often when coming into an outpost I am facing the wrong way for the pad so I tend to fly in upside down and then at a certain point I go full vertical thrust while full pitching under boost to flip the ship onto the pad 
works a treat most of the time, just occasionally it stuffs up and that is why I usually fly with decent shielding
in a station, I just boost in through the slot, usually dropping landing gear and hittiing full reverse just as I hit the toaster... Usually pulls my python up pretty quckly when timed right again sometimes things go south and that is why I tend to fly with decent shielding
On a side note... flipping the FDS onto a pad is fun to practice flipping a python is a lot easier
works a treat most of the time, just occasionally it stuffs up and that is why I usually fly with decent shielding in a station, I just boost in through the slot, usually dropping landing gear and hittiing full reverse just as I hit the toaster... Usually pulls my python up pretty quckly when timed right
again sometimes things go south and that is why I tend to fly with decent shielding On a side note... flipping the FDS onto a pad is fun to practice
flipping a python is a lot easier