Project G42-200 StarLiner

[Grover]

@ ganlhi - The EICAS display on the center of the console (colored graph with the T1, T2 and T3 circles on it) has a set of cross-hairs that follow your ascent. If one keeps the cross-hair in the blue band you shouldn't have any trouble maintaining the "right" profile.

It's a bit of a challenge at first, but gets easier with practice (of course).

DAMN it Phantom, i said dont :ninja: me!!!

now i gont :ninja:'d

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Sorry dude. You could always elaborate (and use pictures).

When I first started using it it took a while for me to realize the display moved. I though it was static at first.

Where/what are the trim controls? Seems like I've lost them among everything...

 

[Cras]

The trim is the same as the default Orbiter keys. INS and DEL if I recall. I have them mapped to my joystick. It makes the whole ascent very easy to keep under control.

 

[icedown]

What are they keys for CG shift. I seen something about '-' key in an earlier post. Is it numpad or the other one? and I guess '+' will shift it back forward?

 

[Luke Skywalker]

Can't open the documentation, still managed to take off with the rocket engines instead of the Ramjet's but there's too many buttons...i don't know which button does which command...:hide:

 

[ganlhi]

Hey Grover!

Thank you for the details. I know the EICAS ascent profile, and I managed to remain between the line, but even like that, I hit T3 with only 70k main fuel (checklist says ~80k) and after that I was not able to get a high enough PeA when ApA hit 180km (which was my target). Maybe I had a pitch too high after T3, I'll try again.

One more question: if I understand well, turbine engines and ramcaster both use the main fuel tank? And what tank use OMS and RCS engines? Most important: where are the gauges displaying fuel quantities for theses tanks? I was only able to see the main fuel quantity on the standard 2D cockpit...

Concerning the trim, I used it a lot during my flight. But I know nothing about a CoG shift feature. Is there one? If yes, how to use it, and how to monitor it?

Thanks!

 

[Ripley]

May I remind you that in this post you'll find a txt file to be used in conjunction with Checklist MFD.
It is the formatted version of the surface-to-orbit checklist already posted in the first post.

 

[Moach]

fuel is displayed in a little rectangular screen just below the center-right EICAS screen (above the RCS knob in front of the throttle handle)


it shows three indicators - oxy, main, and asf

those are, respectively, your internal oxidizer supply (for rocket mode), you main fuel quantity (for turbines and ramcaster) and your Auxiliary Systems Fuel (ASF) reserves, which is used to power the APU (coming soon) and the OMS/RCS jets

note the blue dotted markings around the oxidizer gauge - and the way it points to a specific level on the main fuel gauge beside it

this is called the "full burnout point", or "oxidizer sync line" -- it marks the point where a fully loaded oxidizer tank will burn towards a synchronized depletion with the main fuel tanks

it is the optimal point to fire the main engines in rocket mode - if fuel is above that line, you'll have an amount to spare after oxidizer is gone (it's actually standard practice to leave some slack for powered landing and taxi) -- if you fire rockets with fuel below that point, you'll burn it out before your oxidizer is depleted - which is very inconvenient, since you can't use that for landing and it'll just weigh you down :hmm:

in WIP-3, the APU doesn't really do anything other than sound like it's running....

for WIP-4, well... it'll do more than that :thumbup:

 

[ganlhi]

Thank you for this clarification, Moach! So if I understand well, main engine in rocket mode (INT on EICAS) uses fuel from both main and oxy tanks ?

 

[Moach]

exactly! - :thumbup:

 

[ganlhi]

Last question for today: nobody answered me about a CG shifting feature. Is there one?

