Introduction
============

.. warning:: This section is a work in progress.

Aircraft development is one of the most crucial parts of making FlightGear a compelling flight
simulator. Afterall, a flight simulator with no aircraft to fly isn't a particularly useful or
interesting flight simulator.


Skills Required
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aircraft development can be challenging, as it requires a multi-disciplinary skillset that one
developer is unlikely to have expertise in.

others, as one singular person is unlikely to possess all of the skills needed to create a great
aircraft:

* 3D Modelling, texturing, and animation
* Graphic design
* Experience programming in Nasal
* Familiarity with using XML
* Familiarity with a Flight Dynamics Model (FDM) such as JSBSim

It may seem like an up-hill battle to create your first aircraft.

.. tip::
    Creating an aircraft from scratch can be very overwhelming at times. It is recommended to start
    by improving an existing aircraft in order to become familiar with the development process.

.. caution::
    Using and studying existing FlightGear aircraft for reference can be a great way to learn -
    **however** even popular aircraft may 
    
     in actually be a better reference
    for how *not* to do something. Be very selective in which aircraft you choose to study or borrow
    from.