I couldn't figure out the AeroBrake MFD at first, so I was trying to re-enter by trial & error. (Doing a retro-grade burn on the opposite side of the planet from my landing destination to bring the PeA down ... and then seeing where I would end up just by using the Level and Kill Rot programs.)
After a couple of attempts with that method, I just happened to notice that the AeroBrake MFD was giving me information I could understand when my Delta-glider was level with the horizon and facing toward the direction of flight.
So then it dawned on me to reset the scenario ... (get back to the far side of the planet) ... and before doing any corrective burns, to Level out the Delta-Glider and make sure it was facing the direction of flight. I then opened the retro engine doors and fired them slowly ... and watched as AeroBrake performed its "magic". (It felt like magic indeed.)
So ... first I'd like to say: AeroBrake is great. I can't fathom trying to calculate how much to burn without the use of this MFD. One thing I realized in my trial & error phase was that once I figured out how much to bring my PeA down by in order to hit my target, that would only be valid for that 1 specific situation. A subsequent re-entry from another starting altitude would be completely different.
Finally, I'd like to find out if I'm using this MFD correctly? (It worked for me, so I guess in that regard, I'm using it right.) But what I mean is, do you have to level out the Delta-glider first? With the other MFD's, it doesn't matter if you are prograde, retrograde, normal, anti-normal, or some other random direction altogether. You "play with the numbers" in the MFD, and then orient yourself as needed.
With AeroBrake, I assumed it was the same thing. But from a prograde position (e.g. a standard orbital attitude where you are "sideways" with the planet), the AeroBrake MFD seems to give gibberish information.
My thinking is that I am trying to calculate WHEN and HOW MUCH to burn. That seems to be the way MFD's usually work. Can AeroBrake do that?
It seems to me that what AeroBrake is doing is taking your present situation and calculating where you will end up based on your current orientation, attitude, velocity, and so on.
Is that just the way this particular MFD works? Or is there a way to give it a set of assumptions (like the Transfer MFD), so you can see what different AoA's would do.
Hopefully my question makes sense.