Changes in Hypercruise Velocities

[Stealthie]

Dunno if it's just a coincidence but over the last week or so I've noticed that a lot of the planets I've landed on have required me to take action to avoid getting a "too fast for orbital cruise" warning as I land.

Normally it's just a case of approaching at 70% throttle, setting up a 2:1 glide slope and then coasting down to land.
Recently, however, I seem to find that my approach is much shorter and I have to nose-up to "stall" my ship in high-orbit to keep the speed down.

Maybe it's just that I've been visiting smaller planets which means things happen faster or maybe it's just a case of "familiarity breeds contempt" and I'm not paying as much attention as i should be?

 

[capt_sparks]

I throttle down at 5s (just a little bit below 6s) mark. That's the fastest way to approach from supercruise without overshooting (without using planet gravity assist). See for example https://www.twitch.tv/videos/126826626?t=34m06s

 

[CMDR Ofan]

Thanks for all the inputs so far! It is not a clear decision on this one with so many variables.

1. Different controllers can produce different results. I find rotation with an older Saitek Cyborg
Evo seems faster to respond than the current X-56. It is a very light thin stick versus the robust
thick X-56.

2. Changes in controller response per wear may not be noticed slowly over time. The castle hat
on the X-55 had become very sloppy and the center tension almost non-existent but I didn't see
the dramatic difference until replacing it with the X-56.

3. Engineered thrusters may be impacting the approach while using the same stock throttle data
changes and gravity wells to slow the ship down. Shouldn't make a difference as different ships
have different thrusters or if they are even part of the common hypercruise flight component.

1 and 2 above are of course not approach related but demonstrate that differences can occur which
may not be noticeable with wear or throttles on different controllers.

Planet landings have changed. I used to fly straight down directly above the station at 90 degrees
adjusting the throttle for maximum effect. But the loss of glide above a 45 degree approach has
slowed down this method significantly.

I should probably mention that my orbital approach is halfway between the planet and the station
then turning on final so that upon arrival the station entrance is facing me. It's that station entrance
always faces the planet rule.

Funny when overshooting I also get as close to the planet ahead to use the gravity well to aid in
slowing down. That can add some pretty hair raising moments if off just by a little bit!

OK, I'll bind my 50% button to 75% and see what happens. It's a Python with 324M/s cruise 423M/s
boost 21/4% optimal multiplier and a slight 0.1% improvement in mass.

UPDATE: 75% at 6 sec works great! Let's push it to 5 sec...

Regards

Just be bold and come in way too fast and try and emergency drop onto the target. You can drop in so close you hit a station, 80 km away or anything in between fast reflexes required.

 

[OnePercent]

Keep your ETA timer at 6 seconds, that is the optimal Throttle setting.

 

[Rob Erstas]

Besides very long distances I almost always supercruise at the middle of blue. These few seconds makes no difference.

 

[Commander Abs Monster]

I often find that if you wait until it says "Slow Down" it's often too late to slow down and you'll overshoot.

 

[Shiro Akai]

I always SC at full throttle. When timer indicates 0:07 I set it to 75% and never overshoot. When I'm lazy or approaching small body which is close to the star (and getting high acceleration) I set 75% at 0:08. I have also successful approach at 0:06. So general rule: throttle to 75% within 0:08 - 0:06 and you're golden.

 

[pewter]

Nobody is spiraling in nimble ships like me? Or sometimes i deselect target and brake like hitting the wall.