One of the best sources of aircraft models are the aircraft created for the Miscrosoft Flight Simulator. These aircraft can be converted to gltf format using ModelConvertorX which can be imported in Blender.

Microsoft Flight Simulator has long allowed users to create their own aircraft. There are many models created for Flight Simulator X (FSX) about 15 years ago. In those days, people generally created aircraft for FSX using either FSSC or GMax. These were saved as FSC files. I personally used FSSC to create aircraft, ships and scenery and GMax to create landable surfaces. These days, FSSC is no longer available and Blender is the most popular program for creating models.

Once you import the model to Blender, you can use the capabilities of Blender to create a more realistic looking model than the original. Although documentation is scarce, you should also be able to export Blender models to Flight Simulator 2020.

The FM2 was an improved version of the Wildcat and was capable of dogfigthing with the latest Japanese aircraft. I created this model entirely from scratch several decades ago for use with the Microsoft Flight Simulator. The latest version was offered as part of a package with the Savo Island carrier so that you could land on the airrier. [FM2_Wildcat_and_Escort_Carrier_Group.zip - available on AvSim.com]

The FM2 has a very complex landing gear which includes several interconnected struts.

We were able to recreate this landing gear in Blender by linking the parts together and defining rotations, and in some cases positions, of each part.

The Sopwith Camel was introduced in the middle of WWI and became Great Brittain's most numerous and deadly aircraft - to both friend and foe. For that reason, it was not hard to find a couple of decent FSX models, one basic and one extremely detailed.

While converting the models, it became apparent that there were many Camel variations. One example relates to the housing of the machine guns. The Camel had two Lewis machine guns which are cocked by pulling a lever on the side which will load the first round into the chamber. Firing the guns caused these levers to rotate. The earlier versions of the Camel had a very small cover over the guns which allowed the pilot to reach the handles and cock the gunns. On later models, the guns were mostly covered by a cowling which would have made cocking the guns extremely difficult. Some models had levers extending from the guns. Reviewing diagrams of the Camel machine guns, I discovered that those levers were used to cock the guns fron inside the cockpit.

However, it appears that even these models had to leave open slits in the cowling to allow the original cocking levers to rotate.

One modern fighters, the pilot flies with one hand of the stick and one on the throttle. However, on the Camel, the throttle is so hard to reach that the pilots probably used the throttle lever only when taking off and landing. Nevertheless, I have left the pilot flying with one hand of the stick and one on the throttle.

Finding the proper outfit for the pilot became a challenge. Initially, I used my FM2 pilot and added a fur collar. However, because of the cold air at altitude and in winter, the pilots also wore leather jackets. I was able to find the offical WWI British flight jacket which, interestingly, did not include a fur collar.

The Camel had a rotating engine which rotated with the propeller. The engine acted like a giant gyroscope which created some interesting handling issues. For example, the aircraft was able to turn faster to the left than to the right. However, this turning motion was accompanied by unwelcome changes in pitch. This made the aircraft very tricky to handle and cost the lives of many Allied pilots. It was said that the Camel would turn a great pilot into an amazing pilot and an unskilled pilot into a casualty. I will model the faster turn rate, but will assume that your pilot personna is a great pilot who can handle the pitch changes.