Creating a New Aircraft Blueprint

1. What must be ready before the blueprint

What	Required
Skeleton	yes
Skeletal Mesh	yes
Physics Asset	yes

Creating the skeleton, Physics Asset, and Skeletal Mesh is outside the scope of this documentation. It is assumed that you already have them and know how to work with them..

2. Create the aircraft blueprint

1. Content Browser → Add → Blueprint Class.
2. In Pick Parent Class, expand All Classes and select LetadloPawn (ALetadloPawn)
3. Name the asset using the BP_<AircraftName> convention (e.g., BP_MyPlane).

⚠️ The parent class is critical. The game only spawns a blueprint that derives from ALetadloPawn.

The blueprint goes into your mod content: Plugins/GameFeatures/<ModName>/Content/Blueprints/.

3. Mesh and animation

Open the blueprint and select the AircraftMesh component (it already exists — inherited from the parent; do not add a second one).

AircraftMesh field	What to set
Skeletal Mesh	Your imported Skeletal Mesh
Anim Class	Your AnimBP class (derived from UBaseAircraftAnimInstance)
Materials	Mesh Materials

The AnimBP is created on a separate page — here you already have it. An empty or incompatible Anim Class means the bones will not animate, and Blueprint validation will report an error.

4. Camera

The Camera component already exists in the blueprint (created in C++). Do not add your own.

Where	What to pick
Camera component → Camera → Camera Reference	the CA_PlayerCamera Data Asset

5. Engine data for effects

Engine data for effects is available right in the aircraft blueprint – through the inherited Replicated Animation Component.

What is available	Type	Meaning
Throttle	float	Current physical throttle value
VFXThrottle	float	The throttle value exposed for VFX (remains 0 in ground mode)
FinalRotation	Rotator	Final thrust vector rotation of the engine

Use Get Engine State to retrieve these values: Replicated Animation Component → Get Engine State. Index is the engine number, using the same order as the engines in the JSBSim configuration. An out-of-range index returns an empty struct.

How it is done in the example mod

The kit ships a working example:

1. Open Plugins/GameFeatures/ModExample/Content/Blueprints/BP_ModExampleAircraft (in the Content Browser – /ModExample/Blueprints/BP_ModExampleAircraft);
2. In the Functions list on the left pick Set VFX Engine Rotation and Thruster – it is called from Event Tick, once per engine;
3. See where the two outputs of Break Replicated Engine State go: VFXThrottle → Set Variable Float on the Niagara component, FinalRotation → Set Relative Rotation on the same component.

Build your own effects the same way: get the values with Get Engine State and feed them into your Niagara system.

6. Checklist

• Skeleton, physics asset and skeletal mesh are ready.
• The blueprint is created with the parent LetadloPawn.
• AircraftMesh has Skeletal Mesh and Anim Class set.
• The Camera component has CA_PlayerCamera in Camera Reference.
• Blueprint validation passes without errors.