Flight#
- public class Flight#
Used to get flight telemetry for a vessel, by calling
Vessel.flight(ReferenceFrame). All of the information returned by this class is given in the reference frame passed to that method. Obtained by callingVessel.flight(ReferenceFrame).Note
To get orbital information, such as the apoapsis or inclination, see
Orbit.- float getGForce()#
The current G force acting on the vessel in \(g\).
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- double getMeanAltitude()#
The altitude above sea level, in meters. Measured from the center of mass of the vessel.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- double getSurfaceAltitude()#
The altitude above the surface of the body or sea level, whichever is closer, in meters. Measured from the center of mass of the vessel.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- double getBedrockAltitude()#
The altitude above the surface of the body, in meters. When over water, this is the altitude above the sea floor. Measured from the center of mass of the vessel.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- double getElevation()#
The elevation of the terrain under the vessel, in meters. This is the height of the terrain above sea level, and is negative when the vessel is over the sea.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- double getLatitude()#
The latitude of the vessel for the body being orbited, in degrees.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- double getLongitude()#
The longitude of the vessel for the body being orbited, in degrees.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getVelocity()#
The velocity of the vessel, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Returns:
The velocity as a vector. The vector points in the direction of travel, and its magnitude is the speed of the vessel in meters per second.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- double getSpeed()#
The speed of the vessel in meters per second, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Game Scenes:
Flight
- double getHorizontalSpeed()#
The horizontal speed of the vessel in meters per second, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Game Scenes:
Flight
- double getVerticalSpeed()#
The vertical speed of the vessel in meters per second, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getAcceleration()#
The acceleration of the vessel, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame. This is the total acceleration, including the acceleration due to gravity, and is the time derivative ofFlight.getVelocity().- Returns:
The acceleration as a vector. The vector points in the direction of the acceleration, and its magnitude is the acceleration of the vessel in \(m/s^2\).
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getCenterOfMass()#
The position of the center of mass of the vessel, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame- Returns:
The position as a vector.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Quartet<Double, Double, Double, Double> getRotation()#
The rotation of the vessel, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame- Returns:
The rotation as a quaternion of the form \((x, y, z, w)\).
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getDirection()#
The direction that the vessel is pointing in, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Returns:
The direction as a unit vector.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getPitch()#
The pitch of the vessel relative to the horizon, in degrees. A value between -90° and +90°.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
An absolute Euler angle, ill-conditioned when the vessel points near vertical (pitch → ±90°), where heading and roll become ambiguous. For an always-defined attitude use
Flight.getRotation()orFlight.getDirection().
- float getHeading()#
The heading of the vessel (its angle relative to north), in degrees. A value between 0° and 360°.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
An absolute Euler angle, undefined when the vessel points near vertical (pitch → ±90°). For an always-defined attitude use
Flight.getRotation()orFlight.getDirection().
- float getRoll()#
The roll of the vessel relative to the horizon, in degrees. A value between -180° and +180°.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
An absolute Euler angle, ill-conditioned when the vessel points near vertical (pitch → ±90°), where the vertical-plane reference vanishes. For an always-defined attitude use
Flight.getRotation(); for a well-defined roll use the auto-pilot’sTargetRoll/RollErroragainst a chosen up reference.
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getPrograde()#
The prograde direction of the vessels orbit, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Returns:
The direction as a unit vector.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getRetrograde()#
The retrograde direction of the vessels orbit, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Returns:
The direction as a unit vector.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getSurfacePrograde()#
The direction of the vessels surface velocity, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame. This is the prograde direction as shown on the navball when in surface mode.- Returns:
The direction as a unit vector.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
Singular when surface speed is approximately zero.
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getSurfaceRetrograde()#
The direction opposite to the vessels surface velocity, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame. This is the retrograde direction as shown on the navball when in surface mode.- Returns:
The direction as a unit vector.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
Singular when surface speed is approximately zero.
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getNormal()#
The direction normal to the vessels orbit, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Returns:
The direction as a unit vector.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getAntiNormal()#
The direction opposite to the normal of the vessels orbit, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Returns:
The direction as a unit vector.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getRadial()#
The radial direction of the vessels orbit, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Returns:
The direction as a unit vector.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getAntiRadial()#
The direction opposite to the radial direction of the vessels orbit, in the reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Returns:
The direction as a unit vector.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getAtmosphereDensity()#
The current density of the atmosphere around the vessel, in \(kg/m^3\).
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getDynamicPressure()#
The dynamic pressure acting on the vessel, in Pascals. This is a measure of the strength of the aerodynamic forces. It is equal to ½ · air density · velocity². It is commonly denoted \(Q\).
