[HOW-TO] Creating a Simple Aircraft using Blender and the SDK

What is this guide? How can it be used?

This guide is for creating a simple, fun little aircraft using Blender. Note that this guide is mainly for creating fun aircraft, such as the Flying Snowman or the Witch, not for high-fidelity airplanes.

You will need the Blender MSFS Plugin, which can be downloaded here.

Creating a model

You will make your aircraft model in Blender or in a separate 3D-making program. I use 3D Builder by Microsofrt.

Importing your model into Blender (if you used a separate program)

You can skip this step if you made your 3D model in Blender. Once you make your model, export it into a .OBJ format. Then open Blender and import the .OBJ model.

If you did everything correctly, the model should appear as it was made.

Creating the project in MSFS

Before we go further, we need to make a New Project in MSFS.

Open General Options then click Developers, and set Developer Mode to ON

Click Apply and Save.

Now, in the Dev Mode toolbar, click “File”

and click “New Project”
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Select your Projects Folder and enter a name for it.

Click “Create New Project”

At this screen click “Package”
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Then click Next.

Here, click “Aircraft” and fill out the info below.

Then click “Next”

Fill out the info below, and select “template-airplane-piston” as your template.

Now the project is created.

Editing your Files

Now that it’s created, open File Explorer and navigate to your project folder.

Click PackageSources > SimObjects > Airplanes > “Your Project Name”

You will be brought to this screen.

Click “model”

Remove these circled files. They’ll be replaced with your aircraft model.

Positoning the aircraft correctly in Blender

To do this, click on the gizmo on the top right:
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And first click “Z”

Your aircraft will look like this:

Click “R and Z” on your keyboard and align the object so it is proportional with the respective line.

Repeat for view X and Y, changing the keyboard shortcut to “R + Y” or “R + X”

Importing your Model to MSFS

Open your object in Blender, and click “Multi-Export GLTF 2.0” in the right toolbar.
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Click Objects and click “Reload LODs”
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This will bring up a lot of file info. Click “Grouped by collectors” at the top.
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Click “Generate XML” and “Collection” The box should now look like this:
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Click the Folder in the address bar and navigate to the “Model” folder you looked at before.

Now, click “Settings” and in the address bar type “…\texture” in the Texture bar
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You are now ready to export your file. Go back to “Objects” and click “Export”

Opening your aircraft in MSFS

First, click “Build” in the project editor. Your sim will freeze for a minute.
Check the Console for any errors. If there are any, do the steps indicated to fix it.

Now, In the project editor, click the blue aircraft name then click the SimObjects file
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And now, in the inspector, click “Load in editor”. Your sim may freeze for a minute.
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This will open the Aircraft editor. Click “File” > Resync to load your aircraft. Your sim will freeze for a minute.

Search for your aircraft in the hangar, and now open it.

You will now see your aircraft in the hangar.

Your aircraft may be too big, too far to the left, or sized incorrectly. You will need to do some editing in blender and re-export it a couple of times. It’ll be a “trial-and-error” situation.

Making the plane fly (Flight Model Tuning)

Detailed Flight Model steps soon. You can also use this guide: Defining A Flight Model

If you want to save time (which is what I do) you can copy the Flight Model and Engine file from another aircraft.
I use the NXCub, but pick any that floats your boat.

There, you can copy the “Flight Model” and “Engine” files into your SimObjects folder replacing the current ones inside your folder.

I will have detailed flight model steps soon as I learn to work around them.

Finishing Touches

The plane is all finished! Make sure to “build” the aircraft once you are all done.

If you intend to release it to the public, zip the “Packages” folder.

Lastly, to remove the “Placeholder” image and use a picture of your aircraft, reference here: The Aircraft Capture Tool

One thing to note: the aircraft will not have sound. You can import your own sounds using this guide: Sounds (Wwise)

Have fun!

Enjoy your newly created aircraft! If you have questions, something doesn’t work, or you need extra assistance, please send me (@HamMan2118) a DM.

Enjoy!

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