XR Flight Operations Manual Version 3.0
Copyright 2006-2018 Douglas Beachy. All Rights Reserved.
9
•
The parser that reads each ship’s configuration
file is robust; if some invalid
data
is
encountered,
the
parser
will
log
any
errors
to
DeltaGliderXR1.log/XR5Vanguard.log/XR2Ravenstar.log
in the main
Orbiter startup directory and blink an alert message at the bottom of the
screen.
•
Full reentry heating and damage support. Hull temperature readouts are
displayed by mode 3 on the MDA screen, and may be switched between
Kelvin, Fahrenheit, and Celsius by clicking the blue block on the touch screen.
•
Realistic fuzzy logic hull overheating support: the ship is not instantly
destroyed when a hull surface exceeds maximum temperature; this is
discussed in detail in the
Reentry
section later in this document.
•
Master Warning System with an alarm tone and a warning light panel. Full
support for audio warnings is also implemented.
•
Highly-precise and efficient
Attitude Hold
autopilot that holds a set pitch/AOA
and bank while neutralizing yaw (i.e.,
yaw dampening
); typically used to hold
pitch and bank during reentry and to hold attitude in an atmosphere.
•
In an atmosphere the
Attitude Hold
autopilot holds attitude using three
methods simultaneously: 1) elevator trim, 2) a
center-of-gravity shift
feature
that works by pumping fuel forward or aft, and 3) RCS jets. The combination
of these three methods allows the ship to hold a rock-solid reentry attitude
even under time acceleration. It is also extremely efficient and requires very
little RCS fuel.
Attitude Hold
requires APU power in order to drive the center-
of-gravity pumps and elevator trim.
•
Efficient
Descent Hold/Auto-Land
autopilot to hold a descent or ascent rate;
engaging auto-land mode will land the ship in a hover efficiently and smoothly
every time.
•
Efficient
Airspeed Hold
autopilot to hold a given airspeed within 0.1 meter-
per-second. Useful during atmospheric flight and when taxiing.
Airspeed Hold
may be enabled alongside (i.e., simultaneously with) any other autopilot
mode.
•
[CHEATCODES]
support in the configuration file that allows you to directly set
certain ship values such as the ship's mass, max engine thrust, fuel tank
capacity, etc. See the comments in the
[CHEATCODES]
section in
each ship’s
configuration file for details.
•
Full damage and crash simulation, including gear collapse based on
touchdown vertical speed and ship mass.
•
New sound effects including altitude callouts, Mach callouts, warning callouts,
damage and failure callouts, and docking distance callouts. Docking distance
callouts are synced to a NAV IDS or XPDR frequency, with the closest active
IDS frequency taking precedence over any active XPDR frequency.
•
DATA HUD to show custom keyboard shortcuts; activated via ALT-SPACE or
via a button on the main instrument panel.