Beyond the limits of the navball

[lajoswinkler]

The thrust area is divided by 15 parts. If full thrust has value 1, each part is 1/15 = 0.06666..., or 6.66666...%

There are basically three more of those parts above 100%. The highest one would account for a total of 120% thrust. Is it there just for good looks or is it planned to actually serve a purpose, for example short term boost which leads to overheating and explosion (there's an idea for a mod!)?

On the right side is G-meter. From 0 to 15 G. 0-2 G is green, 9-15 is red. But what's below zero? There's -5 G. Negative acceleration is used when vectors are important. If you're on a rollercoaster, anything that drives you into the bottom and crushes you to the seat is positive G, and hilltops are areas where you experience 0 or acceleration in the opposite direction of gravity, so it's named negative G.

I've never seen this part of G force navball actually working. What's the reason behind it? Again, just for looks or there's a plan for it? It would be very useful for flying planes, for example. And again, that's an idea for a mod.

[Red Iron Crown]

I believe they're vestigial. Before there was RCS there was an OVR THR indicator for over-throttling. Not sure I ever saw the negative G meter work, but it might have in early versions.

It would be nice to use that navball real estate for something actually useful. Maybe next time they look at the in-flight UI.

[montyben101]

It would be good for my space shuttle the over thrusting, for instance you could only do it for a short time or the engine might blow up due to over heating

[Pecan]

Turn it up to 11

[Vanamonde]

On splashdown, when the capsule bobs back up after hitting the water, the G meter dips into the negative. Other than that, yeah, I think these are just ancient graphical flourishes from 500 versions ago.

[lajoswinkler]

I've never seen G-meter going into negative area, despite bumping into water, land, another craft... What are the precise conditions for that? I'd like to replicate it.

[Sandworm]

The thrust area is divided by 15 parts. If full thrust has value 1, each part is 1/15 = 0.06666..., or 6.66666...%

There are basically three more of those parts above 100%. The highest one would account for a total of 120% thrust. Is it there just for good looks or is it planned to actually serve a purpose, for example short term boost which leads to overheating and explosion (there's an idea for a mod!)?

That's not how rocket engines work. They don;t have afterburners, they ARE the afterburners. Squad appears to have adopted a gauge from atmospheric aircraft. As there is no up nor down, there is no "negative" G in space. A better question might be why it reads "0" when on the pad. It should read 1 on kerbin and something different on the surfaces of other bodies.

But there is hope for that red band in the throttle. Shuttle increased its main engine thrusts over the years and, for operational reasons, did refer to "105%" power settings. These were used regularly and for extended periods. They were no more time limited than lower power settings. In fact most rocket engines don't react well to lower throttle rather then higher. They should explode when not being used at 100+ power.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Sandworm

[merendel]

A better question might be why it reads "0" when on the pad. It should read 1 on kerbin and something different on the surfaces of other bodies.

depends on what they are useing as a 0 point. They could have just decided that 1 kerbin gravity is the 0 point and they are just mesuring any acceleration over that amount. I know with mesureing pressure theres a difference between gague pressure and absolute pressure. Atmospheric pressure is 1 Bar, if you mesure the presure in your tires it may read 4 bars of pressure but its actualy 5 bars absolute because the gague is reading the difference between in the tire and the atmosphere. Admitedly this explination does break down a bit as other planets should show a negitive. Either that or if it shifts to the local gravity as the 0 point the apparent TWR should show alot higher when at a low gravity area.

In effect that gauge seems to ignores gravity altogeather and is just an indication of the ships acceleration in relation to its vector of travle, either from thrust or drag. Its just mesureing that acceleration in kerbin gravities.

[CaptRobau]

It's acceleration, not gravitational force. That's what the gravimeter shows. It makes sense to see acceleration Gs on the navball.

[lajoswinkler]

That's not how rocket engines work. They don;t have afterburners, they ARE the afterburners. Squad appears to have adopted a gauge from atmospheric aircraft. As there is no up nor down, there is no "negative" G in space. A better question might be why it reads "0" when on the pad. It should read 1 on kerbin and something different on the surfaces of other bodies.

But there is hope for that red band in the throttle. Shuttle increased its main engine thrusts over the years and, for operational reasons, did refer to "105%" power settings. These were used regularly and for extended periods. They were no more time limited than lower power settings. In fact most rocket engines don't react well to lower throttle rather then higher. They should explode when not being used at 100+ power.

Kicking the straw man? I honestly don't see the point of your post.