If you've ever wanted to know how to make a plane kit script that doesn't feel like a clunky brick, you're in the right spot. Building a flight system is one of those classic milestones for any Roblox developer. It's that moment where you stop just moving parts around on the ground and start actually dealing with three-dimensional physics. It can be a little intimidating at first—math can be a pain—but once you get the hang of how forces work, it's incredibly satisfying to see your creation lift off the runway for the first time.
Most people start by grabbing a free model from the toolbox, but we both know how that goes. You end up with a script written in 2014 that breaks the second you try to customize the plane. Writing your own kit gives you total control. You get to decide exactly how the plane handles, how fast it goes, and whether it feels like a heavy commercial jet or a snappy little stunt plane.
Getting Your Model Ready for Flight
Before we even think about opening a script editor, we need to talk about the physical build. You can't just throw a script into a random group of parts and expect it to fly. Well, you could, but it would be a nightmare to manage.
First, your plane needs a PrimaryPart. This is usually an invisible box that sits right in the center of the plane, or the cockpit itself. This part is going to be the "brain" of the physical movement. Every other part of the plane—the wings, the tail, the engines—needs to be welded to this PrimaryPart. If you don't weld them properly, your wings will stay on the runway while your engine flies off into the sunset.
Keep your assembly simple. If your plane has 500 individual parts, the physics engine is going to have a heart attack trying to calculate the drag and lift. Use meshes where you can, and make sure the "CanCollide" and "Massless" properties are set logically. Generally, I like to make the decorative bits massless so they don't mess with the center of gravity too much.
The Core Logic of Flight Physics
When you're figuring out how to make a plane kit script, you have to understand that Roblox doesn't naturally simulate aerodynamic lift. In the real world, air pressure under the wings pushes the plane up. In Roblox, we have to fake it.
We usually do this using "BodyMovers" or the newer "Constraint" system. While the old BodyVelocity and BodyGyro objects are technically deprecated, a lot of people still use them because they're straightforward. However, if you want to be up to date, you should look into LinearVelocity and AngularVelocity.
The basic idea is this: 1. Thrust: A force pushing the plane forward based on its orientation. 2. Lift: A force pushing the plane up, usually proportional to how fast the plane is moving forward. 3. Steering (Pitch, Roll, and Yaw): Forces that rotate the plane around its axes.
If you don't add lift, your plane is just a very fast car that falls out of the sky the moment it leaves a ramp. You want to write your script so that as your forward velocity increases, a counter-force against gravity also increases.
Setting Up the LocalScript
The player's input needs to happen on their own computer, which means we're starting with a LocalScript. This script listens for key presses—usually W to throttle up, S to throttle down, and the mouse or arrow keys to steer.
You'll want to use UserInputService to capture these inputs. It's way better than the old "Mouse" object. You're going to be tracking variables like Throttle, Pitch, Roll, and Yaw. For example, when the player holds 'W', you increment the Throttle variable until it hits a maximum speed.
Here's where it gets a bit tricky: replication. If you only move the plane on the client side, other players won't see you flying. They'll just see you standing on the runway while your plane glides through the air invisibly. To fix this, you have to pass the input data to a RemoteEvent, which tells a server-side script where the plane is supposed to be.
Handling the Server Side
The server script is the "authority." It takes the numbers the player sends (like "I'm turning left and going 100 mph") and applies the actual physics to the plane in the game world. This ensures that everyone in the server sees the same thing.
A good way to structure this is to have a loop—using RunService.Heartbeat—that constantly calculates the plane's new position and orientation. Inside this loop, you'll calculate the CFrame (the position and rotation) of the plane.
You'll want to do something like this: * Calculate the forward vector of the plane. * Multiply that by the throttle to get your speed. * Apply an upward force to counteract gravity (that's your lift). * Adjust the rotation based on the player's mouse movement or key inputs.
It sounds like a lot of math, but it's mostly just multiplying vectors. Don't let the trigonometry scare you off; most of it is built into Roblox's CFrame functions anyway.
Making the Flight Feel "Right"
This is the part that separates a "meh" plane kit from a "wow" plane kit. If your plane stops instantly when you let go of the keys, it feels like a toy. If it turns too sharply, it feels like it has no weight.
To make it feel realistic, you need lerping (Linear Interpolation). Instead of setting the speed to 100 instantly, you should smoothly transition from 0 to 100 over a few seconds. Same goes for the turn radius. When you tilt the plane to the side (rolling), the plane should naturally start to turn in that direction. This is because, in actual flight, tilting your lift vector to the side pulls the nose of the plane around.
Pro tip: Add a little bit of "camera shake" when the plane goes at high speeds. It's a tiny detail, but it makes the player feel like they're actually breaking the sound barrier rather than just sliding through a vacuum.
Dealing with Common Glitches
When you're learning how to make a plane kit script, you're going to run into some weird bugs. One of the most common is the "shaking" plane. This usually happens when your physics forces are fighting each other or when you have two parts with collisions fighting for the same space.
If your plane is jittering, check your NetworkOwnership. On Roblox, physics can get weird when the server and the client both try to claim control over an object. You should set the network owner of the plane's PrimaryPart to the player who is flying it. This makes the movement buttery smooth for the pilot, which is the most important thing. You can do this with a simple line of code: part:SetNetworkOwner(player).
Another common issue is the "death spin." If your angular velocity is too high and doesn't have any dampening, your plane will spin out of control the moment you tap a turn key. Make sure you add some "friction" to your rotation logic so the plane naturally wants to level out when the player isn't actively steering.
Final Touches and Polish
Once the basic flight is working, you can start adding the fun stuff. You'll want sounds—an engine roar that gets louder as the throttle increases is a must. You can use the PlaybackLoudness property or just scale the volume based on your throttle variable.
Particles are also huge. A bit of smoke from the exhaust or some vapor trails off the wingtips during a sharp turn adds so much flavor. You can enable or disable these ParticleEmitters based on the speed or the "G-force" the plane is pulling.
Lastly, think about the UI. A simple speedometer and an altimeter go a long way. You can get the altitude by simply checking the Position.Y of your PrimaryPart. For the speed, use the AssemblyLinearVelocity.Magnitude. It's simple data, but it makes the pilot feel like they're actually in a cockpit.
Building a plane kit is a big project, but it's one of the best ways to level up your scripting skills. You're dealing with input, physics, client-server communication, and math all at once. Even if your first version is a bit wobbly, keep tweaking it. Eventually, you'll have a flight system that feels as good as any professional kit out there. Just keep testing, keep crashing, and eventually, you'll get it right. Happy flying!