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Creating planes for Micro Flight

Micro Flight supports several types of vehicles, the following sections show the detailes of the various formats of these vehicles and gives instructions for creating them.

All of these vehicles have intrument panels which share the same format and are documented in the following sections.

  Plane Tutorial Main Page Airplanes   Hang gliders
  Gyroplanes   Balloons   Helicopters
  Land vehicles   Instrument panels   Weapons

The planes are based on a 3D mesh file which containes all the moving parts of the plane, and on a full 6 Degrees Of Freedom flight model.

The gliders directory inside the MicroFlight directory containes the available planes, each plane is placed inside a directory inside the MicroFlight\aircraft directory.

Inside each plane directory are the following files:

Plane.cfg

This file containes the aerodynamic characteristecs of the plane and a short description for it.

The structure of the Plane.cfg file is as follows:

1 [glider_type]
0 [has_engine]
50.0 [hp]
6500 [rpm_max]
3600 [time_fuel]
25 [prop_pitch]
50 [prop_diam]
1 [prop_num]
10.0 [sur_w]
15.0 [spn_w]
0.3 [al_max]
-0.3 [al_min]
0.1 [al_inst]
0.0 [al_dihed]
0.0 [x_w]
5.5 [cla_w]
0.02 [cd0_w]
0.05 [cdi_w]
0.2 [cdf]
0.0 [clf]
1 [has_flaps]
0.01 [cd0]
0.0 [x_cg]
250.0 [mass]
100.0 [i_xx]
100.0 [i_yy]
100.0 [i_zz]
6 [sink_max]
5 [g_max]
0.0 [camera_x0]
0.5 [camera_y0]
2.5 [camera_z0]
0.2 [x_lg1]
0.8 [y_lg1]
-3.2 [x_lg2]
0.8 [y_lg2]
0.02 [lg_kf]
0.75 [sur_ht]
5.5 [cla_ht]
0.02 [cd0_ht]
0.05 [cdi_ht]
-0.1 [al_inst_ht]
4.5 [x_ht]
0.75 [sur_e]
0.5 [al_max_e]
-0.5 [al_min_e]
0.75 [sur_a]
0.5 [al_max_a]
-0.5 [al_min_a]
0.5 [sur_vt]
5.5 [cla_vt]
0.02 [cd0_vt]
0.05 [cdi_vt]
4.5 [x_vt]
0.1 [y_vt]
0.5 [sur_r]
0.5 [al_max_r]
-0.5 [al_min_r]
panel_3 [panel_name]
0.0 [x_panel]
0.32 [y_panel]
3.25 [z_panel]
---------------------------------------@
Advanced Training Glider:

Two seat training glider with excellent gliding qualities.

Explanation:

glider_type 0 - hang glider 1 - conventional 2 - paraglider
has_engine Engine type ( 0 - no engine, 1 - propeller, 2 - turbojet, 3 - rocket )
has_reflection 0 - no reflection , 1 - with reflection
th0 Thrust in newtons for rocket and jet.
hp Engine power ( horse power for propeller, newtons for rocket and jet )
rpm_max Engine maximum RPM ( RPM )
rpm_min Engine minimum RPM ( RPM )
time_fuel Fuel capacity of plane, at full throttle ( seconds )
prop_pitch Propeller pitch (In)
prop_diam Propeller diameter (In)
eta_prop prop efficiency ( typical 0.85 )
pitch_ratio max/min propeller pitch ratio ( typical 1.65 )
mixt_ratio min/max fuel mixture ratio ( typical 0.5 )
ccw_left left side propellers rotate counter clockwise
ccw_right right side propellers rotate counter clockwise
sur_w Wing surface (M^2)
spn_w Wing span (M)
al_max Wing maximum angle of attack (Radian)
al_min Wing minimum angle of attack (Radian)
al_inst Angle between wing aerodynamic chord and axis of plane (Radian)
al_dihed Wing dihedral angle (Radian)
x_w Wing position, measured between model origin and aerodynamic center of wing (m)
cla_w Wing lift line slope (1/Radian)
cd0_w Wing zero incidence drag coefficient
cdi_w Wing induced drag coefficient (CD = CD0 + K*CLa*CLa)
cdf Flaps or Airbrakes additive drag coefficient
clf Flaps additive lift coefficient
has_flaps 1 - plane has flaps, 0 - no flaps
has_brakes 1 - plane has airbrakes, 0 - no airbrakes
cd0 Body zero incidence drag coefficient
x_cg Center of gravity position, measured from model origin (m)
mass Mass of plane including fuel (Kg)
i_xx Pitch moment of inertia (Kg x M^2)
i_yy Yaw moment of inertia (Kg x M^2)
i_zz Roll moment of inertia (Kg x M^2)
sink_max Maximum allowable touch down rate of decent (M/Sec)
g_max Maximal positive stress allowed (g)
camera_x0 Position of cockpit camera along X axis
camera_y0 Position of cockpit camera along Y axis
camera_z0 Position of cockpit camera along Z axis
x_lg1 Main gear position, measured from model origin (M)
y_lg1 Main gear height, measured from axis of plane (M)
x_lg2 Auxiliary gear position, measured from model origin (M)
y_lg2 Auxiliary gear height, measured from axis of plane (M)
lg_kf Landing gear kinematical friction coefficient
sur_ht Horizontal tail surface (M^2)
cla_ht Horizontal tail lift line slope (1/Radian)
cd0_ht Horizontal tail zero incidence drag coefficient
cdi_ht Horizontal tail induced drag coefficient
al_inst_ht Angle between tail aerodynamic chord and axis of plane (Radian)
x_ht Horizontal tail position, measured between model origin and aerodynamic center of tail (M)
sur_e Elevator surface (M^2) , surface of moving control surface of tail ( the elevator )
al_max_e Elevator maximum angle of attack (Radian)
al_min_e Elevator minimum angle of attack (Radian)
sur_a Ailerons surface (M^2) , surface of moving control surface of wing ( the ailerons )
al_max_a Ailerons maximum angle of attack (Radian)
al_min_a Ailerons minimum angle of attack (Radian)
sur_vt Vertical tail surface (M^2)
cla_vt Vertical tail lift line slope (1/Radian)
cd0_vt Vertical tail zero incidence drag coefficient
cdi_vt Vertical tail induced drag coefficient
x_vt Vertical tail position , measured between model origin and aerodynamic center of tail (M)
y_vt Vertical tail AC and also Engine CP, measured from axis of plane (M) upwards
sur_r Rudder surface (M^2) , surface of moving control surface of tail ( the rudder )
al_max_r Rudder maximum angle of attack (Radian)
al_min_r Rudder minimum angle of attack (Radian)
panel_name Name of panel that will be used for plane
panel_scale Scale of panel
x_panel X position of the instrument panel
y_panel Y position of the instrument panel
z_panel Z position of the instrument panel
dx_panel X direction vector of panel
dy_panel Y direction vector of panel
dz_panel Z direction vector of panel
ux_panel X up vector of panel
uy_panel Y up vector of panel
uz_panel Z up vector of panel


Note:

This file has a fixed format, all the data in the file must be supplied for all types of planes.

When designing a plane without rudder or elevator these values will be the values of equivalent control surfaces which are required to give the stability and control characteristics of the plane.

Plane.x



This file containes the 3D model of the plane and all it's moving parts placed in thier natural positions.

This is a multi-frame hirarchy mesh file, it can be created by converting a 3DS file into an X file by using the command "conv3ds [filename.3ds]" , conv3ds.exe is a small freeware converter written by Microsoft.

The plane.x file can contain over 50 moving parts, each of these parts must have a specific name so that the program can find it and animate it in flight.

In the following table the list and meaning of these names is given:
elevatorl left elevator
elevatorr right elevator
rudderl left rudder
rudderr right rudder
aileronl left aileron
aileronr right aileron
ailerontl left aileron
ailerontr right aileron
elevonl left elevon
elevonr right elevon
stickl left stick
stickr right stick
wheell left control wheel
wheelr right control wheel
spropl left prop
spropr right prop
fpropl fast left prop
fpropr fast right prop
sproptl tip left prop
fproptl fast tip left prop
sproptr tip right prop
fproptr fast tip right prop
pedalr right pedal
pedall left pedal
pedaltr right pedal
pedaltl left pedal
thrott trottle handle
pthrot throttle push handle
pitch propeller pitch handle
ppitch propeller pitch push handle
mixt fuel mixture handle
pmixt fuel mixture push handle
flexwing a hang glider type wing
parawing a paraglider type wing
handlel left paraplane handle
handler right paraplane handle
brakel left airbrake
braker right airbrake
spoill left spoiler
spoilr right spoiler
spoiltl left spoiler
spoiltr right spoiler
brakeh brake handle
cableh cable release handle
pcable cable release pull handle
flapl left flap
flapr right flap
flaptl right flap
flaptr left flap
flapsh flaps extraction handle
gearh gear extraction handle
trimh trim adjustment handle
string yaw string
vtaill left V tail
vtailr right V tail
collect collective handle
srotor main rotor
frotor fast main rotor
srotorr right main rotor
frotorr fast right rotor
srotorl left main rotor
frotorl fast left rotor
strotor tail rotor
ftrotor fast tail rotor
strotorr right tail rotor
ftrotorr fast right tail rotor
strotorl left tail rotor
ftrotorl fast left tail rotor
flamel left burner or jet flame
flamer right burner or jet flame
flamem middle burner or jet flame
flameu upper flame
flamed lower flame
burnerh gas burner handle
canopyh canopy gas release value

Download sample source files for a plane and conv3ds

Gear.x


This is an animated mesh file which containes the 3D model of the retractable gear of the plane, this file should contain 10 frames, the first frame is the position of the gear when fully extended, the last frame is the gear's position when fully retracted.

This file can be created by converting a 3DS file into an X file by using the command "conv3ds -A [filename.3ds]" , conv3ds.exe is a small freeware converter written by Microsoft.

Download sample source files for a plane and conv3ds

Lights.cfg

The lights are assigned to a plane by a file called lights.cfg which is located in the plane directory.
The structure of the lights.cfg file is as follows:

3 [lights_num]
Red [light_name]
0.1 [light_scale]
-6.2 [light_x]
0.9 [light_y]
0.5 [light_z]
Green [light_name]
0.1 [light_scale]
6.2 [light_x]
0.9 [light_y]
0.5 [light_z]
Strobe [light_name]
0.1 [light_scale]
0.0 [light_x]
1.0 [light_y]
-4.7 [light_z]

Explanation:


This file has a fixed format, all parameters must be specified in this order.
lights_num - number of lights assigned. (10 max)
light_name - name of light. ( Red, Green, Strobe, White )
light_x - the x position of light relative to plane.
light_y - the y position of light relative to plane.
light_z - the z position of light relative to plane.