Advanced flight instructions by Major Dwight Somlen

... fade in on Major Dwight Somlen (ret) of the Confederation of Inhabited Worlds military...

(low volume) "... and these nuts want to know more about how to kill themse-" (full volume) "Will someone please tell me when we're on?"

"Welcome back pilots! Since I see you're all here, I'd say everyone survived their first piloting experience? Fine, so lets learn about some more advanced flight techniques.

In the last lecture we learnt about setting your velocity. Now there are a few ways that let us get around the set velocity limit. For those of us lucky enough" (sotto voice) "- rich enough -" (full voice) "to have an Afterburner capability on our craft, you can use the [TAB] key to activate it. Afterburner gives your craft a greater velocity than your maximum combat velocity alone. The downside is that you have to hold the key down to maintain your afterburner, and you only have a fuel limited time to use your Afterburner for. Where you don't have an Afterburner, you can still use the [TAB] key to accelerate to your maximum set velocity, just like the [=] key. In this case, though, releasing the [TAB] key will then reduce your velocity back to the 'set' original.

What we've talked about so far are the settings you would have when flying around a base, station or planet, or when you're in combat - yes, I've heard all of you boasting. We'll just see who turns up for your reunion, right?

Anyway, to get greater velocity than the Combat Mode, use the [y] key. This key changes mode from combat to Flight Mode. This allows you to increase your set velocity by one-hundred times. So, why aren't we all jetting about in this mode? Well, there are a few reasons. Since we must still deal with inertia, your craft will drift in your old direction a bit before moving the way you want it. If you wanted to fly around a capship and kept drifting towards it at high speed - yes, I can see you all wincing. Secondly, try to imagine combat at such velocities. Your opponent would be out of range by the time you aligned your weapons on him and fired.

Now, all these flight commands deal with inertial movement. Most small craft can pull 10-20 gravities (G's) of acceleration or deceleration, and have a flight system designed to account for inertia. At combat velocities, your craft won't be going fast enough that you really notice the effects of inertia. Larger craft are not designed with large G's in mind, and the effects of inertia mean that changing direction or velocity requires a longer timeframe. Similarly, travelling in flight mode (a higher velocity) will result in the same problem when altering course or attempting to cease all movement - it takes time.

Intertial drift, however, can be a benefit. There's a name for it, the Shelton Slide. It actually works quite well in battle. This maneuver requires you to approach your target at high speed, and a little off center (i.e. not head on). When level with your target, quickly turn to face it while reducing your velocity. Your ship will continue in its prior direction until your computerized flight control can compensate for the change in direction. That brief period allows you to strafe the side of your opponent, often hitting the weaker side or rear armor.

The reason I mention it is that there is also a key, the tildy key [ ` ] that provides a controlled version of this drift. This command disengages the ship's flight system from flight control - so your ship will not try and correct velocity or direction. While it doesn't give you six degrees of freedom of movement, you can spin around to face elsewhere while still moving in the your original direction and velocity. This is definitely a handy maneuver in battle.

A better way to move around from base to planet to station is to use your SPEC drive. You should read the intrument docs that came with your ship for specifics on how the drive operates. You can activate the drive, obtaining high velocities based on any nearby gravity wells - that is, the further you are from a gravity well, the faster you move. A SPEC drive allows you to point your ship in the appropriate direction, and hit the [a] or [A (SHIFT+a)] key. On approach to your destination, you normally re-enter a gravity well, reducing your velocity, and you may hit the key again to deactivate. You should also realize that incompatibilities between the technologies used in the SPEC drive and your shields result in shield power drains, reducing combat effectiveness until they regenerate.

The last point I want to raise is Matching Velocity. Now this requires knowledge of [targeting|VsManualTargeting], so I'll only touch it briefly. Our calculation of velocity in space is determined relative to a single point in space, usually based on the local sun. At times, you may want to match the velocity of another point, say a ship, usually when docking or in combat. The use of the [HOME] or keypad [KP-7] keys matches your velocity to your [target|VsManualTargeting]. Your set velocity becomes zero relative to your [target|VsManualTargeting]. Using the [END] or keypad [KP-1] key resets velocity against the local sun.

Well, that's it. You should also note that your instument documentation has information on other key uses, but they're more specific and outside of the scope of my talk here. I hope at least some of you listened, it may well save your life someday."

(sigh) " Someone give that fool up the back a kick to wake him up."

Vessel:Acrotatus

Advanced flight instructions by Major Dwight Somlen

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