delta-glider

Delta-glider is a futuristic, winged, high-performance spacecraft featured in Orbiter space flight simulator (a closed source, freeware simulator by Martin Schweiger). Thanks to the technologies beyond the reach of the modern aerospace industry its propulsion system has an extremely low fuel consumption (or extremely high specific impulse, if you like) that allows it to make short jaunts to Moon or even Mars and Venus. Its futuristic design, extremely good handling capabilities and considerable range make it an ideal ship for the novice pilot to get spaceborne. Delta-glider is included in the standard distribution of Orbiter

Features and Capablities

Delta-glider is one of the most versatile spacecraft available in Orbiter. It is capable of both vertical and horizontal take off and landing. Its engine gimbal system can even compensate for torque generate by a single engine at main thrust in engine-out emergencies. It has also considerable theoretical delta-V of over 27 km/s - one of the highest of the standard-issue Orbiter spacecrafts (see also Orbiter spacecraft comparison).

Cockpit and Panels

Delta-glider fetures one of the best-developed cockpits available as well as a full virtual cockpit. The panel consists of three parts:

Overhead panel - with readouts for rotational changes and speed and switches and indicators to operate the docking hatch and airlocks.
Main panel - propellant status indicator, readouts for current fuel tank status, mass flow rates for the main fuel pumps, access to the manual engine controls (main, hover, auxiliary), autopilot controls, and two multifunctional displays (MFD).
Lower panel - access to wheel brake.
All panels have access to the HUD.

The virtual cockpit contians a forward Heads-Up Display, a full set of instruments, controls for the ship's systems, and functioning throttles for each engine.

Engines and Fuel Systems

The exact nature of the propulsion system used by the Glider remains unknown. What can be implied from the very high specific impulse is that this technology is well beyond state-of-the art for the beginning of the 21st century (somewhere in the MPD - VASMIR range - compare Table ). The engine layout consists of:

two main engines - laid horizontally side-by-side in the aft portion of the vessel,
two retro engines - at leading edges of wings,
three hover engines - arranged in a triangle, the two aft engines under the wings and the fore engine mounted behind the air intake
eighteen RCS thrusters - arranged so that they can provide both rotational and translational force along the ships axes.

There are two different propellant systems:

main propellant system feeding main, retro and hover engines with the maximum capacity of 11,400 kg,
RCS propellant system for RCS thrusters with the maximum capacity of 600 kg.

Both systems can be refueled while Delta-glider is landed at a base or docked to another vessel serving as the fuel tanker.

Other Systems

As of now the Glider does not have operable electrical or hydraulical systems. The airlock is operated directly from the overhead panel.

Docking, EVA and Cargo

The Delta-glider contains a docking port and airlock in front and below the habitat module which is protected by the nosecone during atmospheric flight. There are no functions available relating to cargo.

Latest Release

The current version (031217) (as of 2005) features:

model and textures by Roger "Frying Tiger" Long
instrument panels and hardware simulation by Martin Schweiger

It is part of the standard distribution of Orbiter

History and Evolution

The history and evolution of the Delta-glider reflects that of the general history of the Orbiter simulator. The protoplast of the Delta-glider - simply called the Glider (Mk1) apperared in Orbiter release 001127. It was relatively simple and straightforward in its appearance, yet it gained a popularity among Orbiteers. The second public realese (001206) brought to the Glider two new navigation modes for the computer mode ("H-level" and "HoldAlt"). It was not however, before the third public release (001220) when the Glider could actually 'glide' in the atmosphere. That version brought a major revision of the atmospheric flight model together with trim control functions to manipulate flight characteristics in atmospheric flight. The fourth public release brought an end to the free-riding so much cherished by some of the Orbiteers. With its new limited-fuel feature it introduced the Glider into the world of real-life constraints (and running-on-empty situations). The following releases (010109 and 010212) featured improvements to instrumentation, bases, HUD displays as well as environment visuals. Releases 011221 and 011222 introduced another major changes to the flight model. With them came a major revision of the Glider, in the form of the new class - Glider Mk 2. Although the visuals were still quite simple, it was a marked improvement over the standard-issue Glider of early releases. And new Mk2 glider could prove to be a tricky to handle - so long for 'just hover and shoot for the stars'. The new experimental flight model required careful balancing of the craft before aerodynamic forces could take over as the craft was gathering the speed on its way to the skies. The Glider did not wait too long for another major revamp. The 020419 release brought dramatic changes to the Glider (now officially Delta-glider Mk2):