 

[Moach]

yep - kinda crude at the moment, but you can move the CoG back and forth with the '-' and '=' keys left of 'backspace'

it's not a properly finished aspect of the simulation, tho... it moves in discrete, instantaneous "snaps" rather than slowly as the tanks transfer fuel, which would be more realistic... and it's unlimited - you could theoretically move the CoG past the length of the fuselage if you were going for the absurd


i'd suggest keeping within 5 steps to each side max - that would be the "realistic" limits, i guess.... :thumbup:


another thing - it only affects aerodynamic flight.... that's because it works by affecting the center of lift inversely, rather than shifting the CoG itself.... since the latter seems to bring about all sorts of mayhem when attempted

 

[squeaky024]

By the way, do you know if changing the center of lift is the method the XR series planes use for the CoG shifting? If not what did they do?

Edit:
Either way, it shouldn't matter as CoG shifting is only useful during atmospheric flight anyways, unless you want to do something weird in space :shrug:

 

[Luke Skywalker]

Could you make the cockpit a bit more organized? Like a color coding (like red for APU, green for Cycles etc) so we can navigate easier?

 

[icedown]

I've found flying the ramcaster ascent a less than pretty affair with the keyboard so I made a CalculationMFD page as an autopilot for this stage of the ascent.

 0 3 f:'Current Mach'mach
 1 3 f:'Current Altitude'altitude
 2 3 f:'Predictive Mach'mach + dx0
 3 3 f:'Predictive Altitude'altitude + dx1
 4 3 f:'Required Alt'((0.00993 * (x2^3)) + (-0.468 * (x2^2)) + (8.44 * x2) + 4.35)  * 1000
 5 3 f:'Altitude PID'pid(0, .001, 0, .007, x4, x3)
 6 3 f:'Elevator Trim'set_elevator_trim(x5, 1)
 7 3 f:
 8 3 f:'Bank'deg(bank)
 9 3 f:'Desired Bank'0
10 3 f:'Bank PID'pid(1, 0.1, 0, .02, x9, x8)
11 3 f:'Aileron'set_aileron((x10 * -1), 1)
12 3 f:

 

[Yoda]

Were can I find the latest download of this vessel ?

 

[MaverickSawyer]

The hangar.

 

[Cras]

I've found flying the ramcaster ascent a less than pretty affair with the keyboard so I made a CalculationMFD page as an autopilot for this stage of the ascent.

 0 3 f:'Current Mach'mach
 1 3 f:'Current Altitude'altitude
 2 3 f:'Predictive Mach'mach + dx0
 3 3 f:'Predictive Altitude'altitude + dx1
 4 3 f:'Required Alt'((0.00993 * (x2^3)) + (-0.468 * (x2^2)) + (8.44 * x2) + 4.35)  * 1000
 5 3 f:'Altitude PID'pid(0, .001, 0, .007, x4, x3)
 6 3 f:'Elevator Trim'set_elevator_trim(x5, 1)
 7 3 f:
 8 3 f:'Bank'deg(bank)
 9 3 f:'Desired Bank'0
10 3 f:'Bank PID'pid(1, 0.1, 0, .02, x9, x8)
11 3 f:'Aileron'set_aileron((x10 * -1), 1)
12 3 f:

How does this thing work?

 

[icedown]

How does this thing work?

You replace the first 13 lines of the calculationmfd.txt in your orbiter directory with this. Just before you turn on the ramcaster, open up calculationmfd. It should take over control and pitch up to meet the nominal ascent. Then you engage the ramcaster and it will control the climb out. You still have to change to HPC wing config and Hi mode when necessary. Once you are switched over to Internal engines after T3, just close or pause the MFD for manual control for orbital insertion.

 

[Cras]

You replace the first 13 lines of the calculationmfd.txt in your orbiter directory with this. Just before you turn on the ramcaster, open up calculationmfd. It should take over control and pitch up to meet the nominal ascent. Then you engage the ramcaster and it will control the climb out. You still have to change to HPC wing config and Hi mode when necessary. Once you are switched over to Internal engines after T3, just close or pause the MFD for manual control for orbital insertion.

That is awesome. I am going to try it right now.

---------- Post added at 10:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:32 PM ----------

And it works great. Makes getting into orbit with a bit left in the tank much easier. Thanks!