why are my rcs controls different in vab than in space?

[putnamto]

in the VAB using RCS buildaid H thrusts up, N thrusts down, I forward, K backward, J left, and L right.

when i get the same craft into space in the same orientation as it was in the VAB, HN and IK are reversed.(HN becomes forward backward, IK become up and down.)

i had a similar problem with docking my first go around(before i had any idea how it actually worked) i would just hammer keys to figure out which thrust me this way or that, but i assumed that once i wrapped my head around RCS controls that i wouldnt have that problem...and well here i am.

and is their any way to make a very heavy ship flip from prograde to retrograde quickly? i have the big reaction wheel and i still flip to slowly to be able to slow down my approach.

my latest effort ill be some 700 meters away from my target, going .5ms, so i fire thrusters to take me up to 5ms and start my flip, and by the time i reach the other craft im still only turned 90 degrees and i shoot past it.(my numbers on this message are completely different than in reality, im not good at remember things) 
i hope you get the idea, im not good at text.

more or less i overshoot my target, turn around overshoot again, and just continue this till im out of fuel because i cant rotate my ship fast enough to slow down on approach.

Edited April 27, 2018 by putnamto

[bewing]

14 minutes ago, putnamto said:

in the VAB using RCS buildaid H thrusts up, N thrusts down, I forward, K backward, J left, and L right.

when i get the same craft into space in the same orientation as it was in the VAB, HN and IK are reversed.(HN becomes forward backward, IK become up and down.)

i had a similar problem with docking my first go around(before i had any idea how it actually worked) i would just hammer keys to figure out which thrust me this way or that, but i assumed that once i wrapped my head around RCS controls that i wouldnt have that problem...and well here i am.

and is their any way to make a very heavy ship flip from prograde to retrograde quickly? i have the big reaction wheel and i still flip to slowly to be able to slow down my approach.

my latest effort ill be some 700 meters away from my target, going .5ms, so i fire thrusters to take me up to 5ms and start my flip, and by the time i reach the other craft im still only turned 90 degrees and i shoot past it.(my numbers on this message are completely different than in reality, im not good at remember things) 
i hope you get the idea, im not good at text.

more or less i overshoot my target, turn around overshoot again, and just continue this till im out of fuel because i cant rotate my ship fast enough to slow down on approach.

In the VAB, H thrusts towards the nose of the ship, N thrusts aft, I thrusts toward the belly, K away from the belly, J left, and L right.

In flight, H thrusts towards the nose of the ship, N thrusts aft, I thrusts toward the belly, K away from the belly, J left, and L right.

My point being that you should not be using the building as your frame of reference. You should always be using the ship. Once you can rotate your head into looking at it that way, it will make sense.

And no, your reaction wheels and RCS thrusters can only produce some maximum amount of torque. The flip time is determined completely by the torque. The torque depends on the number of reaction wheels, and the number and lever arm of the thrusters. If you want to turn faster you need either more reaction wheels, or you need more and better positioned thrusters. The SAS system is not perfectly efficient at rotating your ship, but it's hard for a human to do it much faster. It's best to keep your entire ship pointed mostly target-retrograde through your entire braking process until you are within 30 to 50 meters of your target. Of course you need small readjustment burns through that process, but you can usually keep them within 30 degrees of retrograde -- or just use RCS for doing the corrections and keep SAS locked to target-retrograde the entire time. That way, you don't ever need to flip your ship all the way around. But yes, you need to time the length of your approach run to the amount of time it takes to adjust your ship's attitude to do the correction burns.

 

[putnamto]

now i feel really dumb, rcs orientation is relative to your SHIPS  orientation, not your camera view.

if my ship is upside down, then the controls will be upside down.

thank you.