Airframe

AIRFRAME (MODELLING AND ANIMATIONS)

To create your aircraft for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 the first thing you'll need to do is create the airframe. Usually you'd do this in two passes where:

The first pass is designed to ensure the model is the correct size and proportions. In this pass you want to concentrate on perfecting the aircraft silhouette, ie: all the shapes, proportions, lines, and curves should match all the Visual References when viewed at all angles, and all the different movable parts should be designed as separate, movable meshes in order to test animations and ensure that they are physically accurate before continuing.
The second pass would be where the high-res modelling detail is added, ie: lights, joints, rivets, pitot, static dischargers, etc... as well as the detailed texturing.

The information given in the art documentation covers modelling the whole aircraft, but keep in mind that aircraft in MSFS 2024 are modular in nature. This means that, while modelling your aircraft, you will need consider the parts breakdown and how things will be attached, adding in the appropriate attachpoint nodes to the model. For example, in a small aircraft the fuselage, wings, and engines would all be modelled together, but still be independent objects that can all be exported seperately (with all their LODs), such that:

The fuselage object has two attach points for the wings.
Each wing has an attach point for an engine.

In the simulation, the aircraft package would then have the fuselage, wings, and engines as attachments that connect together to create the final aircraft when the package is built. See Aircraft Part Distribution, for more information.

The pages listed below will discuss the different conventions and methods that can - and should - be used when modelling your airframes, giving all the information required to create a completed aircraft airframe model: