Flaps: I'm not entirely sure on this but I can speak from observations.
Flaps seem to work as an extra wing or control surface in simple planes. You can see this in action by placing the wings of an aircraft into rotators and adjusting them in flight. Your aircraft will either climb or descend depending on how you angle the wings. If the wings are in line with your CoG then the aircraft will rise. If it's in front or behind then the aircraft will pitch up or down depending on its location.
If you place flaps behind your wings then the same is true.
The aircraft will either pitch up or down if there is a distance between the surface and the CoG. If you can place the flaps as close to the CoG as possible then the net result is an increase in lift. This allows for earlier takeoffs and slower flight on landings due to the extra lift provided by the increased angle of attack of the flap surface. The larger the flap - the more lift produced.
Landing Gear Placement/Configuration: A lot of STOL aircraft are conventional gear setup (taildragger-two main wheels up front with small tail wheel at rear). The advantage to this setup is that the wings naturally sit with high angle of attack on takeoff and landing. The aircraft will produce lift as soon as you gain airspeed on takeoff without having to touch the elevators. On landing, the aircraft is landed in a nose high position which means that the airspeed will be low enough that the aircraft won't climb but produces high amount of lift until touchdown due to the angle of attack in its nose high landing attitude.
With nose gear the aircraft naturally sits in a level attitude so the angle of attack is lower and little lift is produced as you gain airspeed. You have to use the elevators in order to increase the angle of attack for takeoff. Simpleplanes doesn't simulate airflow from the propeller so you have to wait until your speed increases enough to allow the elevators to become effective in order to raise the nose and increase lift from the wings. The rear landing gear should be placed as close to and behind the CofG in order to allow the least amount of force from the elevators to rotate the aircraft into this nose high attitude for a short takeoff. It's a simple fulcrum so the closer the pivot point is to the CofG the easier it is to rotate and the sooner in your takeoff roll you can lift the nose to become airborne.
Low wing loading: the lower the wing loading - the slower you can fly whilst still maintaining lift. Two ways to have low wing loading - less weight and/or more wing surface area.
Control Surfaces: These need to be as effective as possible in order to maintain control at as slow speeds as possible. You need to be able to control the aircraft, particularly the nose right up until the stall point. Eg. If the aircraft stalls at 50mph then the controls need to be effective enough to keep the nose level all the way up to 50mph. They can however be too effective and cause the aircraft to stall above 50mph by causing the aircraft to exceed the capable AOA of the wings (these aircraft tend to snap one way or another when doing loops or violent pitches etc). This ties in with the relationship of the CoG and CoL. If you have small control surfaces and the CoL is very close to the CoG then your aircraft will be able to maintain its nose attitude for a lot longer than an aircraft with large control surfaces and a large distance between CoL and CoG.
CoL and CoG relationship: The CoL and CoG have a relationship in aircraft building. The CoL acts as a pivot point to rotate the CoG in the pitch axis. The close the CoL is to the CoG the less force is required to rotate it. A good STOL aircraft will have it's CoL and CoG close together as it allows for earlier rotation on takeoff and a more responsive aircraft on slow landings. As your aircraft gets slower then more force is naturally needed to control it as the control relies on airflow over the control surfaces. If your airflow reduces over the control surfaces then your surfaces will naturally produce less force - so if less force is available then we need a system where less force is more effective ie. a closer CoL to the CoG. As you adjust this ratio you will need to adjust the force applied from the control surfaces - the control surface size.
Wow! Thank you very much.
Working on a suspension system for the undercarriage and some extra details so check that one out when it's done!
Thanks again.
@A5mod3us
Yes although I found I couldn't download anything whilst in the steam browser so I went to the website in my internet browser like Firefox or google chrome to the simpleplanes website and downloaded the mods. From there you simply place the downloaded files into your mods file directory manually and then they will appear in the mods menu in game.
Let me know if you have trouble and I'll help you out.
@JettStorm
Mods like fine tuner and overload are essential to get really nice looking designs.
