RCWeb Flight App

The RCWeb Flight App (app/flight) is an advanced 3D aerodynamic flight simulator designed to operate via the Asymmetric Pattern. It renders a massive 3D environment while connecting seamlessly with mobile tilt-controllers.

Screenshot

What it does

• Realistic Aerodynamics: Employs mathematically complex lift, drag, and sideways-slip physics to govern the model airplane. Lift is uniquely tied directly to the forwardSpeed combined with the angle-of-attack, meaning the plane will dynamically stall and crash if maneuvered too slowly.
• Takeoff Sequence: The plane spawns locked to a runway with automatically deployed takeoff flaps. It will not become airborne until sufficient speed generates enough Bernoulli lift to break gravity.
• GLTF Asset Pipeline: Implements the THREE.GLTFLoader to asynchronously stream external .glb 3D airplane assets, automatically scaling the boundary boxes, clearing shadows, and mounting it into the flight hierarchy.
• Procedural Environments: Populates the terrain with procedural trees, rolling clouds with wind-drift mechanics, and an infinite horizon cylinder.
• Particle Systems: If a crash occurs, it generates an instant 3D particle explosion and thick lingering volumetric smoke trails tracking off the aircraft.

How it works

The internal frame loop relies heavily on strict Newtonian physics simulations.

• Thrust & Drag Matrix: Core flight math runs through updateFlight(). It extracts an effectiveAoA (Angle of Attack) and liftEfficiency factoring in flap angles and stall penalties. The engine calculates active vectors for thrustForce, liftForce, and sideForce, then aggregates these inside a core acceleration Vector3.
• Rotational Rates: The plane does not magically turn to match the controller. The controller targets supply aerodynamic authority (pitchAccel, yawAccel, rollAccel), which modifies the plane's internal rollRate/pitchRate over time, guaranteeing a heavy, realistic momentum-based turning profile constraint by actual air-speed.
• Damping Interpolation: Visuals and remote inputs are seamlessly smoothed using exponential decay curves (e.g., 1 - Math.exp(-2.6 * delta)) ensuring movements feel incredibly fluid.

Launch RCWeb App