HOW TO CREATE AN AIRCRAFT

IMPORTANT! This section of the documentation is currently a work in progress and the online version will be updated frequently as sections are completed, while the offline version will only be updated with the regular SDK updates.This section of the Microsoft Flight Simulator documentation is dedicated exclusively to showing how to create an aircraft add-on from start to finish. Aircraft are the heart and soul of the simulation and, as such, need to be created with great care to ensure that they not only fly and perform correctly, but that they look good and are as optimised as possible within the simulation engine. However, making an aircraft is also a very large task that can sometimes seem overwhelming, especially if you're working on your own or as part of a small team, which is why we've prepared this document: to help you create the aircraft you want to make as quickly and simply as possible while maintaining the highest possible quality.

 

IMPORTANT! This document expects you (or members of your team) to have a decent working knowledge of:

- how aircraft work, both at the physical and at the mechanical level
- 3D modelling and texturing tools and the general workflow using these tools
- basic programming paradigms

Also note that the workflow shown here is the recommended workflow, but you are not obliged to follow it. This is simply our recommendation on how to approach the task to get the best results in the shortest time.

 

This tutorial is split into the following main sections which should be followed in the order shown:

 

 

NOTE: This tutorial is structured in such a way that you can use the Next button (bottom right of the page) to go through each of the sections in the recommended order.