Nudging is essential to blend all of the parts together. The stock attachment points and parts don't make for great looking designs.
The trend seems to be realistic, highly detailed replicas or highly detailed original designs. Simple designs, regardless of performance/functionality don't seem to catch much attention.
Try including things like cockpits, flaps and moving parts. Have a look through the featured sections and do a search with the challenge tag to get an idea of what some of the top builders design.
I'm in the same boat as you, don't get a lot of exposure. I managed to get one aircraft featured which wasn't even a conventional aircraft design.
Simple planes is actually an ironic name because there is nothing simple about the top designs that gain 50 plus upvotes.
@jamesPLANESii
Doesn't know why this didn't come through as a successor....do you mind if I keep this up as an addition to the Sounds Air fleet?
Thanks! I built it specifically for AI dogfights.
@crazyplaneguy20057893251683846
Mate your builds are awesome!
Can't wait to see it!
Let me know if you need any help with customising rotators/hinges etc.
Based off that aircraft but fictionalised to my liking. @MailboxIsMyGender
Thanks, Ill address that in the next version. @hopotumon
That helps the Short Take Off part but not always the Landing part. @MechWARRIOR57
Thanks. Trying to make more detailed and 'prettier' builds. @Treadmill103
@A3 Thanks mate. This is one of my favourites. Performs pretty realistically I think!
Yeah I'll do better version with some details and tweaks @A3
Flaps: I'm not entirely sure on this but I can speak from observations.
Flaps seem to work as an extra wing or control surface in simple planes. You can see this in action by placing the wings of an aircraft into rotators and adjusting them in flight. Your aircraft will either climb or descend depending on how you angle the wings. If the wings are in line with your CoG then the aircraft will rise. If it's in front or behind then the aircraft will pitch up or down depending on its location.
If you place flaps behind your wings then the same is true.
The aircraft will either pitch up or down if there is a distance between the surface and the CoG. If you can place the flaps as close to the CoG as possible then the net result is an increase in lift. This allows for earlier takeoffs and slower flight on landings due to the extra lift provided by the increased angle of attack of the flap surface. The larger the flap - the more lift produced.
Landing Gear Placement/Configuration: A lot of STOL aircraft are conventional gear setup (taildragger-two main wheels up front with small tail wheel at rear). The advantage to this setup is that the wings naturally sit with high angle of attack on takeoff and landing. The aircraft will produce lift as soon as you gain airspeed on takeoff without having to touch the elevators. On landing, the aircraft is landed in a nose high position which means that the airspeed will be low enough that the aircraft won't climb but produces high amount of lift until touchdown due to the angle of attack in its nose high landing attitude.
With nose gear the aircraft naturally sits in a level attitude so the angle of attack is lower and little lift is produced as you gain airspeed. You have to use the elevators in order to increase the angle of attack for takeoff. Simpleplanes doesn't simulate airflow from the propeller so you have to wait until your speed increases enough to allow the elevators to become effective in order to raise the nose and increase lift from the wings. The rear landing gear should be placed as close to and behind the CofG in order to allow the least amount of force from the elevators to rotate the aircraft into this nose high attitude for a short takeoff. It's a simple fulcrum so the closer the pivot point is to the CofG the easier it is to rotate and the sooner in your takeoff roll you can lift the nose to become airborne.
Low wing loading: the lower the wing loading - the slower you can fly whilst still maintaining lift. Two ways to have low wing loading - less weight and/or more wing surface area.
Control Surfaces: These need to be as effective as possible in order to maintain control at as slow speeds as possible. You need to be able to control the aircraft, particularly the nose right up until the stall point. Eg. If the aircraft stalls at 50mph then the controls need to be effective enough to keep the nose level all the way up to 50mph. They can however be too effective and cause the aircraft to stall above 50mph by causing the aircraft to exceed the capable AOA of the wings (these aircraft tend to snap one way or another when doing loops or violent pitches etc). This ties in with the relationship of the CoG and CoL. If you have small control surfaces and the CoL is very close to the CoG then your aircraft will be able to maintain its nose attitude for a lot longer than an aircraft with large control surfaces and a large distance between CoL and CoG.
