Staged Mission Editor: Segments Calculating Length Only 2-Dimensionally?

[CptTrips]

I could be wrong on this, I haven't got good proof, but if you are in the code sometime it might be worth sanity checking.  It's not a huge deal.

I started suspecting that the segment is calculating it's length, and duration in as 2 dimensions.  If all segments are level flight that works out fine.  Over long routes with changes in alt, the variances can accumulate.  Flights can seem to turn before they reach the point you were expecting. In complex missions that can make getting things right where you want them, right when you want them, tricky. 

[hitech]

I specifically did it with 2D distances , I believe it is intentional for 2 distances,for time en route, but 3D distances for speed required.

What exactly is the issue you are seeing?

HiTEch

[CptTrips]

I specifically did it with 2D distances , I believe it is intentional for 2 distances,for time en route, but 3D distances for speed required.

What exactly is the issue you are seeing?

HiTEch

I no longer have the mission that made me wonder that.  I had it in my notes to research further.  If it is intentional, then no big deal. 
I think I had seen things accumulating increasing differences between what was actually flown and what I was trying to lay out with waypoints.  Maybe I was mistaken.

Before writing this up, I did do a quick sanity check.  I created a waypoint (may not be exact numbers I used) that started at 1,000ft traveled 5 mi and ended at 1,000ft.  Calculated distance and time. Then changed end alt to 10,000ft and re-calculated.  I saw distance and duration remained the same, so that suggested length and time-of-flight for the segment was ignoring ending alt.

The hypotenuse would be longer than the level flight base.  It would take longer to get all the way to the end position of the waypoint at a given speed.  So with the time of flight calculated on a shorter path, wouldn't the flight turned on the next waypoint before it reached the spot where I had placed the previous waypoint ending? And that deviation would be transmitted to all subsequent waypoints? They would start at a different place during flight than I had laid out the waypoints? And further climbing waypoints would continue to accumulate additional deviation? At the end of a complex route could the actual flight path deviate noticeably from where I am placing the waypoints because of accumulated deviation?  I think that was my suspicion on some stuff I was seeing. 

Or maybe I was fooling myself.  Maybe I just needed to recalc a bunch of segments.  BTW, a iterate segments and recalc feature would be nice.  To update segment start times.  But I should put that in the Wishlist.

I'll experiment with it tonight and see if I can repro the weirdness I saw.

,
CptTrips

[hitech]

I no longer have the mission that made me wonder that.  I had it in my notes to research further.  If it is intentional, then no big deal. 
I think I had seen things accumulating increasing differences between what was actually flown and what I was trying to lay out with waypoints.  Maybe I was mistaken.

Before writing this up, I did do a quick sanity check.  I created a waypoint (may not be exact numbers I used) that started at 1,000ft traveled 5 mi and ended at 1,000ft.  Calculated distance and time. Then changed end alt to 10,000ft and re-calculated.  I saw distance and duration remained the same, so that suggested length and time-of-flight for the segment was ignoring ending alt.

The hypotenuse would be longer than the level flight base.  It would take longer to get all the way to the end position of the waypoint at a given speed.  So with the time of flight calculated on a shorter path, wouldn't the flight turned on the next waypoint before it reached the spot where I had placed the previous waypoint ending? And that deviation would be transmitted to all subsequent waypoints? They would start at a different place during flight than I had laid out the waypoints? And further climbing waypoints would continue to accumulate additional deviation? At the end of a complex route could the actual flight path deviate noticeably from where I am placing the waypoints because of accumulated deviation?  I think that was my suspicion on some stuff I was seeing. 

Or maybe I was fooling myself.  Maybe I just needed to recalc a bunch of segments.  BTW, a iterate segments and recalc feature would be nice.  To update segment start times.  But I should put that in the Wishlist.

I'll experiment with it tonight and see if I can repro the weirdness I saw.

,
CptTrips

It may depend if you did a calc time or calc speed options on the segment. To verify it you would have to run the mission and see the mission time at end of way point arrival.


HiTech

[CptTrips]

uhg.

Lets just table this one for now. There are bigger fish to fry. 

If I get a canonical example, I'll post it later.