Gear.dat

The gear.dat file defines your landing gear, and other points on the aircraft that should collide with the ground.

Gear parts

The file is built up of several gear parts. A typical gear part is defined like this:

gear_part {
 name      = Nose Wheel
 pos       = [ 2.2 0.0 1.05 ]
 c_comp    = 17355
 c_damp    = 3500
 max_comp  = 0.2 
 r_static  = 0.9
 r_kinetic = 0.08
 r_brake   = 0.0
 steerable = true
 steer_angle = 45.0
}

Here are all the parameters you can set:

name = <name>

...

pos = [ <x> <y> <z> ]

The position of the wheel hub or hardpoint. Remember: x forwards, y to the right, z down.

c_comp = <float>

The spring coefficient of the part

c_damp = <float>

The damping coefficient of the part

max_comp = <float>

The maximum travel of the gear part. Don't set this too small.

r_static = <float>

The static friction coefficient (when we stand still)

r_kinetic = <float>

The dynamic friction coefficient (when we are sliding)

r_brake = <float> (optional)

The friction with the wheelbrakes full on

load_limit = <float> (optional)

The max force this gear part can take before it breaks off [in Newtons]

critical = <bool> (optional)

todo

gfx_node = <name> (optional)

If you have defined animations on the graphics model, you should use the animation node name here to enable the wheels to spin and suspensions to move.

steerable   = <bool> (optional)
steer_angle = <angle in degrees> (optional)

Set this if the wheel should be steerable. It will be linked with the rudder controller. If it works the wrong way try a negative steering angle.

drivable = <float>

This is a simple hack that links the throttle to a driving force on the wheel. It is meant for debugging purposes and has no value in an aircraft model (but you could make a car..)

retractable = <bool>

If the landing gear is retractable you should define this here.

Other options

There is one parameter you can set apart from the gear parts:

impact_limit = <float>

This will define the max load the aircraft can take before it's declared a wreck.