First-flight test card

Forward cyclic on the ground: the rotor disc tilts forward.

This is the order I test a new aircraft in. Use the same map, weather, fuel and load every time so you can actually compare results. Turn the wind off for steps 8 and 9 (see Environment and wind).

1. Load. Open every prefab in the family. You shouldn't get any unknown-property errors. Spawn one and read the [RFM-LINT] lines. Fix every warning, or at least know why it doesn't apply to you.
2. Topology. Spawn cold and read the [RFM-TOPOLOGY] lines. No ERROR, and the rotor, power group and wake link counts should match what you set up. Then turn on Draw Rotors, Draw Ground, Draw Airframe and Draw Mass (see debug drawing). Every disc, tire, skid, surface and CG sphere should be sitting where the real part is on the model, and every thrust arrow should point the right way.
3. Drivetrain. The [RFM] reference power system line should show the right number of engines and a driven inertia that makes sense.
4. Readback. The [RFM-SETUP] PointInfo positions look right, and you get [RFM-DAMAGE] bridge | ready true if you're using damage.
5. Settle. Wait 10 seconds. No creeping, bouncing, sinking or sliding.
6. Start. Use the cockpit start. Every engine should start, the rotor should turn the right way and get to 100 %, the gauges should move, and it shouldn't get stuck in a start loop.

7. Control signs. On the ground, collective down, rotor at 100 %. With Draw Rotors on, the thin tip-path ring shows you the disc tilt:

   • forward cyclic tilts the disc forward
   • right cyclic tilts it right
   • right pedal yaws the nose right
   • raising the collective raises thrust

   Fix any backwards signs now, not in the air. 8. Hover. Bring the collective up slowly. Note the collective and torque at lift-off and compare them to your research data (hover torque at that weight is the best thing to compare). It should only need small corrections to stay level. If you don't have data, a rough out-of-ground-effect check is hover power ≈ W^1.5 ÷ √(2 × 1.225 × πR²) ÷ 0.7 watts, where W is the weight in newtons (mass × 9.81) and R is the main rotor radius. A 4,000 kg Huey comes out at about 550 kW. 9. Pedal authority. In the hover, full left and full right pedal both have to turn the aircraft. 10. Fly. Gentle forward flight, turns, climbs, descents, slowing down and landing. Then land on a slope, on soft ground and on a small platform. 11. Autorotation. At a safe height, shut down or cut the power. The rotor should keep turning and you should be able to flare and land. Rotor RPM should come back when the power does. 12. Variants. Run steps 1 to 5 again on each child prefab. On armed variants, check the ammo mass drops on the right side when you fire. 13. Multiplayer. Dedicated server, one pilot client and one watching. - Hover for 30 seconds. It should look smooth to both the pilot and whoever's watching. - Shut down, get out, wait a bit and get back in. The rotor should carry on from wherever it spooled down to. Swap pilots too. - Damage it, and fire the weapons with the pilot who isn't hosting.

Turn Debug Log off once you're done.