the autopilot changes it's pitch during ascent can be very educational.

Also, be sure you understand the basics of what an orbit is and how it works. The "Go Play in Space" tutorial is a "Must Read" and most of us here learned spaceflight from it. Don't expect it to make sense at first, just keep playing and re-reading bits of the tutorial, and eventually it will all start to click into place.

I find it's often best for newbies to start with one of the scenarios that start with you already in orbit, and practice tranferring to different orbital altitudes and change planes before tackling an ascent.

 

[ar81]

You may download DGIV here.