I forgot how to orbital cruise and planet land

[Shiro Akai]

Seriously, yesterday 75% of missions I picked up were to planetary outposts. None of performed approaches were made correctly. One time I dropped orbital while 200 km away. Luckily pedal to the metal with 412 and it didn't took that much (did not want to enter orbit and re-try dropping). Another time I dropped what it looked like perfect but overshot and had to widly maneuver in glide so I dropped above and bit behind the target in a very uncomfortable position. Few other attempots were equally bad so I figured it out:

I forgot how to orbit and glide.

My issues:

• too fast, glide ended while still in high orbit
• entering glide far too away, ending few hundred km from the target
• entering glide too late, overshooting my target

I can drop SC and approach space station no problem, planetary landing is now total mystery for me. All I know is descend angle should be within 15-35* to have proper glide. But WHEN to enter glide to exit at 7-10 km from the target?

 

[Factabulous]

You enter glide when you hit the marker for height above planet, you can't choose. Just make sure you aren't going too fast or too steep at that point. 200km you would normally be faster just re-entering SC and hopping across that way.

The only tricky ones are the Planetary Outpost Scan Missions where the search area tends to move just before you hit the glide height, so you have to be a bit more on-the-ball for those ones to avoid a long slow trip.

 

[JustJon]

Also I think the mechanics change depending on size of planet/gravity.

But I also have this problem - sometimes hit it right and no problems other times just make a complete mess of it.

All part off the fun I guess!

 

[Shiro Akai]

You enter glide when you hit the marker for height above planet, you can't choose.

You sure about that? Because, lets assume, I'm 3k km away from planetary outpost, entered orbital cruise. I see orbital marker (passed it, hence orbiting) and I see drop marker. If I now go full nose down I'll pass drop marker pretty fast and enter glide (provided speed is right and descent angle isn't too steep). Adding something for glide I'll probably end about 2k km away from my target.

But if while orbital cruise I keep my flight level between negative 0-5* I can orbit long enough to shorten that original 3k km distance to few hundred km, then nose down, enter glide and drop within 7-10 km from my target.

So for me you CAN choose the moment when you want to hit the marker - my question is: at which distance / ETA to target I should do it to drop no problem? All my recent attempts gave results that were... inconsistent.

 

[Factabulous]

So for me you CAN choose the moment when you want to hit the marker - my question is: at which distance / ETA to target I should do it to drop no problem? All my recent attempts gave results that were... inconsistent.

So you're saying you have a theory of how it works, but it's inconsistent and confusing. And I have a theory of how it works that is not inconsistent and not confusing. And you want me to tell you how to make your theory less confusing and inconsistent? Hmm. Maybe later.

 

[Deleted member 38366]

There's only a few things to watch when approaching a Planet to enter Glide :

• optimal safe speed to transition to Glide is 2.5km/sec BUT it's often still possible upto ~5-6km/sec... gets unreliable though, so keeping it somewhere near those 2.5km/sec is desired
• the area around Orbital Cruise still has the bugged acceleration Phase, easily able to cause Overshoot speeds especially on small Bodies. Manual Throttle reduction is mandatory.
• there's still the spurious bug in conjunction with a ~5 year old Position Extrapolation bug that can (at anytime) cause an erroneous "Dropping - too close/too fast" exit despite proper parameters
• a similar bug can also interrupt a properly working and correct Glide phase with a bugged "Glide Complete", most prominent at shallow Glide angles

But with proper, manual speed control and a nice descent angle of >15deg, the Glide entry should be very reliable.

 

[Faded Glory]

You sure about that? Because, lets assume, I'm 3k km away from planetary outpost, entered orbital cruise. I see orbital marker (passed it, hence orbiting) and I see drop marker. If I now go full nose down I'll pass drop marker pretty fast and enter glide (provided speed is right and descent angle isn't too steep). Adding something for glide I'll probably end about 2k km away from my target.

But if while orbital cruise I keep my flight level between negative 0-5* I can orbit long enough to shorten that original 3k km distance to few hundred km, then nose down, enter glide and drop within 7-10 km from my target.

So for me you CAN choose the moment when you want to hit the marker - my question is: at which distance / ETA to target I should do it to drop no problem? All my recent attempts gave results that were... inconsistent.

Factabulous is correct in that you will drop to glide at the specific drop point (altitude) for that planet (it's marked as drp on the HUD altitude guide). So yes, you can choose to stay above that altitude in orbital cruise, but you don't have a choice as to what altitude you will actually transition to glide.

Personally, I try to transition to glide at <100km from my target and then adjust the glide angle so I transition to normal flight <10km from said target.

 

[Eliza]

I always Orbiting the target-body at ca. 150-250km above ground. As soon as the station is about 250km away I go into a 35-45° descent at idle throttle. Normally you will enter the Glide ca. 80-60km away and you will leave the glide just above the station.

Addendum: Body-Approach at 75% throttle

 

[Vandaahl]

Keep an eye on the speed, if it drops to 2500 km/s your glide kicks in. Usually I maintain a pretty steep descent of 40 - 45 degrees until that happens, after that I normally end up between 12 and 7 kilometers of the target.

 

[Cmdr Nemo]

I do a lot of planetary mission's and have noticed since the last update that something is amiss with my ability to nail the LZ as I use to do in the past. One thing in particular is there seems to be a difference when I take a Python to Dav's Hope for instance (I land there more often than any single other planet) vs a Conda. I once could utilize the exact same approach angle of attack for either and completely fall out at or about 5 or 6 deploy landing gear and look for a spot to park. Now, though my Python is still the same, I can't seem to get any closer than 20 in my Conda, no matter what approaching angle of attack I utilize.

And in addition, the holo gram indicating the stations portal is way off. I use to be able to align my transition from hyper to super using the holo gram and end up facing the stations portal at or about dead center to maybe 10 degrees off center. Now no matter where I aim utilizing the holo gram. I'm any where from 90 to 180 degree's.

 

[Jmanis]

Not a joke... my descent pattern looks pretty much like an s- curve.

 

[pzykozomatik]

I always try to choose my drop point from orbital cruise into glide so that I descend at 45-55 degrees directly towards the target, which usually drops me out ouf glide at <10km from the outpost.

 

[LumberTubs]

Its all about the angle you take on approach.

In SC I maneouvre so that the planetary outpost is at the "top" of the planet as I'm looking at it, maybe even just over the horizon so its greyed out. Coming in at that angle means you shouldn't ever overshoot or go too fast and drop out of orbital flight too early.

Then I keep an eye on the distance to the destination and speed I'm doing. I don't worry about altitude at all (until I'm actually landing obviously) as the drp point and the set speed for entering the glide (2.5km/s) are aligned. I aim to get to the 2.5km/s at around 100km or less from the destination. If you think you're going to go into the glide too early, pitch up so that you speed up and then keep an eye on the distance and pitch down again when you're ready to glide. If you've come in at the angle I talked about above, then you'll still have room for pitching up and down like this without leaving yourself too steep an angle.

Actually, I do the above at a right angle to the planet so i can see the destination at all time. When I say pitch up and down, I actually mean yaw left and right if you see what i mean.

 

[Shiro Akai]

Hmm... looks like I'm going too shallow as I tend to keep -15* angle while you guys go over -40*. Need to try more aggresive approach.

My usual approach looks like this:

• when in SC and 0:07 ETA I go 75% trottle and keep it that way
• approach planet so I enter orbital cruise, exactly how @LumberTubs does - target on top of the planet, most cases over the horizon
• depending on distance - keep my angle close to 0* to keep orbiting and getting close, slowly descending but still above drop marker
• when 100-200 km to target -15* to -20* dive to pass drop marker and enter glide
• continue gliding till drop
• sometimes I get 7-10 km away which I consider proper drop, most cases my glide ends prematurely, having still 100-150 km

I agree with @Factabulous that passing drop marker makes you enter glide, but I keep mine - you can choose the moment when it happens by keeping the altitude while orbiting. My main issue is when to decide to cross drop marker, angle and distance to target. Above repies gave me few good tips, need to try them out.

 

[Midian Cabal]

Because of the bugged bugged acceleration Phase already mentioned by @FalconFly, I approach planetary outposts like I'd approach airports in flying simulations: far enough so I can adjust my speed and landing vector.

I approach bodies at 75% speed until I enter orbit far enough from the outpost, then I fly perpendicular to the surface while correcting speed, until I'm close enough to start my 30% - 45% descent.

 

[Cmdr Nemo]

Its all about the angle you take on approach.

In SC I maneouvre so that the planetary outpost is at the "top" of the planet as I'm looking at it, maybe even just over the horizon so its greyed out. Coming in at that angle means you shouldn't ever overshoot or go too fast and drop out of orbital flight too early.

Then I keep an eye on the distance to the destination and speed I'm doing. I don't worry about altitude at all (until I'm actually landing obviously) as the drp point and the set speed for entering the glide (2.5km/s) are aligned. I aim to get to the 2.5km/s at around 100km or less from the destination. If you think you're going to go into the glide too early, pitch up so that you speed up and then keep an eye on the distance and pitch down again when you're ready to glide. If you've come in at the angle I talked about above, then you'll still have room for pitching up and down like this without leaving yourself too steep an angle.

Actually, I do the above at a right angle to the planet so i can see the destination at all time. When I say pitch up and down, I actually mean yaw left and right if you see what i mean.

Personally, I set my final at or very close to 30 degree's. Meaning my altitude is half (one to two) the distance I have to go to the vector. Takes a bit longer than a final of 45 degree's which is basically a one to one. Though on rare occasion, mostly if and when I'm interdicted at the last minute. I have come in as high as 60 degree's (two to one), but had to back off the speed dramatically. A final of 30 comes in handy if and when there is high G's, and I'm loaded to the gills.

 

[FrogsFriend]

About 2:1 distance to altitude and I usually nudge the throttle a little below 75% on final approach to the planet to keep the speed in check.

 

[Comandante]

Also go in at an angle of ~35 - 45 degrees; too steep or shallow and you end up a long way from your target.

When I first started planetary landings, I used to go directly above the target entering the orbital plane thinking it would get me there quicker. It didn't.

 

[Ezren]

Eye on the DRP bar on the right, I try to keep my distance from target about 1-1.5x from what the drop altitude is before hitting Glide. If I'm too far, I angle up and Orbital Cruise until I'm closer.

 

[Raino]

And in addition, the holo gram indicating the stations portal is way off. I use to be able to align my transition from hyper to super using the holo gram and end up facing the stations portal at or about dead center to maybe 10 degrees off center. Now no matter where I aim utilizing the holo gram. I'm any where from 90 to 180 degree's.

you need place the slot to to the bottom - flat, i think this is the debug branch we playing ATM, we had that befor (small pad numbers, lag at stations and false alignment)

and on planets i drop in between 4 to 5 km, but do not act different as you stated AFAK