CoL and CoG relationship: The CoL and CoG have a relationship in aircraft building. The CoL acts as a pivot point to rotate the CoG in the pitch axis. The close the CoL is to the CoG the less force is required to rotate it. A good STOL aircraft will have it's CoL and CoG close together as it allows for earlier rotation on takeoff and a more responsive aircraft on slow landings. As your aircraft gets slower then more force is naturally needed to control it as the control relies on airflow over the control surfaces. If your airflow reduces over the control surfaces then your surfaces will naturally produce less force - so if less force is available then we need a system where less force is more effective ie. a closer CoL to the CoG. As you adjust this ratio you will need to adjust the force applied from the control surfaces - the control surface size.
Cheers!
This was a fun one to make and I'm very happy with how it turned out!
@Storm41
Yeah no problem!
@Logi
Never cease to amaze with your builds. Well done.
What a monster. Good work.
Thank you!
@Treadmill103
@Liquidfox @mikoyanster
Thanks a lot!
I'd love to enter!
Hi, love the idea of the challenge.
I'd like to enter my LLRV
Thanks a lot! This was one of my first builds so it's very simple. Working on a more detailed version.
@jfriss
Wow! Thank you very much.
Working on a suspension system for the undercarriage and some extra details so check that one out when it's done!
Thanks again.
@A5mod3us
Thanks! I plan on adding moving parts in the cockpit in the next version. @Treadmill103
Yes although I found I couldn't download anything whilst in the steam browser so I went to the website in my internet browser like Firefox or google chrome to the simpleplanes website and downloaded the mods. From there you simply place the downloaded files into your mods file directory manually and then they will appear in the mods menu in game.
Let me know if you have trouble and I'll help you out.
@JettStorm
Check this out if you fancy building fighters here
Mods like fine tuner and overload are essential to get really nice looking designs.
Nudging is essential to blend all of the parts together. The stock attachment points and parts don't make for great looking designs.
The trend seems to be realistic, highly detailed replicas or highly detailed original designs. Simple designs, regardless of performance/functionality don't seem to catch much attention.
Try including things like cockpits, flaps and moving parts. Have a look through the featured sections and do a search with the challenge tag to get an idea of what some of the top builders design.
I'm in the same boat as you, don't get a lot of exposure. I managed to get one aircraft featured which wasn't even a conventional aircraft design.
Simple planes is actually an ironic name because there is nothing simple about the top designs that gain 50 plus upvotes.
Cheers! Love the STOL stuff too.
Have you started anything on that STOL prototype? @A3
Thanks @Athaya
@campanula
Awesome. Beautiful shape. You should get some more recognition for you designs.
Is this an original design?
@A3 And thanks!
@A3 Yep! Was going to try to copy their logos but i gave up in the end.
Thanks a lot! I'm trying to move toward building details like cockpits and moving parts.
@A3
@saturn28
Thanks!
Yeah go for it. Tag me when you're done so I can check it out.
@Aspire
Brilliant backstory. Love the concept!
@TakicraftCorporation @Treadmill103
Glad to hear!
Thanks!
Thanks! @rubbishcraft
I'm in!
Passed the aptitude test. Doing better than the Apollo guys! @EliteIndustries1
@Dynimerous Thanks a lot!
@Dynimerous @realluochen9999 thank you!
@Delphinus @jamesPLANESii @Avro683Lancaster Thank you!
@CaspianMonster @Pilotmario @SteadfastContracting Thank you!
@TheNightmare811 @ShatSlanger @OverclockAircrafts Thank you!
@joeysellers @AaronSonAirCrafts @TTHHSSSS Thank you!
@zackattack316 @z24zorpx4 @AstleyIndustries Thank you!
@TheOwlAce @Ploopy @WEAPONSMITH Thank you!