Aircraft Design Guide Book 1 - Using FS Design Studio 3.5

Aircraft Design Guide Book 1

Several years in the writing, Adam Howe has released the first of five "books" that will guide the modeler from the basics to the advanced stages of aircraft design using FS Design Studio v3.5.

The goal of this book is to show you how to use the functions of FS Design Studio to create an aircraft. In finishing the series, you will be have created a complete aircraft that can be flown in Microsoft's Flight Simulator X. From there, you can brag to your friends that you made it yourself. Armed with this knowledge, you can then venture out and design your own aircraft using the knowledge and experience you've gained from this series of book.

This first book in the series will show you how to install FS Design Studio v3.5, the FSX Software Development Kits (SDKs) and their service packs as well as set up FS Design Studio to properly use the SDKs. From there the book covers how to find and set up 3-view drawings as backdrops from which you can forge your design.

Other Books in the Aircraft Design Guide series include: 

• Book 2: Modeling the Exterior
• Book 3: The Boolean Operation
• Book 4: Aircraft Animation
• Book 5: Texturing the Model
• Book 6: Creating the Virtual Cockpit

Table of Contents - 80 pages
Chapter 1: Basic Setup

• System Requirements
• Windows Vista and Windows 7

Chapter 2: Installing

• Installing the SDKs
• Installing FS Design Studio
• How Compiling Works

Chapter 3: FS Design Studio Preferences

• Setting the Paths to the Compilers
• Default Texture Location Project File Location
• Compiler Settings
• General Preferences
• Design Units
• AutoSave and Undo
• Display High-Res Textures Full Size

Chapter 4: Compiling

• Testing the Scenery Compile
• Troubleshooting
• Testing the Aircraft Compile

Chapter 5: Planning The Design

• 3-View Drawings
• Gimp 2
• Screen Capture Method
• Opening A Saved Image
• Editing the Image for Backdrops

Chapter 6: Loading the Backdrops

• Settings the Scale
• Centering the Backdrops
• Finding the Center of Gravity (COG)