Steering the beast ...

I've been trying to achieve greater steering efficiency of an airship of mass 5200kg (not to mention the one of mass 43000kg). On the former, it takes approximately 2 sims in which to turn 90 deg; on the latter, there's no r/l steering, just up/dn and fwd/rev. What would be the vehicle or other parameter which would permit quicker turning (yaw, I guess)?

I've come to appreciate the role of mass in airship movement, knowing now why a box is very hard to control (at least, I think mass is the reason).

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Cruising in an airship is one of the best ways to tour in SL, along with horseback and sailing. You have the time to appreciate the hard work which has gone into creating castles in the sky. Caledon, of course, with over 30 sims, has continuity and permits extended cruises with much to see at all altitudes.

Thank you!

Is this a PHYSICAL vehicle? If it is physical and uses the actual vehicle functions (as opposed to normal physical movement functions like llApplyImpulse() and llMoveToTarget()) then mass shouldn't matter; the vehicle functions deal with velocity alone, not mass/momentum. They also don't require energy. You'll want to look at the angular motor parameters (http://www.lslwiki.net/lslwiki/wakka.php?wakka=TutorialVehicle#AEN898) and possibly angular deflection (http://www.lslwiki.net/lslwiki/wakka.php?wakka=TutorialVehicle#AEN837) and angular friction (http://www.lslwiki.net/lslwiki/wakka.php?wakka=TutorialVehicle#AEN956).

If it is a non-physical vehicle, we could possibly get into details, but it's a squirrelly beast.

If it uses physical movement functions (llApplyImpulse(), llApplyRotationalImpulse(), llMoveToTarget(), etc.) then I'd suggest switching to the actual vehicle functions to make mass a non-issue. I doubt this is the case; I believe objects with as much mass as you describe would run out of energy too quickly to fly.

The insights you provide in distinguishing between types of object movement have given me some positive direction to go in understanding the airship. The script I'm using is based on the vehicle parameters as provided in the tutorial. I did read the warning about mixing calls of the llApplyImpu;se, llSetforce, etc. with the calls for vehicle parameters. It's good to know that mass isn't an issue with the vehicle parameters. I've been looking at the angular variables and am beginning to try different combinations. Thanks, again, Hewee!