Fun! Made it from CRI to CAP with 2% fuel remaining :-)
I fly like this, any suggestions?
- decide which base you want to fly to and rotate your craft in that direction.
- blast off until V-speed of +40ish, while simultaneously going full forward (unless you have a mountain just in front, obviously, as for example when you fly from PTO to PAR, or MAG to PRB). H-speed cuts of at 30 automatically.
- that should take you up to around 70 [units], cruising full forward. That seems to be high enough to avoid obstacles.
- when V-speed drops to -5, take it back up to +5, in other words, 0 +/- 5.
- observe the map, and when the base approaches, correct the heading.
- at some point now, you should see the base lights in the window. Aim there.
- don't decrease horizontal speed prematurely, it'll cost you fuel to stay up. And don't decrease altitude prematurely, it'll make it harder to see the base in the scope.
- consider the cross on the map as a distance measure. When you are two crosses away, start taking H-speed down slowly. When you're one cross away, H-speed 10 works.
- once you see the base in the scope, you can do fine-tuning, arrest H-speed, and descend. As JKC mentioned, avoid any horizontal speed when touching down. Try to keep V-speed > -5, at the latest when the ALT light turns on. (Touch down V-speed > -3 is very smooth, > -6 is ok, < -9 is a crash.)
My thoughts are, going too high is a waste of fuel (in addition to getting up there, you have to brake coming down).
Full forward velocity as soon as you can — slow only when closing on the base. (Faster you can get to your destination, again, less fuel needed to stay aloft.)
It is not unusual for me to land with empty tanks. As long as you have stopped horizontal velocity, it is somewhat forgiving vertically (I suppose the landing shocks are well engineered).
BTW, the landing gear on the Apollo LM employed a collapsible honeycomb that absorbed energy by being crushed. Of course, works only once.
The X-20 Dynasoar was to have a similar shock absorber for landing — some sort of metal tensioning wires that took up energy by being stretched.
I was trying to straighten copper wire (the kind you run in your home) by holding one end very firmly in a vise and then putting my strength into pulling on several feet of the wire with a pair of vise grips. It was hard to pull, but there was a fascinating moment when the wire "gave" and I was able to stretch it an inch or so at which point I was unable to stretch it any further.
Straightened the wire for sure. But what an odd molecular dance there must have been going on within that copper.
The height is not only to avoid terrain, it is also to buy you time to move horizontally. It is more efficient to go higher at the beginning of the flight and taking a parabolic path than to try to maintain altitude any lower. Even with the braking burn, which for the same reason should occur as low as possible. Your engine is most efficient when your craft is moving quickly - the Oberth effect.
I fly like this, any suggestions?
- decide which base you want to fly to and rotate your craft in that direction.
- blast off until V-speed of +40ish, while simultaneously going full forward (unless you have a mountain just in front, obviously, as for example when you fly from PTO to PAR, or MAG to PRB). H-speed cuts of at 30 automatically.
- that should take you up to around 70 [units], cruising full forward. That seems to be high enough to avoid obstacles.
- when V-speed drops to -5, take it back up to +5, in other words, 0 +/- 5.
- observe the map, and when the base approaches, correct the heading.
- at some point now, you should see the base lights in the window. Aim there.
- don't decrease horizontal speed prematurely, it'll cost you fuel to stay up. And don't decrease altitude prematurely, it'll make it harder to see the base in the scope.
- consider the cross on the map as a distance measure. When you are two crosses away, start taking H-speed down slowly. When you're one cross away, H-speed 10 works.
- once you see the base in the scope, you can do fine-tuning, arrest H-speed, and descend. As JKC mentioned, avoid any horizontal speed when touching down. Try to keep V-speed > -5, at the latest when the ALT light turns on. (Touch down V-speed > -3 is very smooth, > -6 is ok, < -9 is a crash.)
- rule of thumb: keep V-speed > -altitude.