Hello everyone!
I’m currently in the early development stages of a flight simulator for a new electric aircraft. I’ve been looking into JSBSim to handle the flight dynamics (FDM), but I want to make sure I’m not walking into a trap before I commit to the architecture.
My Questions:
- I see JSBSim has an FGElectric class, but it seems a bit basic. Has anyone successfully modeled complex battery discharge, voltage drop, or regenerative braking within JSBSim? Do I need to build a custom "System" in XML for this, or even a separate simulator for the powertrain and do some kind of co-simulation?
- The "Production-Ready" Bar: Is JSBSim truly ready for a commercial/professional-grade product in 2026? I know NASA uses it, but what are the modern "headaches" I should expect?
- What are the absolute "must-knows" before diving in? What usually trips people up?
- Where does it fail? I’ve heard ground reactions and high-alpha flight can be tricky if you don't have perfect wind-tunnel data.
I’d love to hear from anyone who has integrated JSBSim into a standalone project or used it for unconventional propulsion. What do you wish you knew on day 1?
Thanks in advance!