completely new mesh (contributed by Roger "Frying Tiger" Long)
hardware simulation/mesh animation including moving parts for landing gear, nose cone docking and airlocks
first-ever cockpit panel
additional navigation computer modes

The next release (021202) proved even more dramatic: the Glider could finally take-off and land horizontally from a runway. It was also able to dock directly to other spacecraft for the first time (not only to the space stations, as it was the case in the previous versions). Improved fuel resource handling as well as new additions to the physics engine (e.g. thruster handling) increased the realism but at the same time made flying the Glider more tricky and even challenging. It took almost a year before the next public release 031105 could bring another rework of the flight model with new features improving simulation characteristics for the atmospheric flight. Atmospheric parameters of the Glider (now officially Delta-glider Mk3) could now be specified by defining aerodynamic control surfaces, each of which could have individual profiles for lift, drag and moment coefficients. The Glider panel got a switch to turn on/off user input to the control surfaces. Attitude thrusters have been down-rated since they were no longer required at low altitudes. It was was now noticeable how the control surfaces become less effective as the Glider gained altitude, up to the point where only RCS could maintain attitude control. Glider control surfaces also received new animations. The eye-candy in the form of particle systems for both engine exhaust and reentry flames also added increased realism to the Orbiteering experience. The current version (050216 Delta-glider Mk 5) features:

reworked model and textures by Roger "Frying Tiger" Long. The delta-glider no longer has an airscoop on the bottom of the fuselage, which had been present since first delta-glider. The retro thrusters now have covers to improve the aerodynamics and a hatch has been added to the roof. The interior has also been redone. The pilot and passenger models are more detailed and have higher resolution textures. The airlock is completely modeled and now connects with the passenger compartment.
virtual cockpit by Martin Schweiger. Features a Heads-Up Display system, 2 MFD's, and working insturments, controls, and throttles.

ImageSize = width:250 height:450 PlotArea = left:50 right:0 bottom:10 top:10 DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/11/2000 till:03/12/2005 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical ScaleMajor = unit:month increment:1 start:01/11/2000 PlotData=

   color:red mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S    shift:(25,0) # shift text to right side of bar

   # there is no automatic collision detection,   # so shift texts up or down manually to avoid overlap

   from:27/11/2000 till:05/12/2000  shift:(25,-11)  text:Glider Mk1   from:06/12/2000 till:19/12/2000  shift:(25,-4)   text:new computer modes   from:20/12/2000 till:08/01/2001    text:Glider can actually glide   from:09/01/2001 till:11/02/2001  shift:(25, 1)  text:improvements to HUD   from:12/02/2001 till:18/04/2002    text:improvements to visuals   from:19/04/2002 till:01/12/2002    text:Delta-glider Mk2   from:02/12/2002 till:04/11/2003    text:Horizontal take-off ~and landing   from:05/11/2003 till:16/12/2003    text:Delta-glider Mk3   from:17/12/2003 till:16/01/2005           text:Delta-glider Mk4   from:16/01/2005 till:end           text:Delta-glider Mk5

Variations and third-party add-ons

The popularity, undeniable charm and agility of the original has spurred other Orbiter add-on makers in the Orbiter community to further develop the Delta-glider concept. The most notable of those attempts was DeltaGliderII by Daniel "DanSteph" Polli which has been further developed in DeltaGliderIII by the same author. There have been also many attempts at creating stand-alone skins for the Glider.