Hit a Nice Milestone Tonight...

[cowasaki]

That was one thing about flying the T-9-- Even though it was very slow, it certainly kept you on your toes flying just so you didn't smash it into things all the time...The Anaconda sounds like a great ship to try out...perhaps I'll be getting one for a bit here sometime in the next few weeks. I found a great trade route recently with large landing pads at both stations and very lucrative payouts--it would lend itself well to a T-9 or an Anaconda

Good luck to you Commander on your trip into the deep black

This will work for any ship just adjust the bit about where the cockpit is i.e. the first line. Everything else is the same (although only really relevant for large ships)

Docking the Anaconda is an art but:

The cockpit is right at the top so you have to go through the letterbox so you think you are going to scrape the paint off the roof....
Always dock and undock with the landing gear DOWN (the ship isn't actually larger and it allows thrust buttons to work)
Bind 8 buttons to thrust left/right/up/down/forward/back/rotate left/rotate right - These will be your docking controls....
The actual pad number is irrelevant using the location circle.
When you use this method you are effectively landing on instruments so no need to mess around turning in the station
Using this method you will hit the pad every time whether it is next to the letterbox or otherwise.


Docking.

Align perfectly away from the station 1-2Km then rotate with station very slightly high and enter like you are going to scrape the roof but not quite.
Once inside switch to buttons and thrust only forwards whilst looking at the docking pad locator.
Keep moving forwards slowly until the dot reaches the edge of the circle (use thrust back if it becomes a hollow dot)
Now use rotate left/right until the dot is at the bottom of the circle.
Now use thrust down until you see the number of the pad in front of you then make minor adjustments using only left/right/rotate left/rotate right.
Continue thrust down until you see the docking hud
Use thrust left/right/forwards/backwards/down to land slowly.


Leaving the station.

Use only thrust upwards until you are at the height of the letterbox
Now use rotate until you are rotated with the letterbox
Use left/right to get central.
Move forward and look the the station interior from the middle of the letterbox as it comes round to your ship and use up/down so you are slightly above centre
Keep moving forwards and you may appear to go up this is because of the shape of the ship. Adjust using thrust up/down buttons
Again keep moving forwards until you are outside then press thrust harder till you are clear.


The above works every time.
It appears quite slow but after 4-5 goes it gets quicker and now takes no longer than normal.
Using the buttons is more precise and avoids forwards/back tilt.
The station rotates with you once inside so using the buttons avoids quick movements and you can be very accurate - your ship just sits there until you exit the dock.

 

[Chaz]

I went more or less the same route as the OP except that I skipped the Python, and I've now ditched the T9 in favour of the Anaconda. The T9 was a great heavy mover, but having to wait for the station entrance slot to clear before I could leave was starting to get on my nerves a bit. Especially in busy stations, setting off to leave and seeing a whole load of pads all lit up around you was groan inducing, as was the sometimes up to 2 minute wait for a long procession of ships coming in. Also you always felt a bit vulnerable in the T9, no such problems in the Anaconda. In fact I've never been interdicted once in the Anaconda.

Still I wouldn't mind getting a Python though, just to try it out and of course it's more handy for pulling bulletin board missions as it can land at outposts.

Loved my Asp, will certainly be getting another to go off exploring again. Didn't really spend enough time in the Cobra to get a feel for it and all I bothered upgrading was the holds and FSD. Again I will probably buy another at some point to give it a proper go.

Still lots of ships I want to try out in this game, like the Clipper and Vulture, and of course we'll be getting two new ones very soon.

 

[Hilight]

This will work for any ship just adjust the bit about where the cockpit is i.e. the first line. Everything else is the same (although only really relevant for large ships)

Docking the Anaconda is an art but:

The cockpit is right at the top so you have to go through the letterbox so you think you are going to scrape the paint off the roof....
Always dock and undock with the landing gear DOWN (the ship isn't actually larger and it allows thrust buttons to work)
Bind 8 buttons to thrust left/right/up/down/forward/back/rotate left/rotate right - These will be your docking controls....
The actual pad number is irrelevant using the location circle.
When you use this method you are effectively landing on instruments so no need to mess around turning in the station
Using this method you will hit the pad every time whether it is next to the letterbox or otherwise.


Docking.

Align perfectly away from the station 1-2Km then rotate with station very slightly high and enter like you are going to scrape the roof but not quite.
Once inside switch to buttons and thrust only forwards whilst looking at the docking pad locator.
Keep moving forwards slowly until the dot reaches the edge of the circle (use thrust back if it becomes a hollow dot)
Now use rotate left/right until the dot is at the bottom of the circle.
Now use thrust down until you see the number of the pad in front of you then make minor adjustments using only left/right/rotate left/rotate right.
Continue thrust down until you see the docking hud
Use thrust left/right/forwards/backwards/down to land slowly.


Leaving the station.

Use only thrust upwards until you are at the height of the letterbox
Now use rotate until you are rotated with the letterbox
Use left/right to get central.
Move forward and look the the station interior from the middle of the letterbox as it comes round to your ship and use up/down so you are slightly above centre
Keep moving forwards and you may appear to go up this is because of the shape of the ship. Adjust using thrust up/down buttons
Again keep moving forwards until you are outside then press thrust harder till you are clear.


