xeokit Aircraft Simulation

Aircraft-style vehicle control for a View.

This module wraps viewing!vehicleNavigation.VehicleNavigationController with aircraft-specific pose mapping, camera presets, cockpit/exterior view controls, exhaust trail geometry, and optional afterburner visuals. It is intended for demos and interactive viewers that need a flyable model.

The controller drives a caller-owned SceneTransform. Put the aircraft model's meshes under that transform, then create an AircraftController for the active View. The controller updates the transform each animation tick and keeps the View camera tracking the vehicle.

Controls

When keyboard binding is enabled, the controller reserves these camera keys:

• 0: trailing chase camera
• 1: left exterior camera
• 2: right exterior camera
• 3: front exterior camera
• 4: top camera
• 5: top trailing camera
• 6: rear wide camera
• 7: cockpit camera
• - / +: move the active exterior camera closer / farther

Movement input is handled by the underlying vehicle navigation controller.

Basic Usage

import { AircraftController } from "@xeokit/sdk/simulation/aircraft";

const sceneModel = scene.createModel({id: "aircraft"}).value;
const rootTransform = sceneModel.createTransform({
  id: "aircraftRoot",
  matrix: [
    1, 0, 0, 0,
    0, 1, 0, 0,
    0, 0, 1, 0,
    0, 0, 0, 1
  ]
}).value;

// Create or load aircraft meshes with parentTransformId: "aircraftRoot".

const controller = new AircraftController(view, {
  rootTransform,
  config: {
    modelId: "aircraft",
    forwardAxis: "-Z",
    startSpeed: 35,
    maxForwardSpeed: 135,
    startFlying: true
  }
});

// Later:
controller.setCameraPreset("front");
controller.destroy();
Copy

Exhaust and Afterburner

import {
  AircraftController,
  AircraftExhaustTrail
} from "@xeokit/sdk/simulation/aircraft";

const config = {
  modelId: "aircraft",
  forwardAxis: "-Z",
  exhaust: {
    offset: [0, -0.8, 0],
    trailLength: 42,
    trailSegments: 24,
    radius: 0.9
  },
  afterburner: {
    threshold: 0.7,
    length: 10,
    radius: 0.8
  }
};

const exhaust = new AircraftExhaustTrail({
  scene,
  modelId: "aircraft",
  coordinateSystem: sceneModel.coordinateSystem,
  config
});

const controller = new AircraftController(view, {
  rootTransform,
  exhaust,
  config
});
Copy

Cockpit Camera

const controller = new AircraftController(view, {
  rootTransform,
  config: {
    forwardAxis: "-Z",
    cameraCockpitEyeOffset: [0, -1.45, -0.35],
    cameraCockpitLookOffset: [0, -14, -0.25]
  }
});

controller.setCameraPreset("cockpit");
Copy