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3.2. SHAPING THE FUSELAGE 13
Parameter Positive value means... Negative value means...
Heading offset Pivots to point right (starboard) Pivots to point left (port)
Pitch offset Pivots to point up Pivots to point down
Roll offset Rolls right (to starboard) Rolls left (to port)
Table 3.2: Interpreting the direction-setting values
2 to the number of sections you had in mind to account for the fuselage’s two closed ends. For
instance, if, when looking at the body, you saw 13 “real” divisions, you would input 15 stations
here: 13 “real” sections, which meet at a point at the nose and tail, for a total of 15.
The “number of radii/side” value sets the number of points used in each half of the cross-section.
Unless your aircraft has a very simple shape to its body, you’ll probably want to use the maximum
of 9; this will allow the smoothest curves possible on the body.
The “body radius” setting controls the width of the cross-section views in the bottom half of
the window. For the greatest accuracy when placing the points that make up the body, this should
be set to the actual maximum radius of the fuselage. You should, however, err on the side of setting
this too high so that all your points are visible.
The final setting in the Body Data section of the window, labeled “body coeff of drag,” is the
body’s coefficient of drag based on its frontal area. This determines the amount of drag generated
by the fuselage. An average fuselage will have a coefficient of drag of 0.1, while a very sleek one
will have a coefficient of 0.025.
The Body Location Box
The Body Location portion of the Fuselage dialog box controls the fuselage’s location. The three
standard location controls (“long arm,” “lat arm,” and “vert arm”) specify the point in space of
the front tip of the fuselage. See the section “Fundamental Concepts” above for an explanation of
these three controls.
Figure 3.6: The Body Location controls
Since all measurements of location in Plane Maker are relative to the reference point, the fuselage
position could be anything—the rest of the aircraft just has to be positioned accordingly. Many
aircraft designers, though, prefer the reference point to be the front tip of the aircraft. In this case,
the fuselage’s location will be zero feet offset from the reference point.
In addition to the standard location controls, the Body Location box also contains directional
controls. These are in the form of the heading, pitch, and roll offset parameters. Table 3.2 lists the