The above works every time.
It appears quite slow but after 4-5 goes it gets quicker and now takes no longer than normal.
Using the buttons is more precise and avoids forwards/back tilt.
The station rotates with you once inside so using the buttons avoids quick movements and you can be very accurate - your ship just sits there until you exit the dock.

That sounds like you've gotten it down to a science for landing large ships. I also primarily use maneuvering thrusters when I land-- I have them mapped to the arrowkeys on the KB. You are right that you can control your ship much more precisely with them than with the Hotas or joystick. They only thing I really have to pay a lot of attention to is my throttle as my stick doesn't have a center indent for 0 throttle and I've found mapping it to a button doesn't work so well for me.... I hear some people map reverse to a button and use the entire throw on the throttle to modulate forward thrust but personally, I've never tried it that way. I've got plenty of buttons to map stuff to on my stick but I've gotten very used to using both the stick and the KB for commands and, as they say, old habits dies hard LOL R+ for you for your excellent explanation Commander

 

[Hilight]

I went more or less the same route as the OP except that I skipped the Python, and I've now ditched the T9 in favour of the Anaconda. The T9 was a great heavy mover, but having to wait for the station entrance slot to clear before I could leave was starting to get on my nerves a bit. Especially in busy stations, setting off to leave and seeing a whole load of pads all lit up around you was groan inducing, as was the sometimes up to 2 minute wait for a long procession of ships coming in. Also you always felt a bit vulnerable in the T9, no such problems in the Anaconda. In fact I've never been interdicted once in the Anaconda.


Still I wouldn't mind getting a Python though, just to try it out and of course it's more handy for pulling bulletin board missions as it can land at outposts.

Loved my Asp, will certainly be getting another to go off exploring again. Didn't really spend enough time in the Cobra to get a feel for it and all I bothered upgrading was the holds and FSD. Again I will probably buy another at some point to give it a proper go.

Still lots of ships I want to try out in this game, like the Clipper and Vulture, and of course we'll be getting two new ones very soon.

The Anaconda sounds more and more like a ship I'd like to try out. I agree that the T-9 certainly gets the job done that it was intended for, but flying it out of interdiction's really is a bit hairy....and just flying from day-to-day certainly keeps your attention ...every time you fly into a system and have to pull away from a Suns gravity well is an adventure LOL the thing turns soooo slow

I really liked the Asp and I think I'll get another one sometime to fly from time to time but the Python is my favorite ship in the game so far. It really is very capable and a sheer joy to fly especially when it's well kitted. When you get around to trying one, I'm sure you'll enjoy flying it

the vulture, I think is also a ship that sounds like a great deal of fun to fly although it doesn't lend itself well to the way I play ED--- but who knows, perhaps I'll give bounty hunting a go sometime... One of the really nice things about ED is that they've managed to give each ship a real personality of it's own so it's great to try each one out

 

[Krow]

I traded myself up to a LaK9 then the reset happened.
I did a bit more trading up to Cobra then just got jack of it.

The Vulture was the best thing to happen to me.
Went out to RES sites and got my Combat on, started out a bit slow and careful, but now I'm Master Bounty hunter.. and wow.. so much fun.

My next progression was the Clipper my favourite ship so far.. just love it... enough room for a trade run and enough weapon hardpoints to kill... fast and efficiently.
And so much fun to fly, very fast ship and a respectable "AllRounder" - (downside is large landingpads only)>

As an old space trucker, trust me when i say get a Vulture and hit some RES sites for a look.
A lot more fun than you think.

 

[Hilight]

I traded myself up to a LaK9 then the reset happened.
I did a bit more trading up to Cobra then just got jack of it.

The Vulture was the best thing to happen to me.
Went out to RES sites and got my Combat on, started out a bit slow and careful, but now I'm Master Bounty hunter.. and wow.. so much fun.

My next progression was the Clipper my favourite ship so far.. just love it... enough room for a trade run and enough weapon hardpoints to kill... fast and efficiently.
And so much fun to fly, very fast ship and a respectable "AllRounder" - (downside is large landingpads only)>

As an old space trucker, trust me when i say get a Vulture and hit some RES sites for a look.
A lot more fun than you think.

Perhaps I'll give a Vulture and bounty hunting a try after 1.3 comes out. I think I'll make my next ship an Anaconda although at the rate I'm making money, it will likely be a few weeks before I've got the cash to buy and upgrade one a bit....someone else said in another thread that if you have an Anaconda, you can have half a billion and still feel poor LOL

 

[Magic Man]

Got an Eagle, Cobra and Asp mothballed in dock at the moment, trying out a Vulture currently and one rank off Baron to get the keys to a Clipper. Quite liked the T6 and would like to try a T7.

 

[Hilight]

Got an Eagle, Cobra and Asp mothballed in dock at the moment, trying out a Vulture currently and one rank off Baron to get the keys to a Clipper. Quite liked the T6 and would like to try a T7.

I didn't mind the T-6 either especially after I had it kitted out...The T-7 was the first ship I flew that felt really, really big. You get use to it after a while and it's not too shabby...that being said, I don't think I'd ever get another one.

The Cobra and the Asp are both sweet ships IMO--very nice to fly with sweet handling characteristics. I've never owned an Eagle but I've heard a few say it's not too shabby although I hear most prefer the Viper over it. They say the Clipper is also a sweet ride but I've never tried one myself