From Concept to Cockpit: Building a YSFS Blender Airplane Project

YSFS Blender: Complete Beginner’s Guide to Installation and SetupYSFS Blender is a workflow and toolchain used by modelers to create aircraft and scenery for YSFlight Simulator (YSFS) using Blender as the primary 3D modeling application. This guide walks you through everything a beginner needs to install the necessary tools, configure Blender and supporting utilities, import/export YSFS-compatible models, and troubleshoot common problems.

What you’ll need

A recent version of Blender (recommended: Blender 3.5+).
The YSFlight exporter/importer add-on for Blender (commonly called the YSFBlender exporter or YSFlight Blender tools).
The YSFlight simulator (to test models).
A basic text editor for editing YSFlight material and configuration files (Notepad++, VS Code, or similar).
Optional: image editor for textures (GIMP, Krita, or Photoshop).

Quick overview of the workflow

Model and UV unwrap in Blender.
Create textures in an image editor and save as PNG/TGA depending on YSFlight preferences.
Assign materials and set up object names and hierarchy following YSFlight conventions.
Export model using the YSFlight exporter add-on to the .dat format used by YSFlight.
Place exported files and textures into a YSFlight plane folder and test in-game.
Iterate—adjust model, textures, collision boxes, and configuration settings.

Installation

1) Install Blender

Download Blender from blender.org. Choose the installer appropriate for your OS (Windows, macOS, Linux).
Install following the standard installer steps. For beginners, using the official release build is recommended for stability.

2) Get YSFlight

Download YSFlight from the official site or known distributions. Install or extract to a folder you can access easily.
Run YSFlight once to let it initialize its folders (this usually creates default directories for planes, scenery, etc.).

3) Install the YSFlight Blender add-on

The YSFlight exporter for Blender may be available in a few variations (community-created scripts, GitHub repos, or packaged add-ons). The steps below assume an add-on Python script (.zip or .py) that installs into Blender.

Obtain the exporter add-on (commonly named something like ysf_exporter.zip or ysf_blender.py). Check the README for the specific repository you downloaded from (GitHub is common).
Open Blender → Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Install. Select the downloaded .zip or .py file.
Enable the add-on by checking the box next to its name. If the add-on depends on any additional libraries, follow the repository instructions to install them.

Note: If you cannot find a ready-built add-on, there are community scripts that export basic YSFlight .dat files using Python. Those may require copying the script into Blender’s scripts/addons folder and enabling it manually.

Blender Setup for YSFlight Modeling

Scene units and scale

YSFlight uses a unit system that roughly corresponds to meters; however, different exporters may expect Blender units to be set differently. Recommended settings:

Blender Units: Metric
Unit Scale: 1.0
Apply Scale: After modeling, use Ctrl+A → Scale to apply transforms before export.

Consistency matters: model at a realistic scale (aircraft length and wingspan matching real values when possible) to make hitboxes and physics behave properly in YSFlight.

Object naming and hierarchy

YSFlight relies on object names and parent/child relationships for moving parts (elevators, ailerons, turrets, etc.). Common conventions:

Main fuselage: name it clearly (e.g., fuselage, body).
Control surfaces: aileron_L, aileron_R, elevator, rudder.
Wheels: wheel_L, wheel_R (for gear animations).
Engines/Props: prop_1, prop_2, jet_1, etc.
Turrets: turret_1_base, turret_1_gun.

Follow the exporter docs for exact naming requirements—export scripts often parse names to generate YSFlight .dat entries.

Origin points and pivot locations

Set object origins at pivot points used by YSFlight for rotations/animations. For example:

Aileron origin: hinge line.
Wheel origin: axle center.
Propeller origin: rotation axis center.

Use Object → Set Origin → Origin to 3D Cursor (or similar) to precisely place pivots.

UV unwrapping and textures

Unwrap each mesh with proper seams for clean texture layout.
Export textures as PNG or TGA depending on your exporter and YSFlight preferences (PNG is commonly supported).
Keep texture resolution powers of two (e.g., 512×512, 1024×1024) to avoid issues and for efficiency.
Name textures clearly and keep them in the plane’s folder in YSFlight.

Materials and vertex colors

YSFlight materials are generally simple: diffuse colors with textures. The Blender exporter will typically bake or reference textures and vertex colors depending on its capabilities. If the exporter relies on material names, use clear naming conventions (e.g., mat_fuselage, mat_glass).

Exporting to YSFlight (.dat)

Typical export steps

Apply all transforms (Ctrl+A → Rotation & Scale).
Make sure normals are correct (Recalculate Outside with Shift+N if needed).
Check for non-manifold meshes and remove doubles (optional but recommended).
Select objects to export or ensure the scene is prepared per exporter instructions.
In Blender: File → Export → YSFlight (.dat) or run the exporter from the Add-on panel.
Configure exporter options: texture handling, scale multiplier, animation export, and material export settings.
Export and place the resulting .dat file and textures into a folder inside YSFlight’s “planes” directory.

Common exporter options

Export textures as separate files or bake into a single atlas.
Export animations (control surface deflection angles, wheel positions).
Include collision/physics boxes if supported.
Write an accompanying .txt or cfg file with plane parameters (mass, engines, weapons) if the exporter creates one.

Creating the YSFlight Plane Config

YSFlight uses a plane configuration file (commonly a plain text file or entries inside the .dat) to define properties such as:

Plane name and description
Mass, inertia, drag coefficients
Engine types and positions
Weapon hardpoints and loadouts
Cockpit camera and view settings

Some exporters generate a template config; otherwise, copy an existing plane’s config and adapt values. Key tips:

Test mass and engine thrust in small increments to avoid uncontrollable flight.
Verify center of gravity and adjust component offsets if the plane is unstable.
Use simpler values when first testing, then refine.

Testing in YSFlight

Place the plane folder (containing the .dat, textures, and config) into YSFlight/planes.
Launch YSFlight and load your plane in a test flight.
Check for visual issues (missing textures, inverted normals), animation problems (control surfaces not moving), and physics issues (unstable flight, wrong center of mass).
Iterate: modify the model/config, re-export, and retest.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Missing textures: Confirm texture file names match exactly (case-sensitive on some systems) and that they’re in the plane folder.
Control surfaces not animating: Verify object names and origins follow exporter conventions; check exporter animation options.
Inverted normals/glitches: Recalculate normals and ensure faces are properly oriented.
Scale issues: Ensure Blender unit scale matches exporter expectations and apply transforms before export.
Export errors: Read console output in Blender for Python errors; missing dependencies or incompatible add-on versions are common causes.

Tips & Best Practices

Work incrementally: test early and often with simple geometry before adding detail.
Keep backups of working exports to revert if something breaks.
Use clear naming conventions for objects, materials, and textures.
Learn by example: open and inspect .blend files or plane folders from the YSFlight community to see how others structure files.
Use separate layers/collections for movable parts to simplify selection and exporting.

Resources and further learning

Official Blender documentation for modeling, UVs, and materials.
YSFlight community forums and model repositories for example planes and configs.
GitHub repos for YSFlight Blender exporters—read their README for specifics about naming and options.
Tutorials on basic aircraft modeling and low-poly texturing.

If you want, I can:

Provide a short checklist you can print for each export cycle.
Walk through creating and exporting a basic simple plane model step-by-step.