1,360
edits
Flying the Shuttle - Final Approach: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Flying the Shuttle - Final Approach (view source)
Revision as of 09:45, 26 March 2016
, 26 March 2016→How it feels in FG
| Line 58: | Line 58: | ||
Congratulations - you're home. | Congratulations - you're home. | ||
== The last five minutes - a tutorial == | |||
(written for the devel version of Mar. 2016) | |||
<i>In this tutorial, you'll learn to read the Shuttle avionics to fly from TAEM interface into the final approach on instruments only.</i> | |||
* Start Flightgear with the commandline options | |||
<code>--aircraft=SpaceShuttle-TAEM --airport=KEDW </code> | |||
* You're about 60 miles away from Edwards AFB. We (intentionally) didn't specify winds, so you might be coming in from any direction - the point of TAEM guidance is that it leads you into the proper approach no matter how you come in. Well, first we need to tell the avionics we actually want to land at Edwards, so open <b>Space Shuttle -> Entry Guidance</b> and select Edwards AFB as the landing site. | |||
[[File:TAEM01.jpg|600px|TAEM tutorial 1]] | |||
* The right displays (VERT SIT and HORIZ SIT) should already be selected, if not, bring them up. With TAEM guidance active, they should come alive and show a yellow Shuttle symbol sliding down from the upper right to the lower left vertically and three small circles extending from the Shuttle forward horizontally. | |||
The idea is simple - we aim to keep the Shuttle symbol on the central trajectory vertically by changing pitch (and deploying speedbrake if we need to dissipate additional energy). | |||
Horizontally the trajectory predictors tell where we'll be in 20, 40 and 60 seconds if we keep the current state. We can use them to aim for the heading alignment cone (HAC) intercept point as soon as it becomes visible. For the time being, just make sure we're going with about 240 KEAS and stay on the vertical trajectory, don't maneuver much horizontally. | |||
[[File:TAEM02.jpg|600px|TAEM tutorial 2]] | |||
* A minute into the flight or so, you'll see the touchdown point and the HAC come into view. The aim point to intercept the HAC is on the tangent to the circle you're seeing such that when you fly around on the circle, you're led right into the line aiming at the touchdown point. Take a look at the red annotations: | |||
[[File:TAEM03.jpg|600px|TAEM tutorial 3]] | |||
Also marked are the TACAN azimuth and range readings - if you fly zero relative azimuth, you'll be led reasonably close to the intercept point. Do a gentle turn to change course towards the intercept point now (and always monitor the vertical situation!). | |||
* If you have corrected course, you'll eventually reach the aim point. If the weather is good, you can take a peek outside - as we pass the touchdown point, you should be able to see Edwards AFB right underneath as you pass by some 60.000 ft higher. | |||
[[File:TAEM04.jpg|600px|TAEM tutorial 4]] | |||
Once you reach the intercept point, turn such that the track predictors fall right onto the circle, then you have the right turn radius. It's easy to lose control of airspeed or vertical situation at this point. Anticipate about a 30 degree bank angle and that you'll lose lift when turning, so if you have the speedbrake deployed, retract it a notch or two to compensate. | |||
[[File:TAEM05.jpg|600px|TAEM tutorial 5]] | |||
If you've done well, you should be able to leave the HAC right where the line points to the touchdown point. | |||
[[File:TAEM06.jpg|600px|TAEM tutorial 6]] | |||
End the turn, wait for the Shuttle to stabilize and then push the nose down to get your visual of the runway - if you've done everything well, you should be somewhat high on energy for your final descent, so be prepared for liberal use of speedbrakes to get down to the touchdown point. Good luck! | |||