(WARNING: While mostly a guide on how to make a realisticish fictional aircraft, some parts of this can be used to help make better looking planes) So... if you have clicked on this forum you may be wondering. What do i mean by this? Well simply put i have noticed a lackage of Fictional aircraft builders, and more importantly some of the GOOFIEST aircraft i have ever seen (No offense, but you did click on a post thats all about making realisticish aircraft). So using my all knowing wisdom i present to you a humble guide, on realistic fictionals.

[AND WERE BACK] Lets go through some basics here. We will start off on the interwar period between WW1 and WW2. Why? Because these aircraft while seemingly hard to get right, these aircraft have are some of the first with true speed in mind. And will possibly be the EASIEST to master.

Now you see, the interwar im taking about is specifically 1930-1939. Lets begin with a simple Liquid cooled aircraft
Disect as we go along
There are 2 main things we must address, how to go fast, and how to stuff the engine in it required to go fast. (I recommend looking at real aircraft as a reference)

Imagine air like traffic, it doesnt like big flat surfaces. Being shaped like a cylinder is not very aerodynamic right? Well yeah duh. You need to shape your fuselage TO this air traffic. And you must consider how this plane will work.

One thing that helps me with shaping is making space for important components. Like the engine (turn on seethrough mode), if it cant fit the engine it cant fly can it? So i make a simple engine model, about the same size as its real world counterpart, and its gearbox. Next is how do we cool it???? Those giant intakes on liquid cooled aircraft are there for a reason, they often house a radiator. Which allows your engine to run in the first place, you need to figure out how to provide airflow and enough of it to cool your radiator without causing much drag.

The solution is typically the Meredith effect (CLICK ME). read into that to help understand the effect. And make sure to add OIL coolers!

Another thing is to well, make sure you plane can house its in landing gear (keep in mind you dont need to cut into the fuselage n stuff, just make sure your stuff can fit in the plane without cramming it all in, unless you want to cram it in).

HOW TO FLY!:
Now that (i hope) you have a usable fuselage its time to wing your beast, first off what is your plane meant to be? Do you want a bomber escort? Interceptor? Or low level fighter, this helps decide your basic wing shape. (I would also look at interwar planes in general for this)
But generally you want larger wings if you wanna go higher. Now i personally use flat bottom or semi airfoils for prop planes in general, looking at how i made my wing could help you out

Now a real issue, how to choose the right tail??? Well consider your aircraft, if you want heightened responsiveness you need a bigger tail. And as such bigger control surfaces, And! You must make sure your plane is STABLE if it aint stable it will not fly. and your EMPTY and FUELED COM needs to be ALIGNED otherwise your planes balance shifts as you burn fuel, which can lead to issues....

Now please note this is a simple ish introduction to get you warmed up, i will explain more advanced concepts, and probably clear up some more confusing stuff from this post next time. On realistic fictionals
(FYI you guys can ask questions if this is abit too confusing)

Up next: How to stuff a pilot in your death tube, constant speed props, fuselage wings and More!