How to design an aircraft?

What do you need to create an aircraft?

You need two research branches. First — airframes: they unlock the machine template itself in the designer. Second — modules: engines, weapons, survivability, range.

Simple logic: no airframe means an empty designer; an airframe with no engine means a plane that never flies. Airframes unlock by year: 1936, 1940, 1944.

How do you earn air experience?

You can earn air experience in HoI4 by training your planes, fighting air battles, sending an attaché, or simply assigning a Chief of the Air Force. Usually the chief alone is enough, and the points for the template pile up fast.

How do you research an aircraft?

Airframes first, engines in parallel. Research machine guns, cannons and bombs for the job: fighters need one thing, bombers another. Try to time it so the engine and the airframe finish together — just start them at the same time.

The usual pick is the 1940 airframe and engines, heavy machine guns, heavy bombs and range improvements. Next up: building the aircraft template.

How do you create an aircraft template?

Open production, click the aircraft tab top-left, pick an empty airframe on the right, and build the template from modules. Only two modules are mandatory: engine and main weapon. Build the rest for the job.

Every module gives something and takes something, usually range or defence. So more modules doesn't mean better: an empty slot is sometimes more useful than a module that doesn't fit the job. Fighters don't need bombs in HoI4, and close air support doesn't need MGs.

Which airframe should you build on?

The workhorse for most of the war is the 1940 airframe. It covers combat over your own country and raids on the neighbour. Late game, switch to the 1944 airframe. The 1940 airframe is what top players recommend almost every time.

Skip 1936 airframes and earlier — weaker across the board, only good for plugging a gap until something better arrives. Don't build your war aviation on them. Next: where and how to produce the aircraft.

How do you put an aircraft into production?

There is no dedicated aircraft factory in HoI4. Aircraft are built by military factories — the same ones that make tanks and artillery. Open production, hit the aircraft tab top-left, pick your design on the right, and it joins a production line.

Cap per line — 150 military factories. How many go to aviation is yours to judge by the front: if the land war is collapsing, save the land war first.

Which resources do you need?

The 1940 airframe with no modules costs 3 aluminium and 1 rubber. The engine adds fuel consumption on top. Aluminium usually runs dry before factories do, so plan supply early. Extra modules can demand more resources too — self-sealing fuel tanks need 1 extra rubber, for example. All that's left is basing the air force — here's how.

How do you base aircraft on an air base?

Press F3 and click an available air base, then pick your aircraft in the list and confirm deployment. After a few days the planes deploy and are ready to use.

Next, the important part: press F3 again and select your aircraft. Right-click an air region, then pick a mission top-left. That's how you start using air power.

How do you fight with aircraft?

Once deployed, give the wing a region with a mission. Hand it «Air Superiority», say, and if there's a war on, the planes will start flying it, trying to win the sky.

HoI4 has plenty of missions — pick the one for your job.