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getStaticPressure()#
The static atmospheric pressure acting on the vessel, in Pascals.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getStaticPressureAtMSL()#
The static atmospheric pressure at mean sea level, in Pascals.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getAerodynamicForce()#
The total aerodynamic forces acting on the vessel, in reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Returns:
A vector pointing in the direction that the force acts, with its magnitude equal to the strength of the force in Newtons.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getAerodynamicTorque()#
The net aerodynamic torque currently acting on the vessel about its center of mass, in reference frame
ReferenceFrame. The magnitude is in newton-meters.- Returns:
A vector pointing along the axis of the torque, with its magnitude equal to the strength of the torque in newton-meters.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
This is the live counterpart to
Flight.getAerodynamicForce(): it reconstructs the per-part aerodynamic forces and application points that the game applied on the current physics frame and levers them about the center of mass, rather than re-simulating them for hypothetical conditions the wayFlight.simulateAerodynamicTorqueAt(CelestialBody, org.javatuples.Triplet<Double,Double,Double>, org.javatuples.Triplet<Double,Double,Double>, org.javatuples.Quartet<Double,Double,Double,Double>, org.javatuples.Triplet<Double,Double,Double>)does. It is intended for validating the simulator against the live game state. Not available when Ferram Aerospace Research is installed, as FAR does not expose a live per-frame torque.
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> simulateAerodynamicForceAt(CelestialBody body, org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> position, org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> velocity, org.javatuples.Quartet<Double, Double, Double, Double> rotation)#
Simulate and return the total aerodynamic forces acting on the vessel, if it were traveling with the given velocity, at the given position and orientation, in the atmosphere of the given celestial body.
- Parameters:
body (
CelestialBody) – The celestial body whose atmosphere the forces are simulated in.position (
org.javatuples.Triplet) – The position of the vessel, in reference frameReferenceFrame.velocity (
org.javatuples.Triplet) – The velocity of the vessel, in reference frameReferenceFrame.rotation (
org.javatuples.Quartet) – The orientation of the vessel, in reference frameReferenceFrame, in the same form asVessel.rotation(ReferenceFrame). The angle of attack and sideslip follow from this orientation relative to the velocity; the roll component sets the direction of any aerodynamic lift. Pass the vessel’s current rotation to evaluate the force at its current orientation.
- Returns:
A vector pointing in the direction that the force acts, with its magnitude equal to the strength of the force in Newtons, in reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
The position, velocity and rotation arguments, and the returned force, are all expressed in reference frame
ReferenceFrame. The result is the force the vessel would experience if it were placed at that position and orientation with the air flowing past it at that velocity; it is the force at the requested orientation, not the force in the vessel’s current orientation. Atmospheric temperature and density are evaluated at the current universal time.
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> simulateAerodynamicTorqueAt(CelestialBody body, org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> position, org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> velocity, org.javatuples.Quartet<Double, Double, Double, Double> rotation, org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> angularVelocity)#
Simulate and return the total aerodynamic torque acting on the vessel about its center of mass, if it were traveling with the given velocity, at the given position, orientation and angular velocity, in the atmosphere of the given celestial body.
- Parameters:
body (
CelestialBody) – The celestial body whose atmosphere the torque is simulated in.position (
org.javatuples.Triplet) – The position of the vessel, in reference frameReferenceFrame.velocity (
org.javatuples.Triplet) – The velocity of the vessel, in reference frameReferenceFrame.rotation (
org.javatuples.Quartet) – The orientation of the vessel, in reference frameReferenceFrame, in the same form asVessel.rotation(ReferenceFrame). Pass the vessel’s current rotation to evaluate the torque at its current orientation.angularVelocity (
org.javatuples.Triplet) – The angular velocity of the vessel, in reference frameReferenceFrame. This adds the solid-body rotation term to each part’s local airflow and the per-part rigid-body angular drag the game applies, together giving the aerodynamic damping torque. Pass a zero vector to evaluate the static torque.
- Returns:
A vector pointing along the axis of the torque, with its magnitude equal to the strength of the torque in newton-meters, in reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
The position, velocity, rotation and angular velocity arguments, and the returned torque, are all expressed in reference frame
ReferenceFrame. When Ferram Aerospace Research is installed the angular velocity argument is ignored. Atmospheric temperature and density are evaluated at the current universal time.This is the ideal rigid-body aerodynamic torque, summed from the per-part forces about the center of mass. A vessel may not visibly rotate by the full amount when a large aerodynamic force acts on a small part far from the center of mass, because the game applies each part’s force to that part and propagates it through the joints rather than to the vessel as a rigid body.
- org.javatuples.Pair<org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double>, org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double>> simulateAerodynamicWrenchAt(CelestialBody body, org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> position, org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> velocity, org.javatuples.Quartet<Double, Double, Double, Double> rotation, org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> angularVelocity, double ut)#
Simulate and return the total aerodynamic force and torque acting on the vessel, if its center of mass were traveling with the given velocity, at the given position, orientation and angular velocity, in the atmosphere of the given celestial body.
