Landing Checklist

[damon8r351]

Elite's a simulator, and like other simulators, landing your spacecraft is probably going to be the most stressful and dangerous thing you do with it all day. So here's a checklist I use to get my spacecraft safely on the ground. For purposes of this description, terms are defined as follows:

• Roll: the movement of your spacecraft's wingtips up and down while its center of gravity is stationary. In other words, everything in front of you is going to spin.
• Pitch: the movement of your spacecraft's nose up and down while its center of gravity stays stationary.
• Yaw: the movement of your spacecraft's nose left and right while its center of gravity stays stationary.
• Lateral Thrust: your entire spacecraft moves left or right in a single movement.
• Vertical Thrust: your entire spacecraft moves up or down in a single movement.
• M/S: meters per second, this is your rate of speed outside of supercruise.

 

Most of the time you'll be transiting to a space station in supercruise. While in supercruise, you'll notice two meters in the bottom lefthand corner while looking straight ahead in your cockpit, measuring distance and speed. To safely leave supercruise at a reasonable distance from the station, lower your speed so it's in the blue zone of the speed meter and exit supercruise when the distance meter is within its own blue zone. Assuming you've done it right, you should exit supercruise within 10 kilometers distance of the station. The most important part to remember about landing is to take everything slowly. Now:

1. Using normal flight, align your ship so it's approaching the entrance more or less straight on. The station will be rotating, and the entrance will always be on the pole of rotation. Don't worry about matching the rotation of the entrance just yet, just get yourself positioned so your approaching it straight on.
2. Once you're within 7.5 kilometers, use your lefthand UI panel to request docking permission from the station. This will be under the Contacts tab. Do not enter a station that you haven't received permission to land from, you will be blasted into dust if you do. You have 10 minutes to land before your pad reservation is given to some other ship. Also, pay attention to the number of the pad you've been given clearance to, the station gets angry if you try to land at the wrong pad.
3. Once you're within 4.0 kilometers, drop your landing gear and lower your speed to about 100 m/s if you haven't done so already. Also, make sure your weapon hardpoints are retracted.
4. Once you're within 2.0 kilometers, drop your speed to 50 m/s and use roll to match the rotation of the entrance so that your ship will pass through it horizontally. This isn't quite so important in a small ship like a Sidewinder, but you will crunch your ship if you don't get this right while flying something big like an Anaconda or Type 9 Heavy.
5. Use lateral and vertical thrust to make minor adjustments so you don't bang your ship on any of the sides before you pass through. You'll also notice that the entrance will have colored lights on the wire frame in front of it. You want to enter on the side where the lights are green, this will prevent you from colliding with any exiting traffic. Lower your speed to 30 m/s as you pass through.
6. Once you're inside, your designated landing pad will be lit up with its number (make sure it's the right number) and a holographic "landing column". Using roll, spin your ship so it's approaching the pad from an above angle and use pitch to level your ship out. Come to a full stop, then use vertical thrust to lower your ship out of the way of the entrance. Do not use roll or pitch from now on.
7. While stopped, use yaw to straighten your ship out so you're not flying through the hanger diagonally, then use lateral thrust to align your ship so you need only fly straight ahead to your pad.
8. Increase your speed to 30 m/s and fly to your pad, using small, slow bursts of vertical thrust to gradually lower your altitude so you're skimming the floor.
9. Once you're low enough and close enough to your pad, you should see a landing indicator replace your radar scanner at the center of your dash, accompanied by rapidly increasing beeping as you get closer. Slow your speed to around 5 m/s, then use lateral thrust to center your position over the circle at the center of the landing indicator. This requires a very light touch on your lateral thrusters and forward/reverse speed.
10. Once you're centered come to a full stop. Use vertical thrust to slowly bring yourself down onto the pad. Adjust with lateral and forward/reverse thrust as necessary. You're fully landed once you hear the clunk of your ship being locked in and see the menu for station services come up.

 

The main menu of the game has training scenarios for you play, the relevant one for practicing exiting supercruise and landing at a station is the second one. There's an additional scenario under Challenge Scenarios that lets you get even more practice at landing without having to fly all the way to a station. If you're finding that landing is something you'd rather not deal with on a continuous basis, keep an eye out for a module called a Standard Docking Computer; this is autopilot for landing and can occasionally be found for purchase at stations.

 

Edited July 3, 2017 by damon8r351

[JeManquedHygiene]

Thanks a lot, you explained it much better than the tutorial itself !