Okay, got some free time, so I'll comment: Something is wrong with the trajectory calculations, vertical speed does very little good for hitting orbit. The "normal" good trajectory for minimizing drag and gravity loss is a gravity turn started almost immediately after liftoff. We went through this on this list a year or so ago.
The atmosphere model I use is the 1976 Standard Atmosphere. For sea level to ~39000 feet I use the Standard Atmosphere equations - above that I do not have the equations (yet) so I interpolate from the tables given in the CRC Chemistry & Physics Handbook. The full model is available from NOAA (I think that is the right org) for a small printing fee. You can also get it as a part of a whole bunch of aerodynamics codes from www.pdas.com Dave -- David Masten <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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