- Parameters:
body (
CelestialBody) – The celestial body whose atmosphere the wrench is simulated in.position (
org.javatuples.Triplet) – The position of the vessel’s center of mass, in reference frameReferenceFrame.velocity (
org.javatuples.Triplet) – The velocity of the vessel’s center of mass, in reference frameReferenceFrame.rotation (
org.javatuples.Quartet) – The orientation of the vessel, in reference frameReferenceFrame, in the same form asVessel.rotation(ReferenceFrame). Pass the vessel’s current rotation to evaluate the wrench at its current orientation.angularVelocity (
org.javatuples.Triplet) – The angular velocity of the vessel, in reference frameReferenceFrame. This adds the solid-body rotation term to each part’s local airflow and the per-part rigid-body angular drag the game applies, together giving the aerodynamic damping force and torque. Pass a zero vector to evaluate the static wrench relative to the reference frame.ut (
double) – The universal time used for the atmospheric ephemeris. It selects the body/Sun geometry used for temperature and density, but does not change or propagateReferenceFrameor any of the state arguments.
- Returns:
A pair containing the aerodynamic force in newtons followed by the aerodynamic torque in newton-meters about the vessel’s center of mass. Both are vectors in reference frame
ReferenceFrame.- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
The position and velocity describe the hypothetical center-of-mass state. The position, velocity, rotation and angular velocity arguments, and both returned vectors, are expressed in reference frame
ReferenceFrame. For future-state prediction,CelestialBody.getNonRotatingReferenceFrame()is recommended so that the spatial state has unambiguous inertial semantics.This is an instantaneous rigid-body result based on the vessel’s current parts, drag cubes and control-surface state. When Ferram Aerospace Research is installed the angular velocity and ut arguments are ignored.
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getLift()#
The aerodynamic lift currently acting on the vessel.
- Returns:
A vector pointing in the direction that the force acts, with its magnitude equal to the strength of the force in Newtons.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getDrag()#
The aerodynamic drag currently acting on the vessel.
- Returns:
A vector pointing in the direction of the force, with its magnitude equal to the strength of the force in Newtons.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getAerodynamicAcceleration()#
The acceleration of the vessel due to the total aerodynamic forces acting on it (
Flight.getAerodynamicForce()divided by the vessel’s mass), in reference frameReferenceFrame.- Returns:
A vector pointing in the direction that the vessel is accelerated, with its magnitude equal to the acceleration in \(m/s^2\).
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getLiftAcceleration()#
The acceleration of the vessel due to
Flight.getLift()(the aerodynamic lift divided by the vessel’s mass), in reference frameReferenceFrame.- Returns:
A vector pointing in the direction that the vessel is accelerated, with its magnitude equal to the acceleration in \(m/s^2\).
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- org.javatuples.Triplet<Double, Double, Double> getDragAcceleration()#
The acceleration of the vessel due to
Flight.getDrag()(the aerodynamic drag divided by the vessel’s mass), in reference frameReferenceFrame.- Returns:
A vector pointing in the direction that the vessel is accelerated, with its magnitude equal to the acceleration in \(m/s^2\).
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getSpeedOfSound()#
The speed of sound, in the atmosphere around the vessel, in \(m/s\).
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getMach()#
The speed of the vessel, in multiples of the speed of sound.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getReynoldsNumber()#
The vessels Reynolds number.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
Requires Ferram Aerospace Research.
- float getTrueAirSpeed()#
The true air speed of the vessel, in meters per second.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getEquivalentAirSpeed()#
The equivalent air speed of the vessel, in meters per second.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getTerminalVelocity()#
An estimate of the current terminal velocity of the vessel, in meters per second. This is the speed at which the drag forces cancel out the force of gravity.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getAngleOfAttack()#
The pitch angle between the orientation of the vessel and its velocity vector, in degrees.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getSideslipAngle()#
The yaw angle between the orientation of the vessel and its velocity vector, in degrees.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getTotalAirTemperature()#
The total air temperature of the atmosphere around the vessel, in Kelvin. This includes the
Flight.getStaticAirTemperature()and the vessel’s kinetic energy.- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getStaticAirTemperature()#
The static (ambient) temperature of the atmosphere around the vessel, in Kelvin.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
- float getStallFraction()#
The current amount of stall, between 0 and 1. A value greater than 0.005 indicates a minor stall and a value greater than 0.5 indicates a large-scale stall.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
Requires Ferram Aerospace Research.
- float getDragCoefficient()#
The coefficient of drag. This is the amount of drag produced by the vessel. It depends on air speed, air density and wing area.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
Requires Ferram Aerospace Research.
- float getLiftCoefficient()#
The coefficient of lift. This is the amount of lift produced by the vessel, and depends on air speed, air density and wing area.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
Requires Ferram Aerospace Research.
- float getBallisticCoefficient()#
-
- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
Requires Ferram Aerospace Research.
- float getThrustSpecificFuelConsumption()#
The thrust specific fuel consumption for the jet engines on the vessel. This is a measure of the efficiency of the engines, with a lower value indicating a more efficient vessel. This value is the number of Newtons of fuel that are burned, per hour, to produce one newton of thrust.
- Game Scenes:
Flight
Note
Requires Ferram Aerospace Research.