XR Flight Operations Manual Version 3.0
Copyright 2006-2018 Douglas Beachy. All Rights Reserved.
57
into which the payload module was originally attached.
Gray
Unselected Slot is occupied, but the payload module
occupying it is attached in an adjacent slot. Gray slots
cannot be selected: to deploy payload that is occupying
a gray slot you must select that payload’s
primary
slot
instead (which will be green).
Once you have selected a free slot and you have maneuvered within grappling range
of your targeted module you are ready to grapple the payload into the bay. In order
to grapple your targeted module, however, the following conditions must be met:
1.
The module must be within grappling range, which by default is about 22.0
meters
3
from the center of the vessel to the center of the payload module
while in orbit, or 400 meters
4
while landed.
2.
The ship must be within 0.5 meter-per-second delta-V to the cargo module.
3.
You must have selected an empty bay slot that has enough free slots
surrounding it for the module to fit (if the module is larger than one slot).
If you click the
GRAPPLE
button and any of the above conditions are not met, an
error callout will occur and a detailed error message will be displayed. Note that you
can also use the
GRAPPLE ALL
button to automatically grapple all targets in range
into the bay, starting at the lowest free slot number and working upwards. The
largest payloads in range are automatically grappled
first
in order to make the most
efficient use of space.
You may also use the ALT-G hotkey to grapple a single target or CTRL-ALT-G to
grapple all
.
Once the target is grappled
you will see your ship’s mass increase accordingly, and
the selected bay slot will automatically increment to the next-higher free slot. This
allows you to quickly grapple successive modules without having to keep selecting
another free slot. This is particularly useful if you are in an external view and are
using the ALT-G hotkey to grapple cargo while landed.
Note that the grappling procedure is the same whether you are in orbit or landed.
If you grapple a consumables tank (main fuel/SCRAM fuel/LOX) your
ship’s
consumables gauges will reflect the updated quantity. Remember that bay tanks
drain
first
and fill
last
. For more information, refer back to the section titled
Using
Payload Bay Fuel/LOX Tanks
.
3
The maximum grapple distance while in orbit may be altered by setting the
PayloadGrappleRangeOrbit
CHEATCODE setting in your vessel’s configuration file
(e.g.,
XR5VanguardPrefs.cfg
).
4
The maximum grapple distance while landed may be altered by setting the
PayloadGrappleRangeLanded
CHEATCODE setting in your vessel’s configuration file
(e.g.,
XR5VanguardPrefs.cfg
).
