My first re-entry

[tinyisme]

Well hello all,
This is my first post here, though I have been a "lurker" for a long time. I finally did my first Manual Re-entry last night with the XR2. And boy is it easier then I had thought. I could never figure out why I was coming in to step.

My first few tries, I tried using a AoA of 40+ DEG, as some one on he forums suggested that for the XR2. Well, that didn't work, so I tried the 30+ deg. Again, came in too steep and would burn up.

Then I tried using some thrust to slow my rate of decent. Started to work at first, though my hull temp went in the red. I was like "Crap, not again." But this time, I just skipped off into space, never to be heard from again. Frustrated, I was ready to quit. But I decided to give it one more try.

This time, I decided to do something new. I novitced the the steeper my AoA, the slower my M/S would fall. And I knew I had to get it around 100 other wise I will burn up or skip off the atmosphere. So, being the crafty little devil that I am (when my mind lets me anyways) I decided to use an intial AoA of 20-25 deg. When I hit the upper atmos, my v/s started to drop quickly, when it was around 150, I quickly increased the AoA to 45, and was smoot sailing from there. Sure my full temp was close to the yellow, but I made it to earth safely. I was a little off from edwards, so I used my remaining Main full and RCS full to fly me to edwards, under my own power. Ended up breaking off my gear upon landing, crew suffered some bumps, but all it all a safe landing.

But that Aerobrake MFD is great. Ohh and pardon the grammer and spelling mistakes. Its cold in this house, fingers don't want to work this morning.

 

[Woo482]

and congratulations on your first re-entry if you don't want to bounce of the atmosphere make sure the lower part of your orbit is about 40km (well that works for me)

 

[garyw]

It's entry rather than re-entry

Congrats on your first entry. I never crashed on my first one but only because I wasn't using anything clever enough to break when I came through the atmosphere at 40g+!

 

[Star explorer]

i still can't re enter and ive been on theforum since may :-(

 

[tinyisme]

Trial and error.

Though I am happy. I need to work on accuracy but I am just glad I got the ship down in one piece. I can get the ship into a stable orbit and bring it down.

Now, need to practice orbital rendevous, then its to the moon!

 

[Bj]

i still can't re enter and ive been on theforum since may :-(

May I suggest AeroBrake?

A very handy tool, it almost automates the entire entry process (e.g. holding AOA and bank...)

 

[unknown_orbiter]

Interesting line of learning. Mine was learning to Dock, then to take-off, then to transfer to the moon, then to de-orbit, then to pat my head and rub my stomach at the same time. Good luck with your continued orbital endevoures, and welcome to the forum!

 

[Tommy]

Congratulations on a successful entry. Once you get the first one it gets easier. If you're having to use a low (20 to 30 degrees) AOA at first it may indicate that your re-entry angle is too steep. For the XR series and the DG-IV, your angle should be less than 1.5 degrees. Form a 200km orbit, a PeA of 20k to 40k works well. From a higher orbit (such as the ISS's orbit) a PeA closer to 60k will work, but start with a 40 degree AOA or you can easily bounce. Unless loaded with cargo, a XR-2 seems to like a 42 degree AOA, and you can hold that through the whole re-entry.

 

[James.Denholm]

Well done. Just remember, though, if you keep on crashing on landing, you're probably coming in to fast. Prepare for the landing in advance: (Ab)use the XR2's inbuilt Airspeed Hold autopilot and attitude autopilot; set an incredibly low airspeed, slow down to that airspeed with the help of your airbrakes, and just patiently fly the rest of the distance at a fairly low speed and altitude. Too many times I've been flying home and overshot the runway.

Also, using the HSI MFD thingy is realy, realy handy. If you don't know how to use that, I suggest you have a fiddle with that. It allows you to get lined up with the runway realy, realy easily.

 

[Tommy]

I finally managed my first unpowered re-entry/landing with the XR-2. I used BaseSyncMFD and AerobrakeMFD. I'll always try for unpowered, but I'll still have preset the speed hold AP to 200m/s in case I miss the runway alignment or overshoot. As long as you have fuel you can always go around and try again.

I haven't spent much time in regular flight sims, so my regular flight piloting skills are lacking. I can almost always get the XR ships and DG-IV to re-enter on target. It's timing the turn for the HAC and the final approach that bite me.

 

[Juanelm]

Congrats! Thats the idea, you need to keep adjusting your AoA. Here are some tips:

High AoA's (35-60) will sink you in into the atmosphere (temperature will rise, but you will slow down much faster)
Low AoA's (0-30) will give you more lift and make you sink slower or raise your altitude (temperature will lower but you will slow down more slowly)

Watch your surface MFD vertical acceleration and vertical velocity, as well as the ship temperature reading, to give you a guide to changing your AoA, and the AerobrakeMFD to be able to reach your destination without an overshoot.