I noticed the way you docked without making a mistaking in finding and lining up with the entrance. You must explain this method?
Maybe I'll make a docking video.
I always found docking in Elite quite easy and was rather surprised to hear, in many of the recent interviews/discussion, how so many people struggled with it.
I remember buying docking computers and using them a few times but ultimately found them annoying because they were so slow and would often even grind the entrance, even sometimes failing. Manual docking was always fast and efficient if done right.
Basically I would approach the planet until the S shows up. Then I would gradually turn towards the station, although not too quickly because sometimes it would vanish requiring you to turn back towards the planet where you could end up dangerously close.
After acquiring a station I would line up the station with the planet and fly between them then switch to my side view to effect a perfect alignment. I would then turn and fly towards the entrance at full speed and simply use the S and X keys to stay centered. As I got close I could then match my rotation.
That docking sequence in that video was my first attempt in 30 years. It's like riding a bike, you never forget.
