@AgDynamics I think that XML Modding is kind of justified because in real life you don't need to add all that weight just for detail, so XML modding an engine for more power or modding a fuel tank for more fuel is not so cheaty.

@Eldael Glad you're enjoying it!

@AgDynamics After using XML modding for hours upon hours of the past day or so, I can barely even stand how undetailed and bare my old planes look. No performance tweaks in XML for me though. That's the whole point of the game after all, isn't it? Thanks for the help!

And to change the angle of the wing, click edit dihedral in the part properties menu. If you mean the angle of attack, AgDynamics already pointed out that you need to do some XML modding.

Yes it is. You can go into part settings and click edit fuselage, where you can edit the length and slope of the fuselage segement. You can also click forwards or bsckwards in that menu to edit the height and width, as well as the style of the corners, of the connecter at the end of the fuselage segement.Each connecter can be edited independently, so you can create many different shapes.

@AgDynamics I'm mostly interested in modifying the shapes of fuselage segments and changing the angles of wings for my planes.... so my main question is is that possible to do in the in-game editor? I've tried to figure that out but have not found any way to do that in game.

@Eldael By placing a cockpit off of the plane somewhere in the designer I can work on different parts of a design without having it attached to the main design. This is reeally handy when it comes to details and specific parts of a build that are either hard to reach or just not editable once attached to the main build.

I will add a word of caution with XML editing: It is very easy to make an engine that's 10,000 times as strong as a normal one or a fuel tank with a billion gallon capacity and 0 weight, but in my opinion there's a point where too much XML editing 'spoils' the fun of the game.

Pretty much any POS plane will go super fast and turn like it's on rails if you put an extremely overpowered engine on it. The Ground Speed Challenge can be completed with a single small engine pumped up to just a few times the base power. SAM evasion is really easy too, if you're doing a million miles an hour. And yes, you can throw a hundred thousand gallons of fuel into a single fuel tank block and not have to worry about your weight distribution or fuel capacity, but in my opinion there's something about it that feels a little like cheating. It eliminates part of the challenge of building a good, balanced plane with the parts you're given and working with the game physics instead of trying to defeat the built-in restrictions like fuel capacity, drag and engine power.

That being said some of the best and most popular planes on the site (SR's stuff, for example) are heavily modified with suped-up engines and fuel tanks, but they're also some of the most detailed and exquisitely built aircraft which wouldn't work properly or perform as well if they had to be built with unmodified parts.

@FullFruntall Out of curiosity, why would multiple cockpits be beneficial?

No, I already have ideas for planes, and have already posted one in fact. I just didn't know how others were able to go into detail seemingly impossible to do in-game. Thanks, @AgDynamics for the help.

if your talking about what kind of planes you would like to build look anywhere on this sight and youll recognize a few. i would start by going to the "stuff" tab on this website click on users and find hypnotoad and delphinus. delphinus is the highest rank hypnotoad is like 3rd or 4th. you could also look at spiritus raptor who is in that first row too.

I don't think there is an actual building technique to this game. There are quite a few tips tricks, however for me to start telling you about using two or more cockpits during the building process, I am not sure you would understand the reason why.

Airplanes are saved locally as XML files. On PC, these XML files are located in
C:\Users\Username\AppData\LocalLow\Jundroo\AircraftDesigns

Those XML files can be opened with a text editor, and the properties of each piece can be changed. Parts can be moved, rotated, scaled, and edited in increments smaller/larger than the game's editor will allow.

XML editing allows for greater levels of detail, as well as performance tweaks like overpowered engines, removal of drag forces, and adjusting the Angle of Attack of wings/